JVC HR-XVC33U Progressive-Scan DVD/VCR Combo , Silver
By: JVC Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 10
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 On: 2005-11-18
I bought THREE of these things over the last two years ... at least two of them from Amazon. (The actual model number was different -- XVC20U in black -- but its basically the same combo deck theyve been selling for several years now. Now theyve added progressive scan and DVD burner, other than that it looks like the exact same thing that I bought.)
They worked fine at first, but after a while, DVDs started freezing up on them. Oddly, I have absolutely NO trouble playing music CDs in the very same drives.
DVD freezing has has happened on all of them, but it is worse on the unit I have used most. It seems to do it less when the machine or the DVD has cooled down. It gets worse over time. Lens cleaning with a disc-brusher, lens cleaning via taking off the case for direct contact cleaning, and air-pressured dusting -- all do no good.
Anyway, thanks to JVC I have several hundred dollars worth of DVD players that dont play DVDs ... other reviews (under various model numbers) suggest theres not a chance JVC will make good on them.
I have had, in the past, good luck with JVC TVs and car stereo units, and I try to stay loyal to brands, suppliers and what not. But I seriously doubt I will be making any other JVC purchases due to these things. I suppose JVC doesnt place much value on their brand or image or they wouldnt have dumped this stuff into the marketplace.
It seems to be getting harder and harder to find companies that bother to make products that are actually worth what you pay for them. I suppose companies that rip-off customers and laugh their way to the bank must be part of the "new economy" I keep hearing about.
 On: 2005-04-10
I have owned this unit for about 15 months now. I bought it as a bedroom unit. I wanted a good DVD player and a VHS to transfer TiVo content onto tape. I was especially interested in getting a high-quality DVD as I have a high-end Panasonic 20" LCD TV in the bedroom. I am very happy with the picture quality of the DVD player to say the least. I watch 4-5 movies per week due to a large DVD collection and NetFlix. In fact, I do the majority of my DVD viewing in the bedroon, not my main LR HT setup. I watched "The Incredibles" on this player a few nights ago and it looked stunning. I appreciate the front AV connections to connect my TiVO to the unit to transfer recordings onto tape. I have had no mechanical problems with this player in all the time Ive owned it. The remote is good, there is a good setup\\adjustment menu. It gives me everything I want and I get it for a very inexpensive price!
-Mike
On: 2004-03-24
I havent yet had a problem with the DVD player on this unit. The VCR seems to work OK too, and I figured out how to program timer recording easily. A cool feature is that it reads your tape and tells you how much time you have left on it to record when you arent sure if you have room for a program. The only real drawback I had was the hookup instructions. They were needlessly complicated and could have been written a lot simpler than they were. Once I figured out what I needed to do, hookup was a breeze. But the reading the directions made it harder, not easier.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-03-17
I purchased this DVD/VCR combo just two weeks ago and already the VCR section of the player does not work. Electronics are just not what they used to be. Returned the item and would not recommend to anyone.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-03-12
Because of a good price on-line, I bought this unit to replace a separate Panasonic DVD player and a Samsung VCR. I have been disappointed in the performance of the DVD player, which seems inferior to my entry-level progressive scan Panasonic. The player is also much fussier about which disks it will play. In addition, the remote is very difficult to navigate in the relatively dim environs of my home theater. I have since returned the Panasonic to home theater use and will use the JVC combo in the bedroom.
On: 2004-02-29
I bought this unit from Circuit City about 5 months ago. The first one I took home had a problem with DVDs skipping until the display read "no disk" I tried every DVD I had, even new ones. I took it back and CC seemed sceptical, but grudgenly replaced it. The second unit played DVDs fine, but sometimes the remote would switch to VCR and sometimes it wouldnt. It always plays the DVD in the unit when you turn it on, and if there is no DVD in it, it says "no disk" and sticks there until you turn it off and back on, with a disk. You cannot get it to go to VCR so you can tune the TV with the unit, and it makes using the remote more difficult. It is impossible to get it to play a tape now. I dont know what the warranty is, but I really do not want to screw with CC again. I am kicking this unit to the curb and going to look at what Sony has to offer tomorrow. JVC, do better.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-02-24
The HR-XVC33U shows great picture and performs well, which is no surprise based on other products in the JVC family. For those looking to record from VHS onto DVD, this product will not suffice. If your wedding is on videotape, you can get an IWeD from anchordigital.com and then play the IWeD (and your original videotape) in the JVC unit.Overall - solid picture & sound, good overall DVD/VHS player
On: 2004-01-29
The JVC HR-XVC33U is amazing! Ive played several DVDs, store-bought videos, audio CDs, and a CD-R that contained audio and JPEGs. Everything played beautifully. At first I had some problems playing DVDs but after cleaning the DVDs it worked fine (whew!). After reading about so many lemons out there involving combo DVD/VCRs, I consider myself lucky! [knock on wood]Some other nice features are DVD Zoom (very cool!), diff. FFWD/RWD speeds, bookmarking, index skipping, front A/V inputs, excellent remote that controls TV/VCR/DVD, and VCR timer recording (up to 1 month). I did some serious research and price comparisons on several combo DVD/VCR players before deciding on the JVC HR-XVC33U. In the end I picked the JVC model because it seemed to be plagued by *less* problems than the other models, had a huge feature set, and was cheap compared to other models in its class. The Sony SLV-D300P has almost identical features plus Flash Rewind and looks nicer but costs about $25 more. The Sony SLV-D500P has identical features and VCR+ and an illuminated remote but costs about $35 more. Other competitors in its class were: Toshiba SD-V391 (different model had very low rating on Consumer Reports - bad sign), Panasonic PV-D4743K/S (cant record DVDs, about $10 more than JVC, but plays DVD Audio which is rare), and Samsung DVD-V3650 (the consistently bad ratings on every Samsung model told me to run away fast). One thing you need to be careful of is that combo DVD/VCRs sometimes skimp on features you would expect in a standalone DVD or VCR player such as VCR+, front A/V inputs, VCR timer recording, and DVR-to-VCR recording. Also, I suspect that the many reviewers who reported DVD playback problems (Im talking about for ALL combo DVD/VCR players not just JVC) didnt try cleaning the DVD first. I would definitely recommend getting the JVC!!
by: Anonymous On: 2003-12-31
I am on my third one and its going back too. The first had a problem with the door on the VCR. I couldnt get the tape out with out holding the door open with my hand. The second and third ones have blurry vision on VCR playback. I have stuck with this unit so long because I loved the remote. Well laid out, big buttons, easy to read. On the pluss side the DVD works fine. But thats it for me with this unit.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-11-13
I am truly amazed at the technology and features bundled into this entry-level priced unit! Progessive scan DVD player with on-board Dolby Digital & DTS, Hi-Fi VCR, ability to play CD, CD-R, CD-RW including CD-Rs containing MP3s and JPEG image files...for $159.00 or less!!! Set-up was straightforward, the remote logical, build quality OK althought the CD-DVD tray seems a bit flimsy. Ive already tried it with DVDs, CD-audio, CD-Rs containing MP3s or JPEGs, and it handled them all flawlessly. Navigation on-screen for the MP3 or JPEG CD-Rs was intuitive and easy. Sound and picture quality is at least equivalent to my older, pricier Toshiba unit.Overall, not quite of state-of-the-art audiophile/videophile Dream Machine caliber, but a versatile player and an amazing value. If you enjoy DVDs, audio CDs, & MP3/JPEG containing CD-Rs dont hesitate to buy this unit.
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