When DVDs caused the price of VCRs to drop to $50-$80, we bought several over a period of a year or so, so that we had one for the downstairs TV, one for the bedroom TV and one for the study TV. They didn’t all get used a lot, but they sure made things convenient.
But their cheapness has shown. In the last couple of months, all but one of them has broken. The survivor, a Toshibi model 675, works fine. For now.
The ones that crashed were two Memorex 4040As and a Sansui 4510D. All three had tape transport problems.
We bought a slightly upscale $70 VCR with 19 micron heads and all that good stuff, an Emerson EWV401D, that punked out and started eating tapes in just a couple of months time.
Before I go out and blow any more bucks on replacements, I thought I’d ask – what’s a good cheap VCR? Are there any? (I’m sure I could get a great VCR for $300, but I don’t want to spend that much if I don’t have to, and experience has shown that there’s rarely a direct link between price and quality when it comes to low-end consumer electronics.)
Is there any kind of indicator of what makes a good VCR?
And what’s up with tape transport mechanisms lately. I can understand low-cost parts making low-price products, but most of them seem to wheeze with effort from Day One nowadays.
In Canada, I had a hard time finding a ‘low end’ VCR. My local shop (Future Shop) had only 3 kinds in stock, and they were all name-brand 4-head, Hi-Fi stereo sound, etc…
Ahh… a topic I have some expertise in. I’ve purchased 4 of these low end VCRs to build my own “poor man’s TiVO” over the last year. Here’s a breakdown by manufacturer:
Sharp: Decent quality, paid about $70. Has recorded and played for nearly a year without problems.
Sony: Good quality, price was around $80. Better features, I use this as my primary playback machine because of speedy FF, REW and nice time counter, tape remaining graphic. Been good to me over the last 6 months.
Symphonic: Low quality, paid about $60. Lousy menus, occasionally eats tapes. Started off good, but deteriorating. My oldest VCR. Still works ok.
Mitsubishi: Good quality, paid about $85. Pretty nice features, hefty size. Has worked well over the last 6 months.
All in all, I was glad I got many low end VCRs instead of a single high end because I can record multiple shows, even while I’m playing a tape on another one. I’ve noticed the price usually follows this pattern:
$60 base price (mono sound, usually 4 head)
-add $10-$15 for stereo
-add $10-$20 for bells and whistles
Stereo is usually worth it, unless you really don’t care about sound. Over time, I discovered the bells and whistles to be worthwhile, especially if you are using it a lot.
Yeah, you can get a decent, 4-head, hi-fi stereo VCR with commercial advance and other bells and whistles for around $80 or less. I’ve got three–a GE, a Panasonic, and an RCA that all fit this description and have all worked great. I’ve had the GE for over 5 years.
I tend to avoid the Emerson, Phillips, Memorex, and Audiovox brands. I do have a no-frills Apex dvd player that works fine, but I don’t know about their VCR’s.
Panasonic. Go Panasonic. My Panasonic VCR just died- after 9 years of heavy use. They have a very good reputation for longevity. Got my new one for about 50-60 bucks at Best Buy. I imagine it’ll probably be the last one I’ll ever need.
They also make pretty reliable dvd players, btw
(The longevity thing is not only from personal experience but epinions.com and Consumer Reports as well)
If you’re willing to get something not quite the cheapest JVC has an S-VHS deck for about $99. Even when not using S-VHS mode the recordings are distinctly better than the generic deck my wife has, especially when dubbing from cable box or something that has an S-video source. Also it will make S-VHS recordings with standard tape but they won’t be playable on an ordinary VHS deck.
Try Circuitcity & they usually have some about $45-50.00 Get the two year guarantee on them, about another $20…anything happens to it, bring it back & they give you another one.
lol… Go get a DVD player… Can pick a low end DVD up for about $200 nowadays, and the difference is so huge, that you’ll shoot yourself for having considered getting another VCR. There’s no reason in this day and age to spend $300 on a VCR. If you’re going to spend that much, get a decent DVD, or if you really want to go all out, buy a DVD-RAM player, so that you can record onto DVDs…
Just my opinion… but there really is no reason to even contimplate buying a VCR nowadays…
Yeah, I record movies and TV shows and write reviews of them and post them along with vidcaps from my tapes.
I don’t know about brands not being important. In my experience with consumer electronics, there’s not much link between price and value. Frex, I bought an emachine computer a couple of years ago for abuot $500, largely because I’d read an article about a benchmark test that showed it did as well as machines with comparable features that cost three and four times as much. And I’m writing this post on it, so you can say it’s lasted.
Every manufacturer makes a lemon sooner or later, but some make darned fewer lemons than others.
Same here. I bought an emerson a few years ago, now the tape gets stuck.
In regards to the OP, i would just wait until a Magnavox, sony or Panasonic goes on sale somewhere and spend $80 or so on it. I’ve had good luck with panasonics, 5-6 year lifespans.