Pretty good, but I'm going back to Sony
Written: Jan 31 '02
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Pros: Normal cheap price point, meets most VCR needs
Cons: No autotracking
The Bottom Line: Good, cheap and for the most part easy to use. However, because of the lack of autotracking and some not so well designed interfaces, I'll probably go back to Sony.
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| kfgecko's Full Review: Panasonic PV-9451 VHS VCR |
Apparently VCR's are starting to get to be disposable. We had to buy a new VCR because our other one (a ~$200+ nicer Sony unit of just 5 years) broke down. Because the one that broke was unreliable for most of it's life, we decided to try a different brand. I chose this Panasonic. For just $99, we got a VCR that had all the checkpoint features we desire in a VCR. For the most part I'm happy, but believe it or not, I think I'm going back to Sony next time.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN VCR'S ARE DISPOSABLE?
Ok, before I get into the review of this unit, let me explain why I'm saying VCR's are now disposable: 1) the last nice VCR ($200+) we bought was constructed poorly, and others don't seem to be much better; 2) all the main desired features (Hifi, 4 heads, remote, programming, etc) can all be found in ~$99 units; 3) all VCR's seem to be constructed really cheaply.
The last time I thought I spend money to "get a nice one" to last, it didn't. So this time, I'm going for the sub $100 units as long as they meet my needs... which in today's technology, they do.
This Panasonic VCR meets most of my basic requirements: 4 heads, Hifi, remote control, pause/cue/search, timed record, indexing, SP/LP play/record. One feature it's missing that I wish it had (and have a new requirement on my list) is auto tracking.
This unit has 4 heads and Hifi. I no longer know the exact technical reason, but VCRs went from 2 heads to 4, the quality of the recording, playback, and pause, improved to the point of being very acceptible to the human viewer. This Panasonic unit is no different, and it does a good job recording what's on TV or cable.
Creating master tapes transferred from video camera's turns out good and the average person wouldn't really complain. After all, VHS tapes are hardly a source of visual fidelity. Two sets of RCA A/V jacks are available for connecting other A/V sources (such as DVD players, video games, or video cameras). One set is in the back, and one is in the front for convenience.
The mechanisms for this front loaded unit feel cheap just like all the other VCR's in its class but so far I have had no loading or jammed tape problems.
The VCR has reliably recorded our TV shows as promised. Programming the VCR is mostly intuitive and Panasonic has designed in a good flow for entering the schedules. In addition to recording at specific times, it also allows you to record intervals like "every Wed at 8pm-9pm". A final aspect that seems minor but makes a big difference is that the program will be active *whenever the VCR is off*. That means, you don't have to specifically put it in timer mode. (Unlike our frustrating Toshiba VCR which has made us miss several shows simply because we forgot to push the two-button combo to put it in timer mode).
The VCR also has an indexing ability which, with the push of a button, allows you to see where in the tape the current tape position is; very useful for knowing "how much tape you have left" when setting up for timer recording. It also allows you to "mark" indexes which you can skip to without having to search for, although this feature is not intuitive and so we keep forgetting how to accomplish it.
A major gripe I have is the LCD display, or rather what Panasonic programmed it to display. When rewinding/fastforwarding, the display just shows REW or FF, rather than the timer counter itself. Without the timer counter, you are forced to push the Display button to show the timer on TV screen overlay... which will mostly likely be off because it's annoying to watch your TV show with the huge timer, time, channel, speed setting, etc, overlayed on the screen. Toshiba also gets this department wrong, while Sony gets it right.
A minor gripe I have is the ugly, counter intuitive remote control. The buttons are arranged in a odd configuration causing me to often have to hunt for the button I'm interested in. On top of that, some buttons are unusually small for common functions. For example, the pause button is a tiny little square located on the other end of the remote from the play, ff, rew, and stop buttons.
My biggest gripe about this unit is the lack of auto tracking. I thought autotracking had become a defacto standard in every VCR, even the cheapos. But apparently not. I have to manually adjust tracking on tapes from other VCRs like the Sony and Toshiba, and even on prerecorded movie tapes. Even worse, the tracking range an resolution is pretty bad resulting in a complete inability to find the right setting for many recordings.
Overall, this unit does it's job well enough. It's cheap and for the most part easy to use. However, because of the lack of autotracking and some not so well designed interfaces, I'll probably go back to Sony when this unit breaks down.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 99
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Epinions.com ID:
kfgecko
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Location: San Jose, California
Reviews written: 165
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
30-something male, born/raised in Northern-California.
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