Help deciding for VCR/DVD combo

[UltW]

Hello, I'm a newbie and I heard this was the best place to ask about this. I need help deciding what NTSC combo player would be a good choice to play burned CD-R/RW and DVR+-R/RW (DL?) discs, MP3, Mpeg-1 (.mpg/VCD) and maybe DivX.

I have an old Apex ADV-3800 that worked great until recently, with a "no disc" error on regular and burned discs.
I also have an older Memorex slim DVD player (model number?) that works alright.

My choices are JVC HRXVC14B/HRXVC15S and Samsung DVD-V6700. I want to watch both my regular DVDs and burned mpegs (from using Nero, Data Disc). Does anyone know which would be better? I'm planning on ordering online, but skeptical of shipping it back if the player does not work.

One note, I purchased and returned a Sony SLVD380P because it failed to recognize my burned discs (CD-R/RW and DVR+-R/RW with Mpeg-1). It gave me a DVD ERRLOG5 on each one. Please give me your suggestions and advice on this.

Forgot to add, I burn with Sony DVD+RW, TDK Video DVD+DW, Memorex DVD+RW, Verbatim DVD+R DL (DVD-Video only) and Memorex CD-RW. All of these worked on my other players.

[Marvingj]

Don't pull the trigger to buy a combo unit. They have all sorts of problems. Check out some of the old post and see all those who brought them..They are still crying....

[UltW]

I tried to do research on both JVC HRXVC14B/HRXVC15S and Samsung DVD-V6700, but found few reviews. Would it be better to search for a standalone DVD player? I'm just afraid of seeing a "no disc," disc not recognized, or error like DVD_ERRLOG5 on my data disc for mpegs.

[redwudz]

I'd agree with Marvingj for those reasons and a couple of others.

Those are just player combos, correct? Not VHS player and a DVR?

The VCR part has a lot of moving parts. It may wear out/break down long before the DVD player part.

Does the VCR part also record? If you were thinking of recording off a DVD, there is no way to get around the encryption. Or are you just interested in playback with DVDs and VHS tapes? Unless space saving or simplicity is really important, I would use separate units. JMO.

And welcome to our forums.

EDIT: Sony players seem to have more of a problem recognizing discs than others.

[UltW]

Thanks. It's great to be here. I'm planning for a combo just for playback with DVDs and VHS tapes. Sometimes I record a clip to the VHS, but it is not copyrighted. I am not copying from encrypted DVD, just regular MPEG-1 from TMPENGC (free version). My problem is I just don't know which player can easily play Mpeg from a burned disc. My old Apex and Memorex players easily saw the files listed (A/V under Apex and VCD under Memorex).

But another reason why I looked for a combo is because they normally have a tuner (RF OUT, ANT IN). But I'm just finding out mainly DVD recorders have ATSC tuners as of now. I'm not trying to spend $200 plus just for that. I wish my Apex wasn't messing up on me. I loved that player.

[louthewiz]

The biggest problems with combo drives are the power supplies failing constantly, I already have a doorstop an I refuse to but any more because to repair it costs more than a new unit.

[redwudz]

louthewiz, good point about the PS. I had heard that also.

UltW, You can sort through our DVD players list to the left for VCR and MPEG playback. <<<<<<

I wish my Apex wasn't messing up on me. I loved that player.

I agree with that. I had a Apex-1500 that would play just about anything. Too bad they didn't last. I was going to change out the DVD drive, but I had one with a odd drive version.

[UltW]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I am now deciding from getting a combo (it would be a little more beneficial for my needs) like the Samsung DVD-V6700 or a regular DVD player like Panasonic DVD-S53S. I checked for reviews about the Samsung, but rarely found any reviews. And about the Panasonic, I have seen mixed reviews from this site and others. I did not know finding a good DVD player would be this hard.

On a side note, I even searched online to find another Apex ADV-3800, but of course, no legitimate website offered it. Well, if I do get a new player and if it does not meet my needs, I'll try to return it, if not, I'll give it to one of my family members and set up the slim Memorex as a last option. This is supposed to be a birthday present for myself, but it looks like I have some thinking and waiting to do. I'll check back later. Again, thanks.