Another winner from Panasonic - you get much more than you pay for
Written: Jan 28 '01 (Updated Jan 28 '01)
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Pros: Excellent picture quality; speedy FF/RW; nice features; well-made; inexpensive
Cons: Drive system a bit noisy
The Bottom Line: The best I've seen in this price range and better image quality than many higher priced VCRs.
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| DCannon's Full Review: Panasonic PV-V4520 VHS VCR |
I always like to watch TV after turning in for the evening and I can't count the times I've wished I had a VCR in the bedroom to record those spur-of-the-moment programs, movies, etc that look interesting without having to get up, go into the living room, turn on the TV, get the right station, and so on. So I finally went on a search to find the best deal. Naturally, I wanted good quality at a good price. Considering there was already a $250 Sharp connected to the main TV in the living room, I didn't want to spend another $250.
I started researching VCRs online and discovered Panasonic was rated by many professional reviews at or near the top of the heap, and the 4520 was rated excellent in all respects and had some nice features found on higher priced VCRs. So I went to Best Buy, Circuit City and some local home audio/visual stores to check it out and get some prices. As it turned out, Wal-Mart had the best price of $99 and with their generous 90-day return policy, you can't beat that! I recently bought a 20" Panasonic TV for the bedroom (excellent, BTW) so the TV & VCR should work well together.
The 4 head, Hi-Fi stereo 4520 is well-built, solid, stylish and easy to program using the step-by-step instruction manual. On first time use, the clock automatically sets itself to the correct time and auto adjusts for DST (very cool) and the rest is standard VCR setup...channel search/set, etc using an on-screen TV menu. Although I can't find any details in the documentation, I've heard the 4520 has an extensive memory backup in case of power failure...on the order of 24 or 48 hours. Our power went out for about 6 hours one day and the 4520 retained all settings. This is a much longer backup time than many higher priced VCRs and a very nice feature to have. Other features are VCR-Plus, trilingual display, front panel clock, commercial skip (works great), repeat play, program end search, index scan, auto shut-off, tape position display, zero search, 3 tape speeds, auto tracking w/manual override. Not bad for $99. For all this I didn't mind not having front inputs.
Image quality/sound reproduction is superb - better than our $250 Sharp...and noticeably faster in FF & Rewind. After testing several brands of video tape I found TDK Ultimate Performance E-HG provides excellent quality.
The remote "tower" is a bit of a handful but easy to navigate except for the ultra tiny buttons located below the larger numeric buttons. The Record button is so close to the Channel Up/Dn buttons (all miniscule) that I usually hit Record when trying to change channels and vice-versa. Since I use the 4520 in my bedroom with the light out, navigating these tiny buttons are a real challenge but in view of the high picture quality, I can deal with it.
The drive system is a bit noisy even in Play mode but I've become used to it. I stuck some rubber padding under it and seems to help.
Overall, especially considering the $99 price, you get a LOT more than you pay for with the 4520. The bottom line of any VCR is image quality, durability, features and ease of use. The 4520 shines brightly in all respects and is the proverbial diamond in the rough.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $99
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Epinions.com ID:
DCannon
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Madison, AL
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 5 members
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