Mitsubishi HS-U781 VCR is packed with features
Written: Mar 31 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great picture quality and tons of features
Cons: Nothing, may be overkill for the casual user
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| iowamommy's Full Review: Mitsubishi HS-U781 S-VHS VCR |
Mitsubishi HS-U781 VCR
This VCR is a welcome addition to our collection. We have a collection of five VCRs, all by Mitsubishi, and this one has lived up to the expectations we have placed on it. My husband does video editing, so we need something that makes quality recordings and is reliable. He has multiple VCRs running at all hours making copies of tapes, so they are put through a lot of use.
This VCR is hi-fi and Super-VHS. If you aren’t familiar with Super-VHS, it is a feature that gives a better quality picture when recording. There are more lines of resolution than usual. If you record a video in S-VHS, you can only play it back on a VCR capable of playing S-VHS tapes, though. You can record onto a regular tape and it will play in anybody’s machine. If you record it on a S-VHS tape, though, you are limited as to where you can play it back. It is a matter of if you need better tape quality or more flexibility as far as playback, like if you recorded Blue’s Clues for your child to take to Grandma’s house. It would need to be on a regular tape unless Grandma had a S-VHS capable VCR.
Features
The features on the U781 are plentiful. I will discuss some of the features that set it apart from your standard models.
Perfec-Tape technology is provided. With this feature, you put a blank tape into your machine before recording, and it will do a check on your tape quality and set the recording levels accordingly, so you get the best possible recording for that tape. It displays a bar on the TV screen with a pointer showing the results. Not only will it record at this customized setting per tape, it will play back in the same fashion. In case you are wondering, the tapes that are consistently getting the near “excellent” marks are the Fuji brand. He uses only the high-grade tapes, though, in any brand, so there isn’t that much difference in comparison. If using a cheaper tape, you would be able to spot more variances between brands.
On screen programming and counter are easy to operate. The counter displays a bar of where you are at on the tape, as well as provided the time on the tape that corresponds to it. It is counted in real time, not just a counter number that leaves you wondering how far you are into the tape. This counter resets to zero every time you put in a new tape, you don’t have to do that manually.
Auto shutdown turns your VCR off automatically when finished. If you are copying a tape, you can set it and leave. Your VCR doesn’t have to stay on all day or all night until you can get back to it and turn it off.
Hi-fi and VU meters are shown on the front to assure you that you are getting an audio signal.
The jog shuttle is a dial both on the VCR and the remote control that lets you advance frame by frame, rendering it very useful in video editing. You can find the exact spot on the tape that you need to.
It automatically sets the clock for you. After a power interruption, the clock will be reset for you as long as the TV is hooked up to the antenna and is getting signal from a station that provides this information to your unit.
Active AV network is a feature that passes the remote control signal to your VCR from your TV. In other words, you can point the remote control at the TV, not necessarily the VCR, to run it. This would be used if your VCR was in a cabinet or other location not directly in line with where you would be pointing.
Zippy fast forward and rewind makes for quick work when you are in a hurry, especially for those needing it for professional capabilities. When you are doing copy after copy, time is of the essence. There are many search features, too.
Infrared pickup is very helpful. You can set your VCR to record a certain program from a satellite dish or a cable box. The pickup feature will turn to your channel in time for it to record. Example: We have a satellite dish and if we want to record something from it, the channel we want recorded has to be the one selected at the time. It will just record what the satellite is giving us at the time, so the channel must be the one you want. You can’t set it to record FOX and go to CMT. You’ll get CMT instead, then. With this feature, it will turn the channel for you in case you forget to do it in time to get the right program recorded.
The front access panel has an audio/video input and an S-video input. If you want to hook up your video camera to the VCR, you can reach it easily from the front. The back of the unit has 2 audio/video outs, an S-Video in/out, one audio input and antenna in/out. You can use a video cable between your VCR and your TV or another VCR, and use the S-Video input to get a better quality picture. This S-Video input is only for video, not audio.
Recommendation
As you can see, this VCR is packed with features. It has performed well under conditions of heavy use. I would recommend it if you need a fancy VCR. If some of these features don’t matter to you, you would do just as well getting one a couple steps down from this. If you are a serious user and want the best in quality and features, this is tops!
Recommended:
Yes
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iowamommy
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