Customer Reviews
BE WARNED! 
2008-06-21
Everything written about this unit in the other reviews is accurate. The combo player/recorder is an excellent example of a dying breed, is well crafted, and (I presume) performs to expectations. So why only 3 stars? Because no where in the description was the most important factor, that the V9800 is TUNERLESS. It must be used with another tuner source...like a set top box. Interestingly, I get cable from Time Warner through regular, in the wall, coax and all three of my HDTV's (Sony Bravia and 2 Sharps) have provisions for coax input. With separate DVD players and "traditional" VCR's this is no problem. Unfortunately I have not found any of the current combo players accepting of coax input for the VCR.
If you receive cable through a set top box this unit would be fine, and for under a $100 represents a nice value for the quality of build. My real gripe is with amazon for not being more diligent in spec'ing technical products that they sell. So 5 stars for Samsung and 0 stars for the amazonians!
Great player with only a few minor annoyances... 
2008-05-26
VCRs are extinct, and even DVD/VCR combo players are starting to become very slim pickings. As a result, most manufacturers focus all their ingenuity on the high end electronics and churn out nothing but crap on the low end. In contrast, Samsung makes high quality electronics at both ends of the spectrum and this unit is no exception. Everything about this player screams quality, from the look of the unit, to the way it gently retracts and ejects videotapes.
A couple of my favorite things about this player:
1. Has all the bells and whistles of your typical player, and a few extras to boot. For example, a forward advance button on the remote that allows you to skip ahead 30 seconds, and a repeat button that allows you to skip back 15 seconds. This is a common function on DVRs, but I had never seen such a thing on a VCR or DVD player.
2. Some VCRs have trouble playing tapes recorded on other machines. This player does not. Moreover, it gives the most crystal clear picture I have ever seen from videotape. The auto-tracking works great. On the rare occasion that auto-tracking does not work, you can also track manually from the remote.
And now a couple minor annoyances:
1. No ability to see the time remaining on DVDs. This is actually kind of a major annoyance. I like to watch DVD extras, but I want to know what I'm getting myself into, since some extras are longer than the actual movie... Oddly, you can check time remaining on videotapes, just not DVDs. This seems like a glaringly bizarre oversight.
2. The rewind/fast forward speeds for the DVD player are 2X, 4X...and 64X! Accidentally hit the button a third time and you've just jumped into lightspeed. Good luck finding where you were. If they could only have three speeds, why not 8X or 16X? But 64X??? Weird!!!
Overall, this is an excellent player, but the annoyances keep it from getting a 5 star rating.
Great Price and HDMI Support 2008-04-14
A friend recommended the Samsung, as he has had very good luck with them, so I started looking at reviews over the past month on both DVD/VCR Players and Recorders. I had wanted to convert all my VHS Tapes to DVD, and had initially wanted a DVD Recorder, but since you cannot copy Copyrighted Material, I decided to go for the Player Combo.
Pros: The HDMI Interface is a must with my new Bravia T.V., and the Up-Conversion works great at 1080P. I also have a Sony Blu-Ray, but did not want to wear it out from watching just good old DVD's, besides it's a bit finicky at times and takes a long time to boot and load.
Cons: The VCR only works with the Video Out (Composite), so you still have to run those old Red/White and Yellow wires to support the VCR. I had hoped I could use a single output, but the only commonality across the DVD and the VHS would be the Composite Output and I would have then lost the HDMI Capability and the Up-Conversion.
Over-all, it allows me to have a single unit, and still watch my VHS Tapes, and also supports higher clarity with regular DVD's, providing better quality than my Older Progressive Scan DVD on my older Sony 57 Inch, as it only supports the lower 480p.
