GoVideo DVR4300 DVD-VCR Combo
By: GoVideo Average Rating: 2.5 Total Reviews: 29
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 On: 2007-01-12
One month ago I would have given this machine 5 stars; it really was a nice player, and even having been owned by two previous owners, worked without any glitches, was easy to hook up, and met our generally basic needs. I have to admit, I never tried the "copy" function, but only used it for playback of factory DVDs and VHS tapes. However, several weeks ago, without any explanation or changes on the users end, the VCR just stopped working; oddly, there was sound, loud and clear, but no image. This happened with all the tapes we tried (which worked just fine in another VCR) and we even tried cleaning the heads, changing out the RCA cables, etc. to no avail. When I contacted GoVideo via their website, their response was plain and simple:
"GoVideo does not provide technical support or customer service for over a year now"
What a company!
On: 2007-01-11
One month ago I would have given this machine 5 stars; it really was a nice player, and even having been owned by two previous owners, worked without any glitches, was easy to hook up, and met our generally basic needs. I have to admit, I never tried the "copy" function, but only used it for playback of factory DVDs and VHS tapes. However, several weeks ago, without any explanation or changes on the users end, the VCR just stopped working; oddly, there was sound, loud and clear, but no image. This happened with all the tapes we tried (which worked just fine in another VCR) and we even tried cleaning the heads, changing out the RCA cables, etc. to no avail. When I contacted GoVideo via their website, their response was plain and simple:
"GoVideo does not provide technical support or customer service for over a year now"
What a company!
 On: 2004-12-23
This applies to the DVD4400. The DVD works more or less as well as other DVD players I have:nothing to brag or complain about,other than the remote control buttons (used to fast forward or rewind) are poorly designed. More often than not you will find yourself skipping forward to the next index point instead of speeding up the DVD. The maximum advance is also slower than other DVDs Ive owned. The VCR part, on the other hand, is terrible. It will take a new tape and record (SP or SLP doesnt make a difference)in such a lousy fashion that while the audio is barely discernible(wobbly and glitchy, like listening to a tape playing on a portable walkman with a dying battery), there is no watchable video. Its all lines and garbled view, like watching a scrambled channel, I suppose. The "fast play" feature is also significantly slower than all other VCRs Ive owned, approximately 10X at best (as opposed to up to 30X). The one good point about the VCR is that it can rewind the tape to the start quite fast (about a minute or so.) The picture quality is average. I bought it new, so theres no prior owner who could have ruined it. I also used it plugged in with gold-tipped cables, so thats not the problem either. I will NOT be buying future products from the GO people if the rest of their line is as crappy as this product. Fill in your own joke about how the company should have been called "GO AWAY" or "GO ELSEWHERE"...
On: 2004-12-22
This applies to the DVD4400. The DVD works more or less as well as other DVD players I have:nothing to brag or complain about,other than the remote control buttons (used to fast forward or rewind) are poorly designed. More often than not you will find yourself skipping forward to the next index point instead of speeding up the DVD. The maximum advance is also slower than other DVDs Ive owned. The VCR part, on the other hand, is terrible. It will take a new tape and record (SP or SLP doesnt make a difference)in such a lousy fashion that while the audio is barely discernible(wobbly and glitchy, like listening to a tape playing on a portable walkman with a dying battery), there is no watchable video. Its all lines and garbled view, like watching a scrambled channel, I suppose. The "fast play" feature is also significantly slower than all other VCRs Ive owned, approximately 10X at best (as opposed to up to 30X). The one good point about the VCR is that it can rewind the tape to the start quite fast (about a minute or so.) The picture quality is average. I bought it new, so theres no prior owner who could have ruined it. I also used it plugged in with gold-tipped cables, so thats not the problem either. I will NOT be buying future products from the GO people if the rest of their line is as crappy as this product. Fill in your own joke about how the company should have been called "GO AWAY" or "GO ELSEWHERE"...
by: Anonymous On: 2004-06-28
My GoVideo product was a christmas gift and I am glad that I spent no money of my own to purchase it. It just long enough not to be covered by the warranty. Buyer Beware!
 On: 2003-10-29
Im a girl and dont understand anything techinical. I bought this unit primarily because it was the first combo unit I had seen and I had enough money on my J.C. Penney card to cover the then cost of $250.00 plus tax and shipping. My husband and I have now had this unit over a year and it has been wonderful. No noise from the machine as other reviewers have stated, the picture quality is great and so easy to use even I can handle it. I was wary of the Go Video name, as we had never heard of the company before, but we would not hestitate to buy from them again. Good quality unit in my opinion.
On: 2003-10-28
Im a girl and dont understand anything techinical. I bought this unit primarily because it was the first combo unit I had seen and I had enough money on my J.C. Penney card to cover the then cost of $250.00 plus tax and shipping. My husband and I have now had this unit over a year and it has been wonderful. No noise from the machine as other reviewers have stated, the picture quality is great and so easy to use even I can handle it. I was wary of the Go Video name, as we had never heard of the company before, but we would not hestitate to buy from them again. Good quality unit in my opinion.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-10-16
This product has had problems from the start...when the DVD plays, it makes a VERY loud whirring sound. When I tried to get it fixed under the warranty, they claimed there was no problem at all, and refused to allow me to return it. Now ten months later the whirring sound is so loud, you cant even hear some of the dialog. Were buying a new one, definitely a different model, and giving this trash away.
On: 2003-09-04
My GoVideo DVR 4300 went bad within 6 months after purchase from Radio Shack. Most of the warranty had already expired. The unit developed severe VCR tracking problems, resulting in unwatchable portions of recorded programs. It was sent to the shop three times and each time it was returned with the same problems. It is by far the worst electronic device I ever purchased. I have gone back to my old (20 years) unit which works just fine, even if the technology is outdated.
On: 2003-09-03
My GoVideo DVR 4300 went bad within 6 months after purchase from Radio Shack. Most of the warranty had already expired. The unit developed severe VCR tracking problems, resulting in unwatchable portions of recorded programs. It was sent to the shop three times and each time it was returned with the same problems. It is by far the worst electronic device I ever purchased. I have gone back to my old (20 years) unit which works just fine, even if the technology is outdated.
On: 2003-03-30
Very dissapointed with this product. The very first time I used it, I tried to watch a new DVD and it kept losing the signal (picture/sound would go away). I replaced the cables and tried different DVDs but this problem continued. The VCR worked okay but overall the product was very slow to respond to any command. I like the idea of having a combination DVD/VCR and the price was reasonable and maybe I got stuck with a bad one. But I would not buy from this company again.
On: 2003-03-29
Very dissapointed with this product. The very first time I used it, I tried to watch a new DVD and it kept losing the signal (picture/sound would go away). I replaced the cables and tried different DVDs but this problem continued. The VCR worked okay but overall the product was very slow to respond to any command. I like the idea of having a combination DVD/VCR and the price was reasonable and maybe I got stuck with a bad one. But I would not buy from this company again.
On: 2003-03-06
My first and last Sonic Blue purchase. The DVD player quit on the 5th DVD I attempted to play. Sonic Blue directed me to a repair company who said, when I carried the player into their store, that they no longer do warranty work for Sonic Blue . I was then directed to a second store. They also said they no longer do warranty work for Sonic Blue. So now Ive mailed the player off to a repair station in another state. The people at the Sonic Blue warranty phone number were not friendly or helpful. Terrible support.
On: 2003-03-05
My first and last Sonic Blue purchase. The DVD player quit on the 5th DVD I attempted to play. Sonic Blue directed me to a repair company who said, when I carried the player into their store, that they no longer do warranty work for Sonic Blue . I was then directed to a second store. They also said they no longer do warranty work for Sonic Blue. So now Ive mailed the player off to a repair station in another state. The people at the Sonic Blue warranty phone number were not friendly or helpful. Terrible support.
On: 2003-03-02
Simply great technology at an affordable price. Reliable and simple to use.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-02-26
Some of the volume problems that were mentioned in other reviews may be due to the fact that there is a separate volume control on the remote which controls and limits the volume is set improperly or not to ones preference. Otherwise Ive had great luck with it. Maybe luck? I dont know.
On: 2003-02-11
After using the DVD and VHS for about a month with no problems, the VHS suddenly lost its audio capability. This is very annoying since I now can not return it to www.Amazon.com and the closest service center is an hour drive from our house. The 1-800 line kept me on hold for 20 minutes before someone told me I had to take the unit to a service center (big help). I would not recommend this unit.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-02-03
... Now, hardly a month after owning it, the VCR doesnt tape properly and we have only used it a handful of times. Now I am going to have to eat the cost of shipping it somewhere to get it repaired for it to probably break down soon thereafter. Would not buy any more electronics from the internet. Will only buy from somewhere that has a decent return policy (more than 30 days) and somewhere within driving distance. Please dont buy this if you are thinking about. You will be sorry.
On: 2003-02-01
I had got Panasonic DVD/VHS combo before getting this GoVideo model. The other model in the market are much bulkier than goVideo, at least Panasonic is way bulky that GoVideo.
Also if u look at panasonice, it appears that they just got the 2 players and joined them, becaue u will have play, stop, fwd rwd button on both the plyers.But GoVideo, did an intelligent job of providing a single set of Button for both DVD and VCR and the best part is that there is a button for Copy, which makes things a lot easier. This DVD player plays almost all the DVD/VCD/MP3/CDRW discs. The only thing it didnt play was some Chinese VCD which was proabbly of realy bad quality... Well coming to the quality, its excellent, the ON screen Staus bar is really nice thing to have when u do a lot of fwd in VHS and when u want to stop at the right place. I tried copying DVD to VHS and it copied them excellently onto VHS. Finally, if u are looking for VCR and DVD then GoVideo doesnt probably have a very strong brand name, but is better than other famous brands.
On: 2003-01-26
I have had absolutely no problems with this unit; it operates smoothly and quietly. I can play all of my MP3 and music CDs with the DVD player. The volume control problem is easily remedied by turning up the volume on the tv. I needed a new VCR and bought this instead, for basically the same price. Everything works great.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-01-07
DONT BUY THIS PLAYER!!... The DVD and VCR players were both soooooooo loud it was very hard to hear the movies over the humming grrrrrrr of the motors. Others wrote of this problem and I thought well Id buy it and give it a try. The player I bought has the same problems with the volume levels but havent had any jams. Im sending it back and buying a different a [different] brand. You get what you pay for.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-01-04
This device is so easy to install and use that I barely needed to glance at the instructions. Im very happy with its quality and features.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-01-03
Great machine, easy to set-up a cinch to operate, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a combo DVD/VCR player!
On: 2002-12-29
I bought this unit to save space .. .I wish I wouldnt have. After hooking up the unit, I found it was extremely loud when running--both DVDs and VCR tapes. Hence, I returned it for another one. What happened? The same thing . . .terribly loud. I would not recommend this brand. In fact, I am almost considering buying two separate units for my bedroom. It appears as if almost all of the combo units on the markets are having problems. If anyone else finds a good one, I would like to know!
On: 2002-12-28
What a present. What a disappointment. Go Video, you should be ashamed. This player has known defects, and you have to know it. As with others who have posted, the unit worked fine playing the first DVD, but after the first, the picture froze, and when it finally advanced, it jumped around like a jumping bean. ... This is a gift givers worst nightmare. I wont make this mistake again.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-12-28
Bad experience. Ive owned it for about three hours now. The very first tape I put in the VCR unit has became jammed. (Ive owned my previous VCR for nine years and never once had a tape get jammed.) It wont eject, play, or rewind. The nearest service center is a four-hour drive from my house. Im sending it back and getting a brand that has a service center near me.
On: 2002-12-27
Right out of the box, it worked great. Set-up was easier than my last DVD. Then, we tried to play a second DVD. No Go, Govideo. The we tried to get help. Since we bought via Amazon, we cant return there. Govideo says "dont return, call us!" Well, the well meaning woman from Asia who answered the call had no answers. Take it to Radio Shack and they can fix it! Right, shes from Asia, isnt she! Now I have to take the unit to a large retail electronics store and throw myself on their mercy. Good luck! Just goes to show, dont buy on-line and dont buy from a brand youve never heard from. Two days and 1 1/2 hours on the phone, and I have to ask a firm who didnt sell me the unit to please fix it. And, theyll say "why didnt you buy it here?" Good question. Amazon and more specifiaclly,"Sonicblue, AKA Govideo" dont have my endorsement. Buy a name brand from a store you can trust. Buy Sony or someone youve heard of. Sonicblue? ...
On: 2002-12-26
I purchased this machine at Costco. Worked fine playing the first DVD. Subsequently, it played the same scene over and over and wouldnt advance to the next scene. It also had a "jumpy" picture. I thought it was just a bad one so I took it back and got another. Played the first two DVDs fine and now the picture is jumping just like the last time! It goes back tomorrow and Im getting another brand.
On: 2002-12-25
I purchased this machine at Costco. Worked fine playing the first DVD. Subsequently, it played the same scene over and over and wouldnt advance to the next scene. It also had a "jumpy" picture. I thought it was just a bad one so I took it back and got another. Played the first two DVDs fine and now the picture is jumping just like the last time! It goes back tomorrow and Im getting another brand.
On: 2002-12-23
VCR IS TOO NOISY. THE UNIT IS BEING RETURNED. READ AN EARLIER REVIEW REGARDING THIS PROBLEM.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-12-17
This unit has performed great since day 1. I really like the combined output for DVD and VCR -- so you can set the TV to channel 3 or 4 and then play either DVD or VCR without any input changing. You can opt for seperate outputs if you want as well. The DVD player works great and the remote seems better than average also (and is partially backlit). The VCR works great and I like seeing the television while fast-forwarding or rewinding -- especially the progress meter which is shown on screen. The display is very easy to read from a long distance and has adjustable brightness. The clock has an auto-set capability which seems to be working for me using my satellite signal. The unit is very quite, despite what one of the previous reviewers indicated (the reviewer was talking about the 4400 and not the 4300 as well). I can hardly tell if its rewinding because its totally quiet. This unit also can simulate surround sound with 2 speakers and that works great. I also like the way it looks -- very cool looking silver case and the lower section with glass is very stylish. I really am impressed with this product in most ways. The menus are pretty spartan looking but they get the job done just fine and are easy to use. The product does lack commercial skip and progressive output -- but if your on a budget there are no big compromises here. If your into all the features in the world and/or progressive output then spend a little more and get the GoVideo DVR5100 instead.
On: 2002-12-16
I am very happy with this machine.It does everything very well.The picture is great along with the sound{for those having problems with the sound,try turning up the volume on the television).Every feature of the machine works very well and there are a number of them.Thank you and signing out.
On: 2002-12-08
We bought the 4400 at Costco. The DVD worked great, no sound problems. The VCR motor makes a horrible, loud buzzing sound. Were returning the unit today.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-12-07
The system arrived fully functional and performed exactly as advertised. Im quite pleased with the system; its surprisingly capable. Interestingly, it plays my MP3 files without a glitch, something I wish my several hundred dollar 5 disc (MP3 capable) DVD player did.
On: 2002-12-07
We bought the 4400 at Costco. The DVD worked great, no sound problems. The VCR motor makes a horrible, loud buzzing sound. Were returning the unit today.
 On: 2002-12-05
The VHS player sound was perfect, but I could hardly hear the movie when I played a DVD. I bought this unit to go with my new Sony WEGA TV, but the sound output on the DVD side was low even when the TV volume was cranked up to maximum. I called GoVideo to see if this was a known problem and they were not aware of it. I checked all connections, bought new cables, and nothing improved the sound. Unable to resolve the problem, I returned the unit and am still shopping around. The DVD output volume was my only problem, otherwise I thought it was a great machine, so I can only give it an average rating.
On: 2002-12-04
The VHS player sound was perfect, but I could hardly hear the movie when I played a DVD. I bought this unit to go with my new Sony WEGA TV, but the sound output on the DVD side was low even when the TV volume was cranked up to maximum. I called GoVideo to see if this was a known problem and they were not aware of it. I checked all connections, bought new cables, and nothing improved the sound. Unable to resolve the problem, I returned the unit and am still shopping around. The DVD output volume was my only problem, otherwise I thought it was a great machine, so I can only give it an average rating.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-11-16
I purchased the GoVideo because I liked the idea of one unit not two taking up space in my TV stand. It has performed well. Programming is easy. The only thing I dont like about it is you lose the timer recording setting when you lose power. The remote works well from any angle or position. The picture quality is very good. Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase.
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