With its slim design and easy input access you can enjoy viewing your old home videos or the latest DVD release.
With its high-end component-video DVD outputs, VHS recording and playback abilities, built-in MP3 decoding, and compatibility with JPEG image CDs and Kodak Picture CDs, Samsung's DVD-V4600 DVD/VCR combo is a conveniently slim entertainment dynamo. Now you'll be able to enjoy a slideshow of your digital pictures right on your television. It will play video-mode DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW discs, too, making it a great gift for family members with whom you'd like to share your home videos on DVD. This model also includes front-panel audio/video inputs so you can quickly and easily hook up a camcorder or gaming console.
Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the DVD-V4600 stands ready to deliver the full potential of your DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.
The VCR delivers hi-fi stereo sound and quasi-S-VHS (SQPB) playback, which lets you view S-VHS cassettes--normally only playable on high-end S-VHS machines--in standard VHS resolution. The unit's 4-head design ensures smooth slow-motion play (forward and reverse) and clear still-frame images. Use the VCR's advance-record settings to make sure you never miss a favorite show or pertinent one-time broadcast.
Top-of-the-line component-video outputs (for DVD only) help minimize digital and line-scan artifacts on compatible advanced televisions, while composite- and S-video outputs bring DVD compatibility with nearly any television. The VCR output is composite-video and RF only. A set of left/right analog-audio outputs for both DVD and VCR components channel audio to Dolby Pro Logic receivers and stereo televisions. Both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound DVD signals can be routed through the player's digital-audio outputs (one each optical and coaxial) for direct connection to a full-featured audio/video receiver.
Another handy feature is EZ View letterbox eliminator, which lets you enjoy full-screen pictures on 4:3 aspect-ratio TVs--even when you're watching widescreen DVDs.
What's in the Box
DVD/VCR combo unit, IR remote control, 2 AA batteries, user's manual, stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable, and warranty information.
1 Avoid this unit,
On "paper" this was the perfect unit for my bedroom for saving space and at a great price. I wanted buttons on the front, and it was made by a major manufacturer that I trusted. The VCR would not track. The DVD player constantly froze leaving a green screen. I regret that I did not read the reviews of others more carefully prior to my decision to buy. I looked only at the average number of stars in the rating.
2 Stay away from Samsung unit
This machine is simply unreliable. When I played VHS tapes, a number of the tapes appeared distorted on the screen, with the top portion of the image wavy. This could not be fixed using the tracking button on the machine. I am returning mine to the vendor.
3 Piece of junk!
Our DVD portion of the player broke (same problem as others have listed--freezes up and won't play anymore or just won't even load a DVD) within 6 months of the original purchase. We sent it in to be repaired under warranty. Was returned and broke within a month. Sent it back in and the company repeatedly refused shipment of the DVD/VCR unit even though we had followed all instructions on how to return it and included appropriate authorization numbers given to us when we called to set up service. We have invest way more in shipping than we ever should have in the first place to have this unit fixed. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 VERY BAD UNIT
TWO WEEKS AFTER I BOUGTH IT I HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CD TRAY, IT DID NOT OPEN. IT WAS REPAIRED BUT NOW IT IS SHOWING A DIFFERENT PROBLEM, SOMETIMES THE IMAGE FREEZES CONTINUOSLY MAKING ALMOST IMPOSIBLE TO WATCH A MOVIE. I HAVE HAD IT FOR FIVE MONTHS BY NOW AND I AM STARTING TO THINK OF BUYING ANOTHER DVD PLAYER RATHER THAN TRYING TO REPAIR THIS ONE AGAIN. OBVIOUSLY I WILL KEEP AWAY FROM SAMSUNG THIS TIME.
5 This unit is great!
I am very happy with this unit. The buzzing sound discussed in other reviews here is greatly exaggerated and certainly no louder than any other VCR I've used. Actually, I was initially amazed at how quiet this unit is. As for the DVD player, it seems to play every brand of DVD+R (including very cheap ones) discs I've thrown at it.
6 Poor quality and almost non-existant support from Samsung
I actually have an earlier model Samsung DVD player, and it, along with other Samsung models at the time, had a horrible skipping problem on many DVDs. Samsung's support was almost non-existant -- I found out there was a firmware upgrade for the player, but not through their website (where I couldn't find any help whatsoever), but through a friend with the same problem. HOWEVER, the firmware upgrade did not resolve the problem, and the last I heard, there was a class action suit filed here in Pennsylvania (which I received an invitiation to be a part of, but could not participate in, I think because I no longer had the receipt). Considering their lackluster customer support, I would advise anyone against buying any DVD player from this company. Players are much cheaper nowadays anyway, and you can get an excellent Sony or Toshiba for a modest price.
7 Don't buy
I have had this combo unit for about 6 months. It worked fine for a while then whamo. The DVD player heats up about half way through a movie and the picture freezes and will not play. The door on the DVD side has fallen off (not due to any rough treatment). The VCR makes funny noises when playing a tape. The remote control is not a universal remote so I had to add one more remote to my collection. I'am very unhappy with this unit.
8 Samsung DVD-4600 DVD/VCR Combo
I had purchase the Samsung DVD/VCR Combo for my wife for X-mas. She loves taking pictures with her digital camera. The DVD plays JEG pictures. I set up the DVD/VCR combo. The DVD worked perfect. The VCR would play but the tracking was very bad. I couldn't correct it with the tracking controls. The VCR ate my tape, I could not get the tape out. I had to stand in long return lines at our Best BUY electronics store to return it. The 16 year old employee informs me I should purchase the 3 year warranty after what happen to the last DVD/VCR Player. I said NO! There are to many quality products at Amazon.com. I took my money and ordered online............
9 This item was only $88 at Target on 12/11/04.
Don't know about the unit, but I saw this for cheaper at Target.
10 dvd fails!!
I brought my samsung 4600 on 6/10/2004 from circuit city. I had actually was only going to buy a new VCR, but wanting to get into the 21 century I brought this combo unit. It worked great, until last week when the dvd failed to work. I had the unit just 6 months!!! After doing a little researching on the web I am now finding out that many consumers are having this problem with this unit. (epinions.com) Samsung was not very helpful. However Circuit City has sent the unit for repair. I would recommend buying separate units. I just purchased a panasonic dvd player and panasonic VHS unit, separate units. Now I am just waiting for circuit city to call when the samsung is repaired. I'll probably just keep it as a spare or donate it to the salvation army.
Brenda
11 Poor Audio
I bought the unit today, I'm bringing it back tomorrow. The DVD video playback isn't bad, but the VCR video and sound is terrible. To me this unit sounds like everything played back is in MONO. Even when just listening to TV through it's receiver. Also, the video tracking isn't that great on pre-recorded tapes and there is some audio noise on playback of tapes and DVD's. I'm going to look at the JVC unit.
12 Okay except for buzzy VCR
This unit performs the basic functions well. I had no trouble hooking it up to a 20-year-old TV with just an RF connection, but I didn't set it up for component cables (DVD only). No optical output, which may matter to someone wanting to hook it to an A/V receiver. I read three reviews on amazon.com that mentioned a buzz or hum when playing video tapes, but I still decided to buy the unit. It is noisy, but bearable.
13 Don't buy it...
This DVD/VCR combo is crap. The VCR plays tapes fine although it rewinds and fast-forwards very slowly. The DVD player plays DVDs and CDs perfectly well, but that's it. It doesn't play any of the other formats that it claims it can play. I've tried DVD-R, DVD+R, VCD (.avi, .mpeg), CD-R/RW, and MP3 CDs (it will load the MP3 CD but won't play it) and every single time it says, "This disc cannot be played." I bought an APEX DVD player for half the cost of this worthless contraption (only $60) and it plays all of these formats great.
14 Missing a few features
There are some limitations to consider when purchasing this unit.<br />
1. Doesn't play VCD disks. If you burn CD-R video on your computer, this cannot play it.<br />
2. Doesn't directly record from DVD to VCR, but you can wire the input/output to do the recording from the aux input.<br />
3. Doesn't display seconds on the front panel display, so it makes it a little difficult to see if you're actually rewinding since you don't see seconds go by.<br />
<br />
It does a fine job of DVD and it remembers where you stopped the DVD, even if you turn off the unit. The VCR can step forward at various rates, but cannot step backwards.
15 Angela's
I really like this unit and it hooked up great with my home theater system. The picture is awesome and the price was very reasonable. Very nice looking unit and easy to use. I would recommend this unit to friends or family.
16 Does NOT play video CDs (VCDs)
Under the features in Amazon's description, it says this unit plays Video CDs (VCDs). It does not. I just purchased one, and the manual does not include VCDs among the supported media types -- and guess what, it won't play them. While that capability may not matter to many, it does for me, so I'll be returning it. Otherwise, it seems to work just fine.
17 NO DVD+R Compatability
I bought this particular one because on the box it said it had DVD+RW Compatability. I have backed up alot of our vcr tapes and DVD's on to DVD+R Disks. When I placed it into the player it would get stuck on loading for half an hour then say no disk. Don't buy it!!!
18 Samsung DVD/VCR Combo
We did not own a DVD player, and with since so many DVD's have extras such as commentaries and added footage, we decided it was time to buy one. Since our VCR had some age on it, we decided to get this DVD/VCR combo. First of all, it would not work at all on our 11 year old Magnavox TV, so we bought a new TV. Then we found that the VCR has a buzzing noise which is very annoying, so we hooked our old VCR back up. The only good quality about this unit is that we get good results with the DVD player. I would not recommend this Samsung DVD/VCR unit. There have to be better combos out there on the market.
19 Poor combo
The VCR is noisy, it actually makes a vibration that affects the video qulaity during recording or playback of a pre-recorded tape.
The remote is not layed out very well, the on screen menu is confusing and difficult to navigate through.
I should have been clued in when I bought this unit, there were six units in boxes, two of them were open box specials (returns). You can probably guess why they were returned.
I'm returning this item and getting separate DVD and VCR units.
20 I like
The equipment is very simple to use and has a sleek design. I like the versatility and easy to use instructions.
21 So far so good
I'm very skeptical when it comes to DVD players...all the companies are getting sued for putting knowingly defective models on the market. So I hesistated in buying any type of DVD player until now. So with much hesitation and trepidation, I plunked down the $120 plus $40 for ESP at Circuit City. I have yet to use the DVD player. But my son uses the VCR a lot. I noticed right off the bat that the VCR makes a humming/grating noise. I thought it was the tape so I tried various different titles and they all do it.
Anyone else have a noisy VCR deck?? If not, maybe I just got a buggy one and should swap it.
22 I Have a Question for Users of This Product
For those of you that have a Samsung DVD-V4600 DVD / VCR Combo, can you please answer this question: is it able when in VCR mode and when recording to do quick fast-forward over the commercials? My present VCR, a Panasonic does that and it is great when you go to watch because it automatically fast forwards very fast over the commercials and you do not have to even use the remote to do that.
Thank you for your answer.
23 I agree with below on mp3's
I also cannot get mp3's to play, i bought it for the large combo of items it can play, as it was advertised all over the place at stores like best buy, circuit city, etc and online stores saying it plays mp3's, but as of now, no luck. it reads disc but doesn't play. i see reviews saying it can. any tips?
24 your glich is easily fixed
you just need to take a trip to an electronics supply store. there is a converter that you place into the RF cable input, on the other end is an RCA line input that you plug the player into. costs about $10-$20
25 Great unit!
I have had this unit for about a year and a half. It has worked extremely well. So well in fact that I purchased another one for my classroom. Unfortunately it was stolen from my storage closet over the summer so I need to purchase another one. In fact, I think I'll order one today.
26 The first review has it dead on...
...except for a third little gripe. All of Samsung's literature says that it has an optical digital audio output, and the back is labelled for it, but the panel where it should be is blank. I replaced a defective V3650 with this V4600 and I couldn't believe that they would say it has something, then not actually have it. The V3650 is much better, in my opinion...
However, the combo DVD/VCR concept is an excellent one and I am still pleased with this product. It saves valuable space in my stereo cabinet which has now ballooned to 6 components and a maze full of wires.
27 Beware if you have an older TV
As mentioned in previous reviews, this unit will only play DVDs and tapes on TVs that have an RCA line input (the same little plugs that connect stereo components). This means the unit WILL NOT work with older TVs that have only the RF cable input (like mine). I bought the 4600 to replace a 3650 model which was stolen, unaware of this crucial difference -- the 3650 allowed you to view DVDs through the cable RF input. As a result this unit is completely useless to me, unless I want to spend the money for a new tv set. I know my set is old (about 10 years), but come on -- there are still enough out there that omitting this capability from Samsung's new sets to save a few bucks is really cheesy.
28 Lots of Style, a couple Problems
There are only two real negatives that I've discovered. But both are really annoying.
First, the output from the unit for both VHS and DVD is only via composite LINE OUT. This means you need to switch your TV's input each time you change from watching a tape or DVD to watching tv. Older models had dual outputs where you could hook up a coax line to the tv as well as composites to the Video input and both would be driven, so there would be no need to switch unless you really wanted the slightly higher video quality from the composite line.
Second, there's no indicator light when you've programmed the VCR to tape on a timer. What's up with that?
Otherwise great value for the cost; and quite an attractive package. Tech support from Samsung was very very good when I called for a quick answer to a complex question.
29 good choice at a ffair price
I purchased this unit to add to my samsung plasma tv. It is easy to use, takes up little space and its' picture quality is first rate. Automatic screen filler feature is a neat touch. I liked it so much I bought a second unit as a gift for my daughter.
30 Load put on consumer rather then tech support -- beware...
I was VERY DISAPPOINTED with this unit. I already have a Samsung 3500, which works very well. The new "feature" for the 4600 (really anything above a 3650) is that the input needs to be changed to LINE when you want to watch a DVD/VHS; and changed BACK when you want to watch cable. As this was purchased for my 80 year old parents, they were too confused to have to keep changing back, and did not use the unit.
I called Samsung tech support (who were super), and they said they are getting a boat load of calls on this very issue. It seems it was easier/cheaper for their techies to develop with the consumer having to do the switching manually.
I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND this model. There are too many other choices that work well and don't have this quirk.
31 Does not play MP3s
I just picked up a Samsung DVD-V4600, and so far I'm fairly happy with it. The DVD player and VCR work as advertised, but there are a lot of "little" things that bug me about the player. Despite most of the on-line descriptions that I've read claiming that it can play MP3 discs, it can't. To be fair though, the box that it came in makes no claim of being able to play MP3s, just DVD/CD/CDR/JPG/VHS plus super VHS and a host of recordable DVD formats. I've tried them all out except super VHS and home-recorded DVDs (I don't have any of either) and everything I've tried (except MP3s) has worked fine. It was interesting watching a slide show of all the JPG pictures I took with my digital camera last year.
The couple small things that bug me: The remote has no "previous channel" button, if you're using the player as a substitute cable box. This is most irritating, because I tend to flip back and forth between channels a lot, and it's tedious having to constantly type in the channel numbers. Also, if the DVD you're watching supports multiple viewing angles, the player puts an annoying icon of a camera in the top right corner of the screen, and there's no way to get rid of it as far as I can tell. And lastly, if you want to use the "zoom" feature for DVDs (which comes in handy if you like to read the credits in movies on a non-big-screen TV), you have to step through two or three menu levels to get to "zoom" - there's no button for it on the remote.
I've only had the player for about a week, so I'll probably find more little annoyances, but so far I can live with it. It's not a bad DVD/VCR, all in all.
32 Not the same as the 3650
The v4600 is apparently supposed to be the new version of the Samsung DVD-V3650. I bought the 4600 thinking it was the 3650 one of which I already own. Beware that the 4600 remote control does not control TVs like the 3650 remote does. Since I am trying to reduce the number of remotes I have to use and I really liked the 3650, I am taking the 4600 back to the store. The picture seemed ok but the functionality is not as good as the 3650.
