Superb basic SVHS recording and playback.

Confusing remote and counter intuitive operations.

When my top of the line Panasonic SVHS began to have issues recording (after a lot of other issues over the years), I decided to buy a down and dirty basic SVHS machine. DVD was here and I still wanted to be able watch my old tapes and to record from time to time. I saw this discontinued machine on sale at Tweeter for about $150, so I picked it up. Having never researched Toshiba or really not considered their products, I was amazed at the quality of the video reproduction this unit gave me. In addition, with the limited recording and playback I do when it comes to video and audio reproduction, this unit blows away my former (and much older) top of the line Panasonic. It took me awhile to figure out the remote (I actually had to read the manual), but now I am quite happy with this product. There does not to be any noise problems during use, nor any video noise on playback or recording. Perhaps it is just because I rarely now use video tape, but I am glad I now have a basic SVHS machine I can depend on.

Similar Products Used:

Akai, Panasonic

I'm sorry there is NONE to list

Lets just say that this Toshiba product is the worst electronic equipment I have EVER purchased.

This is by far the biggest piece of crap I have ever owned. If it is supposed to be the ultimate VCR for a Home Theater and is priced that way, then why isn't it. The Video is so bad that I have not kept one copy of anything I have recorded. I have a satellite system that is digital S-VHS and it has a crystal clear picture routed through the VCR via S-VHS cable. When you go to record that signal you get so much picture noise that it isn't even worth watching. Ah so you may think this could be a satellite issue. Nope. I also have a $400.00 antenna on the roof for my local channels and have that routed through the VCR via cable. Again I enjoy a crystal clear picture on my t.v. and when I go to record this signal I get the same exact noise that is blurry and just plain irritating to watch. The only time that the video is half way decent is when I watch a pre-recorded movie. I don't even want to get started on the remote lets just call that useless. I have an old JVC HI-FI that was replaced for one simple reason the remote went bad. I would have been months ahead of the game and much happier using my universal remote. Do not waste your money on this machine. And Nebraska Furniture Mart after 30 days was completely non-customer satisfaction when I tried to get this replaced by a different model. They did not even attempt to try to correct the problems.

The vcr is pretty.

Almost every function is poor in performance. Don''t buy this.....

I was impressed that this vcr had 6heads. I was hopefull that it would carry me till dvd recorders improved and came down in price. Boy is this a piece of junk. The cannel converter is really SLOW and a wide colour bar appears inbetween stations. The actual noise from the motor is really bad.(louder than my volume from my system)Picture quality is no great hell,my old 4head marantz put it to shame.

Picture quality in all modes. Super fast rewind. SVHS @ SVHS et "normal tapes". Front A/V inputs include a s-video input as well as rca video and stereo inputs.

Slow channel changing and tunning. Display of channel/time/etc. does not automatically show up when changing channels, recording, or playing. When display is pressed it shows the appropriate info but then does not go away unless you manually take it off.

Not a bad unit. Probably the best for the price and features. But be patient while channel surfing.

Similar Products Used:

Quasar HI-FI VCR
JVC HI-FI VCR

S-VHS, S-VHS ET, True Jog Shuttle on VCR

S-VHS ET, No jog shuttle on remote, no DNR

I bought this VCR a week ago and thoroughly tested it out.
It recorded flawlessly in the S-VHS mode and the audio was pretty good too. The VCR has a 17" chasis which makes it compatible with other Audio equipment. There are front AV inputs with a S-Video input in the front too. Finally, this is a pretty good looking VCR.
I brought this primarily because of the S-VHS ET capability. I used a very good quality (TDK-EHG) tape to try the ET mode out at both the SP and SLP speeds. I was slightly disappointed here as the picture came out slightly harsher and there was a drop in the audio performance too and for some reason it lacked Bass. Also, the SLP recording I thought was as good if not better than the SP speed. This maybe because Toshiba has 2 extra heads for SLP speed.
I tested this unit alongside a Philips VR960BPH S-VHS ET and was I surprised. The ET mode on the Philips far exceeded the Toshiba's ET recording and the audio had the punch I was looking for. Now, I don't want to make this a review for the Philips but overall, the Philips did much better. The night scenes came out a perfect dark color in contrast to the Toshiba.
There is one caveat though and that is Quality Control. I am convinced that be it Denon, Sony, Toshiba or any company, QC is very poor and a lot of Lemons slip out as a result. Well, I am keeping the Philips and returning the Toshiba.
Equipment Used:
SONY - STRDA555ES Receiver
PANASONIC-DVD PLayer
HITACHI-35" TV
MOVIE-Tomorrow Never Dies

Similar Products Used:

RCA-S-VHS, Panasonic S-VHS

SVHS-ET support, nice feel to the product, smooth tape loading

noisy SVHS-ET, remote is terrible, menu functions inaccessable if VCR is in RW/FF mode

This VCR is o.k.

Oh well, my VCR died so I just went out to a store and bought a Toshiba VCR (got a Toshiba TV so wanted 1 less remote to handle). Unfortunately I forgot to ask the guy if I could return the VCR if I didn't like it... and the recipt says "all sales final, no refund, no exchanges".

D'oh.

I was using my Toshiba 40H80 40" monitor, and have the VCR hooked up directly to the monitor for this eval.

The good points. The VCR is nicely contructed. The tape loading is smooth and machine noise is minimal.

The SVHS-ET mode does seem to give more scan lines of recording. I don't have specific equipment and test patterns to do an absolute test.

Unfortunately there seems to be more noise in SVHS-ET mode than normal VHS mode. This is evident in high contrast areas of the picture near edges. VHS mode doesn't seem to have this problem to the same extream, but it slightly more blury.

The remote sucks... honestly is sucks. Why do I have to hit 2 buttons (that are normally covered) to record, and another 2 buttons (that are normally covered) to turn on the timer? This is 2001 right, not the 1980's?

Channel switch is patheticly slow... really, really slow.

I honestly think I would have passed on buying this in favour of either a cheaper VHS VCR, or the slightly more expensive Panasonic SVHS-ET (even though it's in silver).

*sigh* just give me my dream machine of a DV recorder that records to VHS tapes.

Similar Products Used:

JVC HR-S3800U

Its look

Video playback and convenience features

I got it for a week, and I believe I had a bad apple.

This is selling at a shop which carries high-end product in Toronto( Woodbine and Steeles). The shop shows you all the goodies and looks really professional. But this is the first bad story I have since I enjoyed spending moiney in A/V stuffs.

Toshiba web site claims what a super machine they made for S-VHS ET technology. I trusted them and I looked for a deal in the city. Finally a friend recommended me to go to this shop with a price $400 canadian including tax.

I was so thrilled and could not wait for test drive with this machine. Since this is the first S-VHS, I am concerned picture quality comparing with my older Panasonic 4664. After two attempts of recording cable programs, I really see 400 lines of resolutions. It is showing lines in my 53" TV!!!! I just could not believe what I see. Then I used new TDK-EHG tape to do another recording with SVHS-ET mode, it is showing the same things. You can see lines and grainny images. This is a frustration to me as my Panasonic is doing a better job than Toshiba. I never see so many lines in the picture by Panasonic recording.

Talking about its convenience feature, it only has index search. It did not have position showing on screen. It is not equipped with movie advance, commercial advance either.
The stupid thing is that there are three buttons for recording. Record by timer, you press right two buttons. Record as you see, you press left two buttons. What a fantastic idea from a VCR. SONY and Panasonic just requires you to turn off power, it will be set automatically in right mode.

Use it for viewing cable signal is good, as it is passing signal clean. For now, I still have not record program by S-VHS mode as the tape is expensive. But I think Toshiba just forget VHS-ET technology as this machine is not recording clean picture.

I am disappointed and I suggest people buy a regular VHS instead. It will serve you better. I hope that I can get a exchange from the shop. So far, they told me it is not their shop policy to exchange goods. Next time, I won't even walk close to this shop for any deal as they are selling you junks and don't care customer's satisfaction.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic VCR 4664, Sony 792

None.

Tape door doesn't open when you eject a tape. VCR will neither playback or record video signal.

Maybe this vcr is great, but if the thing doesn't work right out of the box, it's kind of difficult to tell. I just received mine via UPS this afternoon. The box was in fine shape, and I opened it and hooked it up to my system. First reason for concern: It would only flash "AUTO" in the readout, and I couldn't get it to power up or down or anything. It was locked in some automatic setup mode. I left it like that for fifteen minutes (!) hoping it would finish whatever it was doing, but it was totally locked up. I tried inserting a tape, and THAT unlocked it and powered it up. I thought I was home free, but it was not to be so. The cassette I slipped in began playing, but only the audio portion was intelligible. The picture was a mess of video noise and picture elements. So I tried to eject the cassette. SURPRISE! The door wouldn't open when the cassette was ejected, so the tape was trapped inside. I had to open the little door with my finger to allow the tape to eject. Next I tried a blank tape, to see if the unit would playback something recorded on it. NOPE. Again, all I got was audio signal, video garble, and a trapped tape.

Maybe I've just always had good luck with consumer electronics, but I've NEVER had an experience like this one. I admit, this was a bargain, but what good is it if it doesn't work??? I'm very unhappy with the machine, and have already communicated with the vendor. Happily, they're not giving me a hard time about the refund. For that reason alone, I'd recommend AOK Net, but not this terrible VCR.

And I thought I was getting a BETTER unit than the one I have now. Maybe I'll just buy a cheap Sony at Target.

Fast rewind,smooth tape loading,nice built and appearance.

Slow channel change, poor on screen display and menu format.

I bought this one as a refurbished. For $120 I got a good S-VHS machine. The problem that I noticed so far is that the recording in regular VHS mode have better resolution than the so called S-VHS ET mode. The S-VHS ET mode should be better but I compared it already several times and it is the same. Maybe that's why it became refurbished. Overall, the performance is good and I have no complains for the price that I paid for it.

Similar Products Used:

Sharp VC-H800
Panasonic

VERY fast rewind,S-VHS

No DNR like on the 808

I've used just about every type of VCR known to man, and this so far is the best. The DNR feature on the 808(the only add-on to the 804) would be nice, unfortunately it's not available in Canada. Paid $400 for this unit, and I'm really pleased with it-It'll rewind a tape faster than anything I've ever seen before. The 6 head mechanism is great for effects, and it has a crystal clear picture-as good as some lower end DVD's. Very easy to use and set up. It's difficult to get excited about a VCR but this one's pretty good. If I could have got an 808 I would, but because this is the best unit I've ever used I'll have to give It 5 stars. I don't know why Andy had problems(possibly as he says a bad apple) but all I can suggest to him is to make sure he is using Fresh, good quality tapes, and to double check his recording modes and speeds-any VCR will record like crap in slp mode with an old tape in it. I can't see how(besides the DNR feature on the 808) a VCR could get much better than this.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic,Philips,Quasar,Toshiba,Sony