Very Good DirecTV D-VHS VCR
Written: Oct 06 '00 (Updated Dec 01 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: D-VHS, Dolby Digital, Price
Cons: No visible picture in scan or slow motion
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| Chris_Gerhard's Full Review: Hitachi VTDX815A DVHS VCR |
I just purchased this VCR from a closeout site and after hooking it up and using it, I feel certain that it is essentially the same VCR as the RCA vr911hf which I also own. Both are most likely manufactured by Hitachi in Japan as is the Hughes HDR-205. The unit was marked as refurbished and only included a 30 day warranty so if you buy one be sure to check it out quickly. Performance and operation is identical in D-VHS mode to the RCA but the onscreen menu is different so the software is a little different. To take advantage of the D-VHS capabilities you must have a DirecTV receiver with the required D-VHS connector such as the Hughes B4, D45, or E45. Mitsubishi also markets a couple of Hughes manufactured D-VHS capable boxes and there may be others but I am not aware of the model numbers. Timer recording could not be easier; hit select on your remote after highlighting the DirecTV program displayed in the DirecTV program guide and a little clock appears on the VCR florescent display on the front of the VCR and you are set. A cassette icon will flash on the VCR display if you have forgotten to put in a tape. Only the digital cable needs to be connected between VCR and receiver. The Hughes receivers control the D-VHS timer recording. Rarely a DirecTV program runs a few minutes past the scheduled time and I edit an additional five minutes or so through the scheduler to cover that potential problem when I suspect it might happen.
This VCR is capable of timeshifting DirecTV programs with picture and sound that is virtually indistinquishable from the original. High grade SVHS tape or DVHS tape is required for D-VHS recording. I could find no mention of using high grade SVHS tape for D-VHS recording in the manual but it works fine for me. A 246 meter SVHS ST-120 tape will provide 4 hours and 6 minutes in D-VHS mode. The tape travels at 1 meter/minute so a 320 meter ST-160 will provide 5 hours and 20 minutes in D-VHS mode. The DirecTV receiver is required for playback as well as recording of D-VHS tapes as this VCR records and outputs just the digital bitstream. This also means that no picture is available in search or slow motion modes. It does offer a still frame picture however. The lack of any search picture does make it difficult to find a certain place on a tape. With two of these you can make perfect copies of D-VHS recordings but you are very limited in editing the material. No seamless edits or insert editing in D-VHS mode, but put one in play and the other in record with the digital ports connected and you can easily make a copy of a four hour tape in four hours.
As I believe is the case with all D-VHS VCRs manufactured for sale in this country, it does offer quasi SVHS and SVHS ET playback but no S-Video input or output. This means that SVHS tapes can be played back at standard VHS resolution. With the D45 or E45, recording of Dolby Digital audio is accomplished in D-VHS mode when you can find a Dolby Digital broadcast. Only Starz! and a couple of PPV channels are currently broadcasting Dolby Digital programs and only occasionally. Again the audio is indistinquishable from the original to my ear.
The VTDX815A also doubles as a better than average standard VHS Hi-Fi VCR in my opinion, although I do not plan to use it much for that. Build quality appears to be better than most current VCRs but only time will tell. You may want to evaluate the new DirecTV with TiVo receiver for digital video time shifting as it may better meet your needs, but even that does not beat the picture and sound quality of D-VHS. If you do not mind using a product that apparently bombed in the marketplace and like me enjoy using audio and video products that are not the usual mass market product, you will probably like this VCR.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Chris_Gerhard
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Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 0 members
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