Please note .. if you're a serious AV person, this should not be the center-piece of your Home Theater. However it makes a great second/bedroom player.

I bought this unit after returning a Samsung DVD-2000 that I was just not pleased with. This unit's operation was much quieter than the Samsung, plus the DVD's video performance was slightly crisper (using the S-Video jack) and the audio was very noticeably better. This unit has played every disc I've put in it, DVD, CD, CD-RW. It has played a disc of MP3s that were encoded anywhere from 128kbps to 320kbps.

The VHS quality, is well, VHS quality. It's just a standard VCR. Other than HiFi, there are no frills. On the plus side though, it plays tapes fine, isn't loud, and hasn't eaten any of my tapes.

The only problem with this unit is that the auto-clock feature doesn't seem to work, or I have some setting wrong. Either way, that's a problem .. it's a pretty basic feature.

The remote isn't a universal, which is only a minor annoyance.

Its ok, but not for the money (Rating: 3.00)
Review : Well after being a hard-core zenith fan for many many years I decided to go with this machine when my old Zenith VCR ate a tape after 15 years and a few quirky ejections.

This one seemed like a good choice, ...the few problems I did have were caused by those annoying people putting thier grubby dirty fingers on the DVDs at Blockbuster that messed up the player reading them. after a quick rub on the DVD it worked fine.

The remote is a bit small for peopel with big fingers, but not impossible to use.

My biggest qualm with it? The buttons on the front are very hard to read and see which button you are pushing. This is due to the reflective backing the buttons are set through. If you have this unit set low and in a dark spot you can pretty much forget seeing what you are pushing, best choice is to the use the remote.

I can't testify to the programing of this unit since I've trying to figure out how to get the best picture throgh a cable box comming from a new HDTV and all the other boxes and cables, I haven't had time to bother trying to record something.

If I had the chance to buy it again? I think I would pass and go for something a progressive scan capability. I would consider a Zenith in that yes, but this no. Especially since I saw how going from the RCA connection to the S-Video improved the quality. Maybe using the component output would kick it up to change my mind, maybe not.

Very pleased so far... (Rating: 5.00)
Review : While I haven't had the unit for very long I have been very pleased with it up to this point. It is silver with a mirrored band along the bottom where most of the buttons reside. Although this can make reading the button label a bit tricky I think it gives it a slick look. Set-up was easy on my 27" analog set and the instructions covered many different potential configurations. The remote is not universal nor is it back-lit but it is small and handy with an efficient button layout. This was fine for me because I've grown tired of so many large remotes cluttering up the coffee table.

I have only watched a couple DVDS but have had no problems. The VCR functions also seem to work fine at this early stage so no complaints there. The timed recording function is solid with programming being fairly intuitive. My only comment is that there does not seem to be a way to set the time to record without scrolling through each minute. If that is the worst I can say about it then I have had a good experience. The unit was a bit noisy when I tested it out on the floor but once I set it on its shelf under the TV it operated quietly.

The MP3/CD Audio functions work only OK. The music plays well and it is nice to be able to set up play lists from a disc but I haven't figured out how to shuffle an entire MP3 disc. Especially if the MP3s are burned into seperate folders by album. Perhaps more reading of the manual will help but it looks like all the MP3s need to be copied into one directory to do any meaningful shuffling. Good job all around though.

Pleased with this product for over one year (Rating: 5.00)
Review : Fine product for the money. With an extensive library of old VHS tapes, and kids who are enthralled with all the new DVDs available, I turned to this unit almost one year ago. It has performed flawlessly. It is a no-brainer to program, which is good because I don't have a brain for these things normally.

I have used it in conjunction with both my old analog camcorder, and a newer digital model. Fine.

I have used it without cable attached, and with cable running through it. Fine.

VERY IMPORTANTLY...it is easy enough for my kids (under 10) to use it without Dad's help. EVEN MORE IMPORTANT...Mom can use it without Dad's hinderance.

If anyone breaks it now, after one year, well it doesn't owe me anything. Good choice all-in-all.

A disappointment (Rating: 2.00)
Review : I thought all dvd/vcr combos were probably pretty much the same. I had a Sharp which I liked but needed to get another for my the teens' tv room. The Zenith was on sale. I don't use it much but here's what I don't like about it so far: programming is a pain. You can't use the number pad, and unlike even my 5-year-old VCR, you have to use up and down keys for the hour&minutes combined (that is, you push the up arrow and it goes from 12:00 to 12:01, up and it goes 12:01 to 12:02, etc. you can't separate the hour from the minutes for faster programming). On my Sharp, I can use either the number pad (with hour & minute separated) or the up & down arrows. In addition, it seems to have little versatility on rewind or FF. The same DVD which I can rewind in tiny segments on my Sharp can only be rewound (or fast forward) in big chunks on the Zenith. I have a feeling that Zenith is using the oldest available technology. The pathetic thing is that it cost just as much as my Sharp.