Panasonic: Simple, affordable quality
Written: Feb 28 '01 (Updated May 03 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
|
|
| Picture Quality: |
|
|
| Durability: |
|
|
|
Pros: Very good picture and sound quality, very durable, nice full featured remote.
Cons: Somewhat noisy mechanism.
The Bottom Line: VHS is slowly losing ground to DVD but there are still plenty of uses for such a solid performer at such a reasonable price.
|
|
|
| Ahab1973's Full Review: Panasonic PV-9451 VHS VCR |
This review is actually an update of an old review that I wrote shortly after starting on Epinions. I decided to update it because I felt that the old review was lacking in important info and It was obvious that it was one of my first reviews. I also found that I had accidentally put the review of my VCR (which is actually the PV-9451) in the PV-9400 section.
I bought this VCR after reading positive reviews in Consumer reports. I had a Sony model which I exchanged for the Panasonic. This VCR has pretty much the best picture quality that you will find on a reasonably priced VHS VCR. I have tried many models made by many manufacturers. Despite Sony's reputation for quality, I found the picture quality on the Sony model to be very inferior to the Panasonic. Now when I say it has good picture quality, you have to keep in mind that we're talking about VHS here. The quality of the picture on any VHS VCR is limited by it's format. VCRs simply can't compete with DVD players in this area. However, some VCRs perform much better than others and this Panasonic performs beautifully for a standard VHS VCR.
I remember picking this VCR out. I really didn't expect much at all until I played a few movies on it. I was surprised how much better the picture looked than my previous units. The actual design of the Panasonic VCRs (especially the newer ones) is not very attractive and is rather plain. However, I'd much rather have good performance than sleek design when it comes to a simple piece of electronics like a VCR.
One major factor in my decision to buy this VCR rather than the Sony or some other name brand was the fact that it has a tracking control on the remote. There's nothing worse than having to get up and fool around with the tracking control on the face of the unit itself and trying to adjust it properly. It is also a fully functional tracking control. You can adjust the tracking of not only the playback but also of the freeze frames. This is great when you want a clear, jitter free freeze frame.
With recordable DVD now in the near future, you may be hesitant to by a VCR. Don't be. You can sometimes find discounted 4 head Panasonic units for less than $90! That's an incredible bargain! You also probably won't be seeing truly affordable DVD recorders for at least a couple of years. In the meantime you can get reasonably decent recordings the way we've done it since the early 80s. I liked mine so much, I bought another one to use as a playback deck for tape to tape recording. The drive mechanism in the Panasonic units is very noisy. That's the only gripe I have with them.
The durability of this VCR has been fantastic. I've had it for a few years now and haven't had a single problem with it. That may not sound like much of a complement to the quality of this Panasonic but the way I use VCRs, a lesser unit would have been long gone by now. We're talking hours and hours of use for editing home movies. Timer recordings. Being used as a rewinder for lots of rental tapes. Very heavy daily use. I have even accidentally dropped it a few times. It has taken a ton of abuse that goes well beyond what most people would do to their VCRs and still performs perfectly.
You won't be able to find the 9451 new but I've tried other Panasonic VCRs that have been made since and they've all been consistently good performers. This one gets a perfect five stars because I believe that Panasonic VCRs really are the very best inexpensive VHS units out there right now.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 139
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Ahab1973
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Brian
Location: USA
Reviews written: 132
Trusted by: 65 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.