Any VCR recs?
 

I know this is mainly a DVD forum, but I'm in the market for a new VCR, and was wondering what (if any) brands people here would recommend? I have a Sony 36" XBR400 and currently a Sanyo VCR (dont know the model # offhand). Its a HiFi 4 head model, about 4 years old. The wife and I were thinking of moving it to the bedroom, and replacing it with a newer machine. The picture now leaves something to be desired, but it is a Sanyo, and it was fine when I had it on my old TV. I realize that I won't get the DVD quality my Tosh 2109 gives me, but we do still watch movies on tape occassionally, as well as record television shows.

I've been scoping out these two models :
<a href="http://www.6ave.com/product.jsp?x=HRS3910U", target="_blank"> JVC model one</a>
<a href="http://www.6ave.com/product.jsp?x=HRS5900U", target="_blank"> JVC model two</a>.

I'm not limiting my selection to JVC, but these models have gotten decent writeups for S-VHS recorders, and are within my budget of $200. Any thoughts?

How dare you talk about VCRs(what are those?) here. :)

If it's S-VHS you want then you want this one for around $200 http://www.prodcat.panasonic.com/sho...elNo=PV-VS4821

S-VHS really isn't that big of a added feature because it only records as good as your source material is. It doesn't improve quality of video for movies(rented or owned).

So at around $120 this is a great VCR that will do everything you want it to. http://www.prodcat.panasonic.com/sho...delNo=PV-V4621

I can only give you my experience with a JVC which led me to never buy that brand VCR again. Its head wore out amazingly quickly even though it was an expensive model. The replacement cost made it worth trashing the unit and I bought a high-end Sony which has been good for over 5 years.

I have to second this on JVC products. My experience and the experiences of others I know have been very bad with JVC.

Thanks for all of the advice! I was under the impression that S-VHS somehow incresed the resolution of videos, but it seems I was mistaken. The JVC was an option strictly based on the price and a quick search I did, but after reading these experoences (and others on Audioreview), I think I'll be staying away from JVC. Its a shame, I have a JVC CD player thats about 10 years old, and I love it - never gave me a problem.

I guess I'll start looking for more "regular" VCR's - I just don't want to get stuck with a piece if s**t. As much as I love my DVD player, the VCR is still more versatile (and apparently easier for the wife to use LOL) for playing rented videos and recording shows - my search continues!

Just thought I would put my two cents in here.

I'm two lazy to check your links for the JVC models, but I've had the JVC SR-4800 for about a year now and haven't had any problems. Besides the fact that it SVHS which is feature that I haven't really used that much, the best part is the 'flying erase head'. This a great feature to have if you do a lot of recording and re-recording for weekly shows, etc. Basically, it eliminates the bad transistions between two seperate recordings and problems associated with using the same tape over and over.

I strongly suggest at least considering a PVR for your TV recording needs.

My JVC took over a year to wear out its head too. I loved everything else about it, the features, ease of use, but when the head is gone, and it costs too much to fix, it kind of overwhelms the pluses.

I would strongly advise going for S-VHS. There's no way I would watch just VHS. It makes a HUGE difference in the picture quality of regular recorded TV. In fact the difference between live TV and recorded S-VHS is minimal.

I agree.

For me, if you are renting movies, rent DVDs. If you are time shifting television, use a Tivo or equivalent.

I have had my Tivo for a year now and it's become apparent to me that this is the future. It's so much easier to use that a VCR, and so much more powerful. The ability to watch a show's beginning while it is recording the end of the show still is very cool, as are the many other features your VCR can not do.

I imagine most homes will still want a VCR though for legacy tapes, transferring things for friends and relatives, etc. I highly recommend S-VHS also. I have a JVC too, but it has not died yet. But then I don't use the VCR much since I have a Tivo and a DVD player.

I have 2 other VCRs in the house, a cheap Magnavox and a high end Sony. I have owned a few of the high end Sony machines, and this is the only one still working and not eating tapes. Then I started buying crap machines like the Magnavox to use as replacements. My thought it to just consider the machines as disposables, other than the one very good machine.