Solid SVHS recording and playback. Exceptional playback from standard VHS, especially recordings I made earlier on regular VHS tape, thank to the digital adjustments during playback. The video calibration is another outstanding feature, and makes a real difference in recording and playback as well, on both regular and SVHS tapes. The automatic picture control feature, the video stabilizer and the navigation search function also works well. In fact, there are so many features on this machine, like the AV Compulink, the satellite auto recording and the child lock feature, I don't think I will use them all.

Lightweight machine. Some features, such as naming tapes and recordings by type of category (such as sports, or movies) is just plain stupid. Although it is amazing that the machine can recognize tapes based on the self-assigned number when you put them in the slot, in reality it is a useless feature. The clock either does not receive the signal from my cable company, or my cable company no longer sends a signal to adjust and update the clock.

I had to purchase another Super VHS deck since my second one (a Toshiba) stopped recording and playing back correctly, and I learned my lesson on paying to fix my first one (a top of the line Panasonic). So I looked for a top of the line unit from the maker of VHS (since this would hopefully be my last VHS purchase) to play back my vast library of SVHS tapes.
Ended up deciding on the JVC HR-S9900U through the timing and luck of Ebay with what was basically an unopened and unused machine (they thought I was crazy to buy a dead format).
The playback PQ from existing tapes is about the best one can expect from a VHS, and the digital enhancements really work well. If it wasn't for DVD, and now Blu-ray, I am sure I would be raving about the video. The tuner works well with the anti-ghosting feature turned on, and the machine is solid as a rock.
JVC surely realized that this model would be the last, so I think they threw everything they could into it, and this unit outperforms any machine I ever knew.

Customer Service

Has been solid as a rock since day one.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic and Toshiba

Image quality and stability is excellent. Sound is very good. Deck operates smoothly. Remote is good.

The case does not appeal to me, but that's my personal taste and does not affect the operation.

I've used this deck for more than a year and it has been a joy. I think it is well-designed, operates like a sports car (doesn't get in the way of use), and does a great job. First of all, the image quality is superb. When I output to a conventional NTSC Hitachi set via SVHS, the picture is clean, rock solid, and very good to view. I also use it with my RCA HDTV monitor (F38310) and viewing tapes on this combination is great (though of course no SVHS deck puts out HDTV signals). But the SVHS 400 line output is very clean and does not contrast radically with DVD 480 line images. The TBC and digital processing in the JVC produce excellent output on a wide variety of tapes. I'm always amazed at how good this deck is. Sound quality is quite good running it through a Teac AV receiver/decoder and decent speakers. The controls are reasonable and easy enough to learn, unlike lots of others with badly designed remotes and interfaces. The player has never malfunctioned or had to go for service and functions smoothly with no glitches. I also own a Philips VRA999 SVHS deck and like the JVC better, though the Philips is quite good. So far, this JVC deck has held up very well, though I do consciously try to not abuse it mechanically. It operates in an environment with clean air (no smoke), proper humidity range, and I keep dust under control, all factors in wear and tear. I run it on an outlet with power line filtering to prevent glitches from getting to the deck, something you want to do with any serious AV gear. It seems a good product and I'd buy it again. I like it a lot

Similar Products Used:

I've owned previous JVC VHS decks, Philips SVHS, Sharp VHS decks.

Great picture and sound with the TBC (reason I got it), Picture Control with Edit mode

Not reliable, have gone through 3 in four months.

This is the third one I have since January and I have an extended replacement warranty on it so I just keep getting new ones. But, that being said, I shouldn't HAVE to keep getting new ones. I previously had the JVC HR-S9500U and had that for 4 years until it started to have problems with the mono track. I ended up selling it to a friend of mine for cheap and decided to just get a new one instead of shelling out to repair the old one. In hindsight, I should've just spend the $100 or whatever to get the old one fixed 'cause this one does not have a good track record. Like I said, in four months, this is the third one I've gotten that has crapped out on me. The first one did after 1 week. The picture and sound just went out. Couldn't get video on the tuner or even the on-screen menu. The second one came defective. It wouldn't stay on. I took it to a service center and they said that it was defective from assembly, so I sent that one back. This one I've had since February and just today, it crapped out on me in exactly the same way as the first one did after one week. The guy at Vanns.com insinuated that it might be MY fault 'cause "I've NEVER heard of ANYONE returning 3 VCRs and I've worked here for years." Plus, he insinuated that it might be my fault that since I used a cassette head cleaner (even though I used a wet one, not a dry one) because "they grind the dirt into the heads." He was very polite through the whole conversation although he was insinuating that it's my fault and who could blame him? Sounds like I must be doing something wrong if I have to return the VCR 3 times in 4 years, let alone 4 months. Now, this could be just a crazy coincidence but after 3 times, coincidence is just stretching it a bit and I'm going to have to say that the model doesn't seem to be built very well and for the price, it should last a long time. The features and picture and sound on it are great. Not a lot different (feature-wise) from the 9500 of 4 years ago except for the Navigation system, which I never use, and the Picture Control feature that lets you choose Auto, Sharp, Soft, or Edit modes. There was a similar feature on the old one that was just regular or Tape Dub mode. Edit mode minimizes the degradation between tapes when you dub. This feature works well. Just with my experience of this model, I can't recommend it.