Hubby’s looking for an inexpensive VCR for his son – not that he’s really cheap, but the kid doesn’t take very good care of his stuff.
We’ve found some 2-head hi-fi VCRs for $100 or less. I told hubby I’d heard that the picture and sound are noticeably inferior to the 4-head stereo variety.
Anyone know if that’s true?
Picture quality is lower on 2-head, but it’s mostly noticeable when you’re using slo motion or stop frame. We had 2-head for several years and it was fine for movies.
I don’t mind a slightly lower picture quality, though. Just as long as I can see things.
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Having had both, I can say this:
All other things being equal, there’s absolutely no diference if you’re just playing a movie.
4-head is much better if you’re playing slow motion (e.g sports).
Your kid can live with a 2-head.
Thanks. Two-head it is.
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It is very much appreciated, believe me.
I work on those things & they are right, 2 & four head are the same. Slow motion requires 4 heads.
However, 2 & 4 head models cost the same here. What you get for cheapness is a BIG lack of features, though.
Hmmmm. I’d been costing these out on websites, rather than in real stores. The 2-headed ones were running 30% or more cheaper.
Might be different when we head off to Target though – I’ll keep your features comment in mind.
Thanks – again. 
Hubby’s looking for an inexpensive VCR for his son – not that he’s really cheap, but the kid doesn’t take very good care of his stuff.
We’ve found some 2-head hi-fi VCRs for $100 or less. I told hubby I’d heard that the picture and sound are noticeably inferior to the 4-head stereo variety.
Just my .02
Number one, if he destroys stuff, even better to get something built like a brick outhouse.
Look for a used one from back when they made them with all metal frames. We dropped one of these off a balcony on new years a few years back, and it took a six full falls before it shattered.
Or, does it just crap out from use?
When they went to plastic cases, they also went to cheaper motors, and injection molded front panel controls that didn’t stand a chance in hell of actually triggering the switches they were supposed to.
Buy too cheap, and it not only won’t last, it won’t even do what its supposed to, play a tape, and rewind it when its done.
(the kid may not have abused his stuff, but then again, not taking care of, my own are guilty of that too)
Number two, the reason to go four head ain’t the picture effects, though those are nice,
It’s hi-fi stereo.
Way better sound.
Way better sound means, that the clarity comes thru, even at low volume.
Low volume means the kid can hear it clearly, and I don’t have to.
Or at least its parental ignorable.
(you ever sleep thru a movie even when the sounds loud?)that’s the principle.
just my .02
I bought my four-head new for $80. I don’t know what features it lacks that would matter to me - it plays and records movies and has a remote and timer, on screen programming as well as VCR-PLUS compatability (which I don’t use). Its a GE and I bought it K-MART.
BugZap got me to thinkin’
If Jr. doesn’t take good care of his stuff then a rebuilt unit might fill the bill.
Look in the Yellow Pages under Television Service. A lot of those shops (particularly in the “poorer” parts of town) have a rule that any repaired unit not picked up within 30 days will be sold.
Some of the shops may actually advertise “Used TV’s” but most don’t seem to.
Call a few and ask if they offer any repaired or rebuilt units for sale. If the answer is yes…stop by and take a look see.
When you’re on a really tight budget this is a good option.
Do you have pawn shops around? The bigger ones have warrantys and the prices are very reasonable. I bought a 4 head, on screen programming, cable ready VCR for $40, because I wanted to put one in a kids room.
Er…
Ahhh…
Oh, never mind.
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Price of VCRs has a lot to do with the mechanism design. The more expensive ones have direct drive with no belts. They will last longer and be less troublesome, like not eating your tapes. The belts are the first things to go. I have replaced many. That does not mean that a cheap belted one will not give you your money’s worth!
The market is flooded with cheap cheap plasticized vcrs from China with names you can’t pronounce.
Buy a cheapy from Circuit City & buy the extended warrentee [yeah, so they say never to buy one, in this case you can] for three years cause those vcrs are disposable.
Features you get for more money that I really really like: 1. commerical advance [the one that does it automatically so you don’t have to hit buttons for 30 FF] 2. film advance [goes to the start of a video you rented for you & says: ready to play, push play].
Those two features only added $20 to a vcr I bought & I figure they give me back about 200 hours of time per year.
4 heads are better if you’re making copies off other video tapes. I think recording uses only 2 heads, even on a 4 head, so it’s best to play the original tape on the 4 head and record the copy on the 2 head.