What to consider when buying a VCR
Mar 01 '02
The Bottom Line Take the time to compare what there is with what you need before you go shopping for a VCR.
While DVD is quickly taking over for VHS in movie viewing, VCRs are still the workhorse for anything video in the common household. VCRs have become inexpensive and very feature rich. Since so many features exist you may care to review them before choosing your next VCR.
There are two different formats of VCRs available for your use: VHS and S-VHS. The difference between the two is the number of lines of video AKA resolution. The common VHS tapes have 240 lines of video per screen frame while S-VHS has 400 lines. This difference appears in the VHS as softness in the picture with the colors blending more than the S-VHS format does. VCRs with support for S-VHS will run VHS tapes, but, not surprisingly, are much more expensive.
Among these VCRs there are a wide range of features available. Here are many of the ones you are most likely to see:
Heads: The big question everyone asks: 2-head VCRs provide basic recording and playback. They are generally optimized for 6-hour record and play back modes. 4-head VCRs provide two pairs of heads: One optimized for 6-hour mode and one for the higher quality 2-hour mode. Since most rental movies are recorded in higher quality 2-hour mode a 4-head VCR is recommended.
MTS support: Standing for "Multi-channel Television Sound" is present on all VCRs that have stereo sound. This doesn't necessarily mean HI-FI. Stereo VCRs are common without HI-FI.
HI-FI support: Standing for "High Fidelity" these VCRs support stereo sound and for home theaters VHS tapes recorded with HI-FI support can have three channels of sound. These will be spread across five speakers for middle quality surround sound with support from a Dolby Pro Logic processor.
Automatic Clock Setting: Reads the time from the local PBS station so you should never have to set the clock.
Commercial Advance: During recording allow you to mark the start and end of commercials to pass over them in replay. A must have for people who commonly tape shows for later viewing.
Commercial Skip: Advances the tape 30 seconds, the average length of a commercial. Hopefully, this will allow you to skip quickly past them.
Movie Advance: Will skip past promotional material at the beginning of a tape.
Automatic Head Cleaners: Wipe away dirt from the heads when you insert a tape. While not replacing a Wet VCR cleaner tape, it is invaluable to people who never clean their VCR.
Index Program Search: Allows you to mark a spot in a tape such as the beginning of a show.
VCR+: Allows you to enter codes from a TV guide or local listings to tape. Many such VCRs will include a onscreen TV guide for you to select shows.
These are not all of them, but certainly most of the common features.
Questions to ask yourself when buying a VCR:
Do you rent tapes at least from time to time?
Do you use a VCR to play back shows on 6-hour mode recording mostly?
Do you use a camcorder?
Do you have a stereo system or home theater system hooked up to your Entertainment Center?
Are you looking to do special effects such as slow motion or still frame?
If the only one you said yes to is using a VCR to play back TV shows then all you need is a two head VCR. Any more would just be frivolous money spending. If you said yes to any of the others choose a four head VCR. You definitely want a four head VCR if you need special effects or watch rental movies. If you have a camcorder you should get a VCR with front RCA connectors for easier hookup. If you have a stereo system hooked to your entertainment system then you need a minimum of a VCR with MTS support and with HI-FI if you have a stereo or home theater with a Dolby Digital processor so you may take advantage of the three channel sound that a VCR is capable of.
Beyond this quality of any particular brand and model is sketchy and fallible as far as any known knowledge on the subject. The best guide to this matter would have to be the Consumer Reports 2000 survey on VCR brands bought between 1995 and 2000. The following is a description of the chart made from that survey:
Percent of VCRs with Repairs and Serious Problems:
(in order of severity)
5%
Panasonic
5% to 10%
Quasar
Sanyo
Sharp
Toshiba
Samsung
General Electric
Philips Magnavox
Emerson
RCA
Hitachi
JVC
ProScan
Symphonic
10 % to 13 %
Go-Video
Sony
Zenith
Mitsubishi
The survey was based on 170,000 responses from customers and 3 points or more being significant. On the above that translates into 2 to 4 of the neighboring brands on the list.
So take your time and consider what you would like to have. Then choose what you need.
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