A $170+ Mistake (updated 11/15/01)
Written: Nov 14 '01 (Updated Nov 15 '01)
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Pros: It's a Sony
Cons: It's not a very good one
The Bottom Line: Go for the SLV-N71. It looks better and it will do everything you need for less. Don't get suckered into the SLV-N81.
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| sprint_sucks's Full Review: Sony SLV-N81 VHS VCR |
Note: I went to Circuit City and made them give me a second VCR. It works just like the first one... or, rather, doesn't work just like the first one.
Original review:
When my Zenith VCR died after only a few years, I decided it was time to get a Sony. The good thing about VCRs is that prices have been dropping. My first, a Funai was $400 (it's at my mother-in-law's and still going strong). The Zenith was $220 and the Sony was $149 and has a lot more features. (I'm about ready to get the Zenith out from under the bed, try to fix it and put it all back together.) I believe Sony to be one of the higher quality pieces of equipment one can afford. You can get far better, but not if you're married and saving to buy a house.
A lot of my woes are indirectly related to the fact that I have DirecTV, but nonetheless, I'm bummed at what I've ended up with from Sony.
Anyhow, the Sony is packed with features:
1. Glow-in-the-dark remote: Pretty neat. The buttons, when they've received sufficient light, glow lightly. It's neat and handy. The layout of the buttons is straightforward and easy to understand. The weird thing is that it's almost the same as my Sony DVD remote, but certain buttons do different things on each remote. For example, the PLAY button on the VCR is a big round button. The same button on the DVD player is the MENU button. The remote can also control a TV. Of course, it's a little flip switch. The flip switch on my Zenith wore out pretty quickly, so I'm pretty much not a fan of flip switches and have declared they won't be used in my house. I prefer RCA's soft-switch. (You just push a button to tell the remote which device you're using.)
2. Multi-language display: Neat, but not necessary. I only speak one.
3. Auto-clock set: This doesn't work. It needs to search all the channels in order to find a time signal. The first one (and the only one I'm aware of) comes via the Los Angeles WB affiliate. Only it delivers the East Coast time. You can set the auto-clock to talk to a different channel, but I can't do that because I only have one channel.
4. Cable box control: This is the part that annoys me the most. The VCR is advertised as being able to control your cable or DirecTV receiver. They do not tell you that the device (called a cable mouse) is not included. You get a coupon in the box to call a 1-800 number. The number closes at 5 p.m. on the west coast. The device costs only $15 plus s/h. You could buy it on their website, but it's $60 there. I have two cable mouses (cable mice?) now. In my opinion, this is false advertising. It should be clearly noted on their website and on the VCR's box and on the signs in the store. Basically, the cable mouse is a small device on a long cord. The cord plugs into the back of the VCR. The device sits on top of the DirecTV receiver so that a little remote IR is aimed at the IR port on the DirecTV receiver. Then you're supposed to be able to type in the channel number with the VCR remote and it's supposed to change the channel on the DirecTV receiver. It's also supposed to use the cable mouse to change the channel on the DirecTV receiver for timed recording. Essential if you want to record programs from more than one channel in the same evening. Only both of my cable mice only recognize the even numbered channels and the down arrow. Sony says that my VCR must be broken and that I should take it to Irvine, which is about 50 miles from here. ("Hello, Los Angeles, 7 million people - ever heard of it?" -- from my wife)
5. Presetting the channels: Of course, this doesn't work with a cable box or DirecTV. It goes through all the channels figuring out which ones actually receive signals.
6. VCR Plus+ Gold: This allows those with a cable box to type in their zip code and have it automatically set up VCR Plus+ for you. Not available for people with DirecTV.
7. Recording using dial timer: This is a really neat feature. It allows you to walk up to the VCR and press in on a little finger dial. Then you turn it to "TIMER", press it again, it says "TODAY". You can turn it to pick a different date, or just press it again. Then you can pick the time. The dial turns in 15 minute increments and little buttons on the side let you change it by single minutes. (So you can scroll to 10 p.m. and then roll back to 9:58 p.m. since NBC always starts ER early.) Press it once more, program the end time and you're done. There's one more step I forgot to mention, picking the channel. If you actually do have a working cable mouse, this is nearly pointless because you're spinning forever to pick a channel in the 300's. Since ours isn't working, we're feeding the DirecTV into LINE 1, so it's always set to where we want to start recording at.
8. Manual timer setting: This is actually somewhat confusing. I keep deleting a program at the last step, not saving it. Also, you can't key in numbers (for time or date), you have to use the up and down arrows.
9. Child Lock: You can lock the VCR so that all it will do is record set programs, but won't operate otherwise. An interesting feature I haven't really had a need to use yet.
10. Playing/Searching at Various Speeds: This is becoming standard, the ability to play at high speed or play at 2x. You can even tell it to rewind the tape and immediately start playing. Interesting.
11. Quick recording: This is becoming common, too, but I like it. Hold down the record button. After it starts recording, tap the record button. It will show "0:30" and record for 30 minutes. You can continue to tap it to increase the count by 30 minute increments, up to six hours.
12. Tape Searching: Each time you start recording, it adds an "Index Mark" (Many VCRs do this now). You can search for these with keys on the remote. It also has the ability to search for an approximate position on the tape. You press display until it shows a little timeline. Then you can use arrow keys to point to a specific point and it will fast-forward there. It doesn't seem to be exact (it looks like 15 minute increments), though it does display the time on the screen (in hours and minutes) as it fast forwards or rewinds, with a little cursor on the screen showing you where on the tape's timeline it is.
13. Favorites: You can make a list of your 10 favorite channels and then with one button call up the list and then select the one you want. For cable boxes and DirecTV, it requires a functioning cable mouse.
Additionally...
The VCR is supposed to have several things to make pictures clearer: Reality Generator and Adaptive Picture Control. RG analyzes the picture to try to make it clearer. APC adjusts the heads slightly for recording and playback to help with picture stability. (Like computers, when you take something recorded in one device and put it into another, the heads on the two devices may not be completely aligned. This can lead to data loss (or a bad picture), or start to move the heads out of alignment. By being able to adjust the heads' alignment, you get a better picture.
Also, we've found that anything recorded on a mono-audio VCR plays back very softly. We have to turn the volume way up. As I write this, I wonder if I can manually set the VCR to play back in mono mode and come up with better volume.
If you have a tape in the VCR, you cannot find out what time it is. It will only display the counter or remaining time on the tape. Which is really annoying. Also, there is no TV/VCR button on the VCR, only the remote. Sometimes, I like to just walk up and hit the power button on the TV, the power button on the DirecTV and the power and play button on the VCR. This is the quickest way to watch TV. Either that or juggle several remotes. (Someday I'll get a single unified killer remote. (Watch for that review if Epinions still exists.) This is necessary because the VCR turns on by default to TV/VCR turned off. Why do all VCRs do this? On the other hand, there then is an eject button on the remote, so I can eject it to see the time if I want. (On the other hand, I've hit that button on any number of times looking for the power button... Sony puts theirs on the right, everyone else puts theirs on the left.)
Lastly, it's bright silver. It's supposed to match their TV cases, but I think it's horrible on the TVs as well. It's reflective and distracting. I think eventually I'll build a cabinet to hide all of the equipment so that I won't have to look at any flashing lights (will solve that whole time/counter dilemma).
If I had to do it all over again, I would have gotten the SLV-N71. It's got a black case, can rewind a 6-hour tape in 60 seconds (the SLV-N81 can't) and far fewer features that I cannot use. And I would have saved $20 plus the cost of the cable mice (which I'm probably going to have to pay to send back) and countless time spent on hold with Sony customer support.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 149
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Epinions.com ID:
sprint_sucks
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Location: Seattle, Wash.
Reviews written: 108
Trusted by: 26 members
About Me:
Crikey.
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