tv video combis

[Shelly]

Are Tv/video combined sets ever as good as separate machines? We get a hum/hiss when playing videos(any) on our combi. Is this a fault or inherent in these machines?

[genius.com]

Not really, it means that you have to watch the channel you are recording. Great of you only tape when your out of the house. Not so great if you want to watch one side and record another.

[elliottg]

Many of the better combo machines have 2 tuners so you can watch one side and record another. I have a new SONY WEGA KV-14 and it's fine. As with most things, you pay for what you get.

With the plethora of technology about at the moment I'm quite keen on this sort of thing, Phillips or Thompson I think are bringing out a combined TV, Video and DVD player this year which should cut down cable clutter a lot.

[Sensei]

I always looked at it this way. In a combo unit, if the TV breaks, then the VCR is useless. You couldn't hook it up to another TV. VCR's, which have mechanical parts don't last nearly as long as TV's. If one breaks, when (if) you send it out to be repaired you lose your TV and VCR or if you decide not to have it fixed, then you have to replace both. Oh wait...that wasn't your question, was it? I'd say it's either a poor quality unit or you just happened to get a bad one. I had two of the same VCR, one hissed, one didn't. I'd think that a combo unit would be less likely to have noise problems since they were designed together and there are not long cables to pick up interference.

[rut]

Another problem with them is that television sets usually have a much longer lifespan than video recorders, and that in combination sets, the two pieces can break down independently of each other.. Therefore, after the video recorder no longer works you still have it stuck to the bottom of your TV, taking up space.