Funai Corp. DV220FX5 Dual Deck DVD and VHS Player

This was a blessing. Now my tapes play again and most go back from 1989 until 2001. They all worked and still looked very good considering the technology which at the time seemed modern. I bought this because my other two players I had since the 1990s stopped working basically. Each one with a different problem. Tried everything so rather than buy a refurbished model for the same price I decided to try this one out. Plus most of the refurbished one's do not have a remote control still with them. This also has a DVD player which I haven't tried yet but a double bonus. I got this to transfer tapes to my Windows 10 laptop. I had to purchase another device that so far I haven't hooked up but I truly am expecting little or no issues. At least with the player. If something should happen within a month or so I will update this product. All I can say is get it while you can. This seems to be going up in price every other day. It does not have a tuner so recording from live TV won't be easy but today we have TiVo and DVR's on either our satellite provider or cable so not needed. The product seems flimsy a bit. Not the heavy quality of my past VHS players but as long as it works long enough for me to transfer my dozens of important tapes then it paid for itself. I suggest buying a tape cleaner cartridge too. The heads get dirty plus old tapes are worse in causing this. Good luck and hopefully your's will be a great purchase like mine. I know some had bad luck by reading the reviews. I never give 5 stars so unless your tapes are in extremely bad condition you won't be sorry.

This replaced a GoVideo all metal cabinet and only wanted a player. My first reaction to the all plastic housing was "oh no!". It does not appear that I need the metal case as a grounding faraday cage once placed among my tower of equipment. There is NO display panel (no clock, no minutes elapsed, no status info, etc.) It is a bare-bones black box. All parts work well (and I expect no less). You definitely need the FUNAI remote controller built for this to use all the features. It plays DVDs, but does not record them. It records VHS (but I have not tested it). It has manual tracking for VHS but does not show an on-screen indicator of how far the tracking has been adjusted (that is an annoying loss). It does NOT have coaxial antenna in/out pass-through ports since it does not have a tuner involved. This made me re-think and re-wire my cabinet connections. Big Hint: Draw a map of your existing cabling between all components in your stack. Then draw out the new cabling using the Funai as a simple DVD/VHS player. I was able to remove two Coax Cables and one set of RCA jacks as a result. But I had to wrap my head around not using my DVD/VHS unit as the central component. It was a brain gear-jam moment but the new wiring is less complex. Now onto the Remote. It is awkward at first. The DVD eject button sits right above the Disc menu button. A fat finger ejects the disc when you really only wanted to see the menu. The remote (and manual front panel) does NOT know the signal source since BOTH a DVD and a VHS can be active at the same time. You have to press specifically a DVD or VCR button (on either remote or the front panel) to tell it which source to display. Otherwise, more buttons than I use. I depended heavily upon the comments of other buyers in making my decision. This exactly met my need for a dual-player unit.

Just over one day in use, and so far so good. The machine does what I expect it to do. I can program it to tape TV shows so I can view them later, as I choose, and at my convenience, There is no digital display on the face of the machine, but of course you really don't need it, since your TV will interfaces and displays: The VHS/DVD position, the tape speed (SP/SLP), and the current time. Going to 'setup' allows menu access for timer settings, clock, language,auto repeat function, and a satellite link setting. VCR's are not so easy to find anymore; at least not in retail stores. I don't mind all the new technologies as long as we can keep using long trusted technologies like the VCR, which have proven to serve their purposes well. Finally, I'd like to thank the folks at 'Funai', for building this sweet little machine.

Received order timely and well wrapped. Hooked it up to replace an older Magnavox unit. Everything checked out fine. Now, a little over a month later, vcr unit is making horrible noise as it plays tape (and I have played only a few). Video plays fine and sound from tape is fine, but overriding noise is horrible. Find that the Funai unit is no better than the many-year-old player that it replaced. Very unhappy! Use this unit in bedroom and watch a lot of my movies (old b/w - love them) before sleep. Yes, I realize people will say video is outdated....that misses the point. I have many and ordered unit to be able to still enjoy them. Feel very "ripped off". Am now wondering if this was actually a refurbished machine in disquise of new. Thought it was maybe that the tape was old, but have tried several with same result. They all play fine in other vcrs in other parts of the house. Buyer Beware!

Check your model numbers - not all Funai's are created equal. Customer comments are based on three different models. Funai models 220FX4 and the 220FX5 will NOT dub VHS to DVD. I had to go to the Funai webpage to confirm this, as the assorted customer comments were so conflicting. Finally got the Funai ZV427FX4 (for about $100 more) which DOES dub - and very easily. So was the hookup, but I strongly recommend getting a good HDMI cable for the easiest way (yes, there is a HDMI output on the back of the machine, but Funai does not supply it) - no more little red/yellow/white plugs! I will use those for copying minidiscs from my camcorder onto one regular size disc. Have to say Amazon dropped the ball on this one as they really didn't know the various machines' capabilities and was just as confused as their webpage descriptions.