With my complaints - I like it anyway
Written: Jun 27 '01
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Pros: Commercial Advance, good quality
Cons: remote a little clumbsy, programming different
The Bottom Line: It fit in the space I needed it to absolutely perfectly. It skips commercials, and says HI. I bought it
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| choicex's Full Review: RCA VR704hf VHS VCR |
I had looked for a very long time for a new VCR to replace my 13 year old RCA (that I won!) The key feature I was looking for was commercial skip. This one has it, and does it quite well in my experience.
Commercial skip works only on tapes recorded in this VCR, but that's no big deal I guess. It simply searches through commercials on recorded tapes - starting immediately when the commercial starts - or perhaps a second early and then stops and plays again when the commercials are over. So far, in a few weeks it has been quite reliable for me. A similar feature is movie advance, that skips the intros on rented movies.
My complaints revolve around the remote and the programming. First, the remote is a universal type, which is cool because you can use it with many devices. BUT... it looks and feel strange to use. There are many buttons that probably should be placed somewhere else, and some buttons that should have been added. Generally, the ergonomics of this one leave a little to be desired. The batteries that came with it died in the first days - and I barely used it. The battery cover actually slides over the IR led on the front, which can easily be bent and broken - so be very careful with the cover, which also seems to get stuck once already for me. Oh, yes, the remote has a built in light for those dark nights - if you can find the light button.
Second, programming to record seems more complicated than it needs to be. Some places you use the remote's cursor keys, sometimes use numbers and/or both. The wording is a little ambiguous. Editing programs is just as strange - it's not like re-entering, it kinda backwards, and hard to explain without visual cues.
The VCR, on the bright side is very kind. It says 'HI' and 'BYE' when turning on and off. The clock is bright, and auto-sets if your cable has a clock signal somewhere in the bands. Tape speed, like many is only SP, SLP. For some reason they dropped the 4hr speed, which was my favourite to use. The operation is quite quiet, even when it is in very high speed rewind.
The on-box buttons are very limited, which forces you to use the remote for almost everything. Sometimes I like to work on the VCR itself - and just in case the batteries on the remote die, you aren't SOL.
Overall, it's worth the price. You could always use a different remote, and you will get used to programming it... If you're a VCRplus person, you will have no problem with this one.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 110
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Epinions.com ID:
choicex
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Member: Ernie Beaudin
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Computer services & support director, and old computer hack.
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