As detailed in another thread I suddenly find I have to get another television and DVD player.
Lady Chance would like me to pick up a TV that has a DVD player onboard.
Anyone have any experience with such things? Care to share?
Haven’t seen a one. I have seen VCR/DVD combos, but no TV/DVD combos.
That said, I would stay away from them. Combo units have some drawbacks, as a rule:
[ul][li]If one part breaks, both parts break. That is, if the DVD player breaks, you’ll still have to buy a whole DVD player to replace it, you probably won’t go to the expense to have just the DVD player part fixed.[/li][li]Poor quality. The manufacturer is going to have to make compromises somewhere to put two pieces in one case at the price point they think will sell. Those compromises may or may not be significant to you, but why take the chance?[/ul][/li]Hope this helps.
Oh, wait! Are you talking about this kind of thing? If so, please accept my apologies. I don’t think of those as a TV with a DVD player, I think of them as a DVD player with a screen, because I don’t think you can use them for anything but watching the DVD.
While not having any specific experience with the DVD player/TV combo, I would recommend not getting one as lifespans on DVD players and TVs can be quite different. As a result, anytime your DVD player needs to be serviced, you have to shlep your TV in as well (and vice versa). My experince has been that the “consolidated” units are more of a hassle than they’re worth*.
*[sub]Having two broken combo telephone + answering machine units at home, one with a broken phone, the other with a broken answering machine. At least I have 1 functional combo between the two of em.[/sub]
I’m a frequent audio/video buyer, and I have yet to see a TV/DVD combo. I’d recommend avoiding any such critter for the reasons given above.
To get the best picture and sound from your DVD player, be sure to get a TV with RGB composite video. Composite video supplies the red, green, and blue signals separately to your TV, so that you get clean, crisp video.
Second best is an S-video connection. It divides the b/w and color signals so that you get a really clear picture.
Third best is your standard RCA connectors.
Whatever you do, be sure to get good cable to hook up your DVD player to your TV–75-ohm cable with a gas-injected foam dielectric, a foil shield that covers 100% of the dielectric, and an additional braided tinned-copper shield to reject RF interference.
The cable that comes with your DVD player can be discarded because it is substandard, unshielded, and lossy.
For a DVD player stick with Sony, Samsung, or Panasonic. Avoid the el-cheapo Chinese “bargains.” It should be Dolby Digital and DTS compatible.
The place where I get my hair cut has a TV/DVD/VCR combo. It’s a Panasonic I think. Its got the screen up top w/ a DVD tray in the bottom corner and a VCR in the other bottom corner. I’ve never seen em use the VCR or DVD but at least you know they do exist.
I had a TV/VCR combo. I won’t make that mistake again.
When the TV worked the VCR didn’t. When the VCR worked, the TV didn’t.
Finally, they both broke at the same time and we got rid of it.
I had the TV/VCR combo. I discarded it this week with a broken VCR. I fiddled with the thing for hours, just to try to find the interlock that kept the TV part from working when the tape is in it. Even though I got the tape out, I never found the gizmo to let the TV start working again.
I’d recommend separate components.
I don’t like my components next to each other cause I don’t want the signal interfering with each other (not that it would
but I like to make sure).
Also, you can’t update them without doing them all.