Price Paid:  $299.00 from Circuit City ?

Summary:
Purchased the Dual Go Video unit to allow our children to view both VHS collection and venture into the DVD arena. Go Video offered one of the first dual VHS/DVD players and we purchased it. After one Month, the DVD drawer simply would not open. Calls to Go Video and the standard "unplug" for 20 minutes did not help the problem. Was asked to send unit back to factory for warranty work. Took one month before we received the unit back. Occasionally had the DVD lock-up problem, seems to do this when warm. Skipping and other play problems continued. It has finally locked up for good and again refuses to open. Next step is the curb. The VHS side of things has been worry free but the DVD transport is terrible. With all the new companies in the dual player market, would highly suggest seeking another brand

Strengths:
None

Weaknesses:
Does not work very well even when playing DVD

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Phillips, Denon

Price Paid:  $100.00 from Used from Ebay Selle

Summary:
I bought this refurbished unit from a private seller on Ebay (smart feller, to get rid of it...), and was at first very pleased with it. The VCR worked (and continues to work) great, and the DVD player only occasionally skipped, something I attributed to the rental DVDs. The remote (a universal remote, not the original) drove me up the wall, since it was impossible to program properly, and we could only ever select things from the left or right (not up and down), but again, this was not the fault of the player. In the last 6 months, however, the DVD player has started to evidence all of the problems noted by everyone else here: if it recognizes the DVD at all, it skips or freezes at the most inopportune times (right in the middle of one of the most harrowing parts of The Ring!), and we have to sit there, patiently inserting and re-inserting the disk until it finally recognizes the DVD, and we can try to continue watching the film. Yesterday, we finally gave up and bought a new player (a Magnavox dual system... anyone heard anything about those?), and so far, it's worked like a dream. We cheered when it recognized the disk on the first try, and almost cried at the end of the film, because it hadn't skipped once...

Strengths:
I love the dual DVD/VCR idea.

Weaknesses:
Paying $100 for a VCR is a bit much.

Similar Products Used:
Magnavox MDV540VR ($130 at Target): so far, so good.

Price Paid:  $270.00 from KMart

Summary:
I really like my DVR5000, I chose this one over the 4000 models because the features were so much more. It was originally $399.99 but got it on sale. I also like the ability to play my CDR and CDRW on it. It's really an A+ machine.

Strengths:
I like that I can watch a DVD and record a show on the VCR at the same time. My daughter likes it as it's simple to use, just insert the dvd or video and it's on and playing, no hard to find buttons to press in sequence to get the show to play.

Weaknesses:
I really can't find one. We don't watch a lot of videos or dvds so this machine doesn't get used much. The only weakness I can think of is that this machine is so big, takes up a lot of room in the entertainment center next to the tivo box. Silly though.

Similar Products Used:
I also have a Sharp brand model. I like this one too.

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Curb side garbage, w

Summary:
I like to get free JUNK to fix... and this is definitely FREE JUNK. So, I tried it out, opened 'er up, and, even though I am a Retired Air Force technician, and have since designed the standards for UL fire/burglar reporting centers, and several alarm panels, and have access to a multi-million dollar repair center, on our spacious assembly lines, I will pass on this one! Kept the new batteries from the Remote, and that Free, New Coaxial cable, with the gold ends!

Strengths:
Great concept, nice layout, neat features, NONE OF WHICH WORK! Maybe that is why Denon got the company 'GoVideo' so cheap?

Weaknesses:
Obviously, LG electronics was as poor an assembler on the DVR-5000 DVD sub-assembly as they were on all those FREE computer CDROMs I acquired that are on the JUNK PILE, also! Why can't we give some things a ZERO STAR rating?

Similar Products Used:
You name it, I been there, done it, in electronics, from the All American 5 radio, since 1963, to the Itanium 64 bit technology, worldwide!

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Curb side garbage, w

Summary:
I like to get free JUNK to fix... and this is definitely FREE JUNK. So, I tried it out, opened 'er up, and, even though I am a Retired Air Force technician, and have since designed the standards for UL fire/burglar reporting centers, and several alarm panels, and have access to a multi-million dollar repair center, on our spacious assembly lines, I will pass on this one! Kept the new batteries from the Remote, and that Free, New Coaxial cable, with the gold ends!

Strengths:
Great concept, nice layout, neat features, NONE OF WHICH WORK! Maybe that is why Denon got the company 'GoVideo' so cheap?

Weaknesses:
Obviously, LG electronics was as poor an assembler on the DVR-5000 DVD sub-assembly as they were on all those FREE computer CDROMs I acquired that are on the JUNK PILE, also! Why can't we give some things a ZERO STAR rating?

Similar Products Used:
You name it, I been there, done it, in electronics, from the All American 5 radio, since 1963, to the Itanium 64 bit technology, worldwide!