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In Reply to: What company make the best VCR? posted by Champion on July 5, 2001 at 06:43:58:
JVC bought the rights from the American inventors of video tape technology, so everybody who makes VCRs has to pay JVC (though most of the patents have since expired). that doesn't mean somebody couldn't improve upon the JVC products, it just means it will cost you more and likely get you less.I own three JVC VCRs. My favorite was bought in 1986, a JVC HRD 470U. It front-loads the tape on end and duplicates every remote function on the faceplace--which is great for editing. Never had a problem with it. Yea, it's 15 years old, and I use it all the time.
My second favorite is the very rare HRD 630U, bought in 1988. It has a beautiful bronze case--the most beautiful VCR ever made. I use it for the digital effects--a superb dubbing deck. It has way too many features and all the remote buttons are the same--if you're not crazy, you'd be crazy to use a machine like this. I use it every day.
I'm taping the digital satelite feed of Le Tour de France on the HR S9800U. With S-VHS tape, the picture rivals DVD. This is a cheap machine with a flimsy case in a hideous "color" (what's wrong with black?). The motor is a monster--you can FF or rewind a 120 min. tape in seconds--to the exact spot you want. I'm not kidding--if you hit rewind at the end of the tape you'd better leave the room--the speed of this machine is frightening! It sounds like a FAZER on overload.
All the useful controls are on the remote, which makes it almost worthless for editing and dubbing unless you use the data port and hook it up to your PC. The remote has more features than any sane person could possibly want, and yet they had the sense to make the buttons different sizes, colors, and shapes, and put the most-used buttons where you can get them with your thumb.
This "last generation" VHS machine has features on top of features, and a manual that only an obsessive-compulsive would love. It's just about right for the inmates of this website. If you can think of a VHS tape/programing trick you'd like to do, this machine can do it. On mine, the display flashes "12:00" every second. I have no idea how to make it stop--the owner's manual is over 5000 pages, all written in Japanese translated to Korean translated to French translated to English-- so I put a piece of black vinyl tape over it.
It's nice.
But you sir, are a sensible man, and know that for under $200 you can get a HI-FI, multi-head VCR that is far superior to the best machines of only a few years ago.
I recommend JVC as the finest and most relyable VCRs made. All you really need to look for is a remote that you can work in the dark with one hand. Relyability and features are not important. If it works out of the box, it will work for a decade. By the time you learn how to use all the features on even a basic model, you'll be too senile to remember where you put the remote.
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Follow Ups
- JVC - petew 18:42:06 07/18/01 (0)
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