Picture im-Perfect
Written: Jun 05 '00 (Updated Jun 21 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use; good remote
Cons: Can't see a thing
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| GwenK's Full Review: Panasonic PV-8400 VHS VCR |
My techno-addicted husband might say otherwise, but I think there are only six main qualities to look for in a VCR:
1. The VCR timekeeper isn't so complicated that it flashes 12:00 for weeks after the power goes out, waiting for you to reset the time.
2. You can figure out how to program the VCR to record "ER" without getting out a 500-page, library-bound manual.
3. When you accidentally turn the darn thing to give you all the on-screen prompts in espaņol, you can figure out how to turn it back.
4. It records. It plays. It fast forwards past the feminine hygiene commercials. It rewinds when your overactive toddler decides to try out a new "Daddy hit his hand with a hammer" word on you in the middle of your favorite show and you have to take a break to deal with it.
5. The remote control is not quite as heavy as a family-size can of Campbell's and fits in your hand easily.
6. Picture quality is excellent.
Forget the input/output capabilities, the tracking, the speed settings and ability to channel surf from the VCR remote. Those, to me, are incidental.
But, using my criteria, the Panasonic PV-8400 fulfills all but one of my criteria--but that one is a clincher.
1. Check. The auto clock set feature and automatic adjustments for Daylight Saving Time save unnecessary twiddling with the machinery.
2. Check. The online menu is fairly easy to use, requiring you only to choose the basics like date, starting and ending times, channel and speeds. The rest I can skip over.
3. Check minus. I did turn the VCR to una otra lengua one time and it took me a couple of attempts to turn it back. Still, not bad.
4. Check, check, check, check. Works just fine actually. The major control button--with stop, play, fast forward and rewind all on a rocker--works just great and is easy to use. The program director, with the shuttle feature to quickly rewind and fast forward with the turn of the knob, is especially nice.
5. Check. The remote control can switch all kinds of electronic I hear. Yeah, who cares. Anyway, I do like it. Some that I've seen are wide and hard to hold onto or have teeny tiny little buttons that only a Lilliputian could operate easily. This one works well enough that sometimes we just operate the TV from the VCR remote.
6. Not. The VCR, after a mere year, gave out. Picture quality is hideous and it's not that the heads aren't clean (this baby has an automatic notification feature to remind you it's time for a head cleaning). Yet everything we watch is about four shades too dark and we can barely adjust the TV settings to see some details.
Because of criteria #6, I can't recommend the Panasonic PV-8400. All the cool add-on features and nifty little pre-programmed timesavers don't do you much good when every movie you watch looks like it was shot in a cave. Imagine watching "Field of Dreams," with the baseball diamond always at dusk. Imagine "Runaway Bride" and Julia Roberts with eye sockets so dark the dreamy browns don't even smoke. Imagine "Red Violin" with every scene played in somber earth tones and the instrument itself blending into black. You get the picture. But not with the Panasonic PV-8400.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
GwenK
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Location: Tacoma, Wash.
Reviews written: 169
Trusted by: 246 members
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