For two decades, most American homes had a TV set with a VCR connected to it. That typically involved only two boxes, a few cables, and one remote, so life was fairly simple. But then DVD came along, and people started adding a DVD player as a third box, requiring additional cables and another remote, and suddenly things got more complicated. This has led to the introduction of combos, where (say) both a TV and a VCR are housed in a single box called a TV-VCR combo or (say) a TV, a DVD player, and a VCR are all three housed in one box called a TV-DVD-VCR combo. In addition to TV-VCR and TV-DVD-VCR combos, there are also DVD-VCR and TV-DVD combos. The main advantage that combos offer is that they reduce the number of boxes, the number of cables, and the number of remotes.

Although combos usually take up less space than a collection of separate components and reduce clutter as well, there is a major disadvantage to them: when you purchase a combo, you've put all your eggs in one basket. If you buy a TV-VCR combo and you have a problem ejecting a videotape, you'll lose the use of the TV while you're getting the VCR component worked on. Also, if you buy a TV-DVD combo and later decide to buy a TV with a bigger screen, you'll probably need to buy a new DVD player, too. Because of the repair and upgrade issues, many people think combos are best suited for some kind of secondary usage, say in a bedroom or den in a household with multiple TV sets. Still, a combo might very well be a sensible choice for someone who basically lives in one room, such as in a college dorm or a small apartment.

You might think you could save money by buying a combo instead of buying the individual components separately, but in all the cases I've looked at, the combos cost more for comparable equipment. For example, I recently saw a major brand 25-inch TV/4-head VCR combo for $310, but the TV alone costs $240 and the VCR alone costs $60. In other words, buying the combo costs $10 more than buying the individual components separately. This comparison might not quite tell the whole story, though, because you're still going to want to put whatever equipment you buy on some kind of furniture or shelf. You might be able to simply set the combo on a table or shelf you already have, while for the separate TV and VCR, you might need to buy a special stand that provides a shelf for the VCR.