there's a reason it's $169.00
Written: Nov 28 '00 (Updated Dec 14 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: price, xpress programming
Cons: quality, design
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| beanbear's Full Review: JVC HR-S3600 VCR |
Synopsis:
I recently bought a unit from Crutchfield (always great service, btw) and have to say I was disappointed. While I don’t think that the JVC is horrible, I think it has had its share of quality problems in its effort to reduce price – the sheer number of refurbished ones now on market may be a testament to the number of returns. Mine, after all, also bit the bullet only a week after I received it – a defective cassette assembly.
Quick review:
The JVC hits a really incredible price point for S-VHS VCR’s, but there are trade-offs. I was less impressed with S-VHS playback and recording, especially in S-VHS ET mode, which lets you record S-VHS on plain VHS tapes. I eventually went with a pair of Mitsubishi's - a refurbished pro-level HS-U781 and a new HS-U776. The 776's S-VHS ET performance was better than the JVC regular S-VHS performance. S-VHS was no contest with either Mitsubishi.
"Under the hood", the more expensive units (mostly from Panasonic, Mitsubishi, & Toshiba) are just better engineered - they include features like _digital_ comb filters, Class A video amps, pre-amps separate from the video drum, etc.; All these things enhance picture quality (and cost) quite a bit. I think that if you're going step up to S-VHS, you've got a reason and shouldn't settle for the JVC's 25-50% improvement in picture quality over VHS.
The manual is one of the most confusing I’ve seen ever. It makes you skip back and forth many times for simple setups. It will make sense after you spend some time, but the initial setup was grueling. There are some other lapses in design quality that bothered me – the small size (awkward since they are often in stacks), the busyness and erratic illumination of the remote, and the archaic menu system. For example, my old Hitachi FX-600A also had picture calibration, but unlike the JVC, you could do it on the fly and without going through the menu system after initial selection. In effect, you could do what an optometrist does when s/he asks “Is it better 1 or 2? A or B?”.
Some good, though:
The express programming on the remote was really great. There are just 4 buttons and you can put something in the timer within 30 seconds. The front gold-plated A/V jacks are a nice touch as is the jog/shuttle dial. The “cable eye” cable box controller was nice too – the new JVC’s make you send away for it.
Still, unless you specifically need S-VHS and can't afford $200 or more, there are significantly better models available.
Value:
C+...It's tough to call in light of the mediocre picture quality, design issues, and questionable reliability. I just think there are too many truly excellent VHS units at this price and several great S-VHS units for only slightly more to recommend this.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
beanbear
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Member: B Kim
Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 62
Trusted by: 7 members
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