This just a follow-up to my reivew, I watched 5 movies last night til morning with friends, and it really didn't give me any problem at all. the picture did not even change and no bad reaction at all.

Ease of Use, Clear picture, nice remote

On Pause...it isn't always crystal clear.

After having a Sony for 10 years, i was quite pleased with how well it had held up. But since I had bought a Toshiba TV (Cinema Series 32") and a Toshiba DVD (3109) player...I wanted to buy a Toshiba VCR to maximize compatibility among my remotes.

The Toshiba seemed clunky and hard to use, so I returned it. I'm glad I went back to Sony! Easy to use (even my 2 year old can use it!) to put in the tape, and stop and start the vcr. It has an autoclock feature which I love (I hated having to reset my clock after a power outage on my older Sony VCR!). It is a silver color (to match the Wega line of products - Sony just came out with a DVD player that is also silver) so it doesn't match all of my other components, but it plays videos well, easy to program, easy to record programs. It was a bit expensive at $170 (Circuit City - they price matched Video Only). But I figured that I spend $400 in my Sony VCR 10 years ago and it was a good investment. The Toshiba VCR was $150, while cheaper VCRs go for around $100. I wasn't going to quibble over $70 between the best VCR and the cheapest VCR. Amortize that over a good 7-10 years and the price difference is negligible.

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I had a Sony VCR from 10 years ago with hifi and flying erase head. I just returned a Toshiba W704 6-head hi fi vcr

none

picture, commerical pass, and cable mouse not included

I have always trusted SONY as manufacturer of high quality consumer electronics but this VCR is terrible. Picture is fuzzy, sound mediocre, commerical pass does not work, and you need to order a cable mouse separately to control my cable box. That doesn't work either. I would definitely NOT recommend this VCR to anyone especially since the price is nearly $200+$14.95 for the cable mouse.

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Panasonic

Auto Head Cleaner, Auto Clock, VCR+Gold, Easy Programming, Dial Button

Grainy recordings. No S-VHS at this price, Slow rewind and FF compared to other models, No Cable Box control device included (order it for 14.95 plus S&H). Remote control only for VCR and TV, but not for Cable Box.

Impressive look. Disappointing grainy recordings. I'm returning it. There are better products in the market for that price:Phillips VR960BPH. $129 at Circuit City, with SVHS-ET, VCR+C3 including the Cable Box control device, Turbo Rewind and FF.

Looks nice, good menus, simple remote

Poor picture quality, stated 'satellite/cable box control' mouse not included and doesn't have a code for Echostar boxes.

I purchased this model not to replace my 960 HF but as a 2nd VCR and one that would control my Dish Network (Echostar) box. First I was disappointed to see that the control mouse is no longer included and has to be sent away for for $15 plus shipping. However I have the mouse from the 960 so I plugged it in, only to find Sony apparently doesn't want you to use anything but DirecTV so they don't include codes for Echostar/JVC boxes.

So, the unit is going back but for the heck of it I tried out some recordings. Terrible picture quality compared to my 960. Too sharp and grainy, even with the VCR's sharpness control all the way down. The 'Reality Regenerator' feature had no effect on anything, whether it be recording or playback of new or old tapes.

A big disappointment. Good thing my old 960 is still in perfect condition. The poor picture quality and lack of mouse makes the price very unreasonable.

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Sony SLV 960HF

Picture Quality, Illuminated Remote,

Slow rewind, no flying erase head

This is for Model SLV-N81. If you want very good picture quality both in ep and sp mode and don't care much about features and convinences then this vcr is for you.
This was a replacement for a JVC svhs and I am very happy with the picture quality which for me is the most important thing about the vcr. Rewind speed is kinda slow(about 2 1/2 minutes for a T120 tape) but acceptable.

Picture Quality

Noisy,no fast rewind

Have had this unit for awhile,and find the picture quality very good for an inexpensive unit.But the noise level,while playing a tape,is high.The picture boost,is not that great,especially on tapes that are not of the greatest quality.Also no fast rewind.I like the overall picture quality,but it could be better.

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Many various brands

price, picture quality,

not s-vhs, reality regenerator.

This review is for the Sony SLV-N81. Has a clear,crisp picture. Picture is sharper than the Toshiba W808 I also use. Reality Regenerator does not enhance the picture. Slow rewind and fast forward...but not unacceptable.

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Panasonic, JVC

Picture quality, Very easy to use, and great remote

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I bought this unit, after purchasing a Panasonic that had such bad picture quality, that I really want to believe was just a defective unit. But I did not want to take a chance so i picked up this sony, and it is a dream. No comparison at all to the Panasonic. I also have a widescreen sony tv, so maybe that made the difference. All I know is that it is a great little vcr. Also the unit I bought was the slv-n81.I record alot in EP and that was also why I wanted to try it. GREAT IN EP MODE!!!!!
You can also program it with a very easy dial right on the front of the unit, so there is no need to have the tv on to program all the time..Very easy on the eyes and very easy to use...what more is there.....get one.

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Panasonic 4820

Ergonomic design, good video reproduction.

Poor recording quality.

This review is actually for the SLV-N81.
The goods: This unit looks good, has a nice "quality feel" to it - it is well built, especially for this price range. The design is also well laid out, with good ergonomics and no-nonsense procedures for setup and use. The playback sometimes comes close to DVD quality, when using new and well-recorded original tapes. Close, but not equal to. With the advent of the DVD era, the use of VCRs is more and more confined to recording TV shows. Sony probably focused on this aspect when designing this unit, packing it with several nice features meant to make programmed recording a breeze – and succeeded. The VCR+ and “the knob” are foolproof. However,
The bad: Recording quality is sub par, to say the least – which would defeat the purpose of having a VCR nowadays. The recorded picture is often grainy and over-colored, to the extent where it is almost impossible to watch. The advanced picture control (APC) only makes things worse. Turning it off might help a little, but still, the result is less than satisfactory. The “reality regenerator” may or may not be of some use – personally I could not single out the benefits of this feature. Suspecting that tape quality might be the cause of the abovementioned graininess, I fed the unit with the best quality tape I could buy, but to no avail. While the picture improved somewhat, the distortions were still there. With lesser quality tapes and the APC turned on, recorded movies sometimes look like cartoons – only with lots of image noise, too. I bought this unit to replace an old and cheap VCR – that one played old rentals better and recorded much better than this Sony. Many other models I’ve seen outperform the SLV-N81, while costing less. It’s a shame to mix good design with such a poor recording quality. Also, some features (auto clock setting, auto setup) don't seem to work. I know they depend on the signal the VCR is receiving, but other VCR's (an older Toshiba, for instance) got them right. Disappointing.

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Various