Rating: 
Summary: The reviewers are right...
Review: I bought this based on my last Panasonic VCR and ignored the negative reviews. Doh! Dead in 2 weeks. I'll pay to ship it back (ouch!) I think I'll try the Sharp next. The Sony reviews are as bad as for this one.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I bought this vcr after my old one died after nearly ten years of solid use. I didn't have huge expectations for the V4523S, since VCRs in general seem to be on the way out, replaced by DVD recorders and TiVO. However even with lowered expectations I found the V4523S to be very disappointing. Recording at the LP and SLP modes produced wobbly, grainy pictures with distorted sound. Even SP mode produced only mediocre recordings. I returned it after 2 days and picked up the cheaper Panasonic PV-V4022, which has turned out to be a better performer.
Rating: 
Summary: An Unfair Average
Review: I bought this VCR today and (so far) I have found it flawless. My main reason for writing a review was bcause looking at the star average, I noticed the review that gave only 1 star was reviewing a different model. I note this because many people, myself included use this as part of a purchasing decision.
I, myself am impressed with the picture quality of this model and my homemade tapes are playing great. As far as the three speeds, I have wondered what happened to that middle speed, though it did not figure into my purchasing decision.
Rating: 
Summary: Great little VCR
Review: I have had this VCR for approx. 2 months. It is mainly used by my children for watching their video's. It is easy to use and program. The picture quality is very good. The VCR is light weight. I recommend this product.
Rating:
Summary: never again a Panasonic product for me
Review: On October 12, 2002, we bought a Panasonic PV-V4612S VCR from Circuit City to replace an old VCR. We took the VCR home, hooked it up, and tested it to make sure it worked. We have two VCRs and don't use either one very often, so it wasn't until December that we realized that the new Panasonic VCR would not play or record on older video tapes but instead would spit these tapes out immediately. Our other VCR (and the VCR that the Panasonic was purchased to replace) never had this problem.
I called Panasonic's 800 number and discussed the problem with a Panasonic representative because I thought maybe the VCR was supposed to reject older tapes for some reason unknown to me. The Panasonic representative assured me that the VCR was not supposed to reject older tapes and told me to take it to an authorized Panasonic service center, which in this case was Consumer Electronic Service. I dropped off the VCR at Consumer Electronic Service. However, Consumer Electronic Service (CES) told me there was nothing wrong with the VCR. I brought in one of our older tapes and showed them that the VCR rejected the tape. The CES representative told me that it worked fine with his sample tapes (which appeared to be brand new) and that there wasn't a problem if there was only one tape that the VCR wouldn't work with. I told him it was many tapes, that our other VCRs had no problem with these tapes, and offered to bring in more tapes to show him the problem. He refused, insisting that if he could get the VCR to work with his sample tapes that there was no problem with the VCR. I appealed to Panasonic, but this time a different Panasonic representative told me that Panasonic would have to accept the service center's diagnosis. They said that I could not get a refund or exchange the VCR for a new one. The only option Panasonic now offered was for me to return the VCR to Panasonic in exchange for a "reconditionedÂE(i.e., used) machine. Of course, by the time I got the used VCR back, the product would be out of warranty.
I am amazed that Panasonic and their certified service provider both refuse to admit that the inability of a VCR to play some videotapes is a defect. I am also very disappointed that the only option offered by Panasonic was to exchange this VCR for another, used VCR which might have had the same problem, at which point the product would have been out of warranty. I am sure that most consumers expect to be able to play their entire video tape collection on a VCR that they purchase. Because this VCR could not play the majority of our videotapes, I believe that this problem certainly does constitute a breach of warranty and consumers who purchase such a machine should have the option of returning the VCR to the manufacturer for a refund. It certainly seems that here, Panasonic used its certified service provider to create the illusion of independent evaluation while actually the certified service provider must be collaborating with Panasonic to declare defective merchandise "non-defective,ÂEthereby sticking the consumer with merchandise that does not work for its intended purpose. I will not be doing business with either Panasonic or Consumer Electronic Service of Cary in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Flimsy and defective
Review: On the third day of use, tapes started to catch on the cheap plastic swivel door over the loading slot, and wouldn't eject far enough to pull them out easily. After a week, tapes were routinely blocked by the open door and wouldn't eject at all. I just returned the unit for a refund. Its a shame, because the unit's record and playback quality was fine.
Rating:
Summary: Panasonic PV-V4523S Review
Review: The Panasonic PV-V4523S is a good VCR. It's one of the last to record in LP mode. The following models only record in SP/EP. The shortcomings are the silver finish and the tape advance. The silver finish wears off quickly in the high use areas, especially on the remote. The tape counter is awkward. It only shows on the TV screen and not on the LCD panel on the front of the VCR. The screen only shows Play and Rec on the LCD panel while in use w/o showing the tape counter. In REW and FF the screen only shows those terms briefly while the tape starts moving, making a precise rewind or fast forward imprecise. After one year of heavy use it has held up well. I bought two more to have one that will record in LP for the future.
Rating:
Summary: Good while it lasted
Review: This is a very good VCR for the money and picture quality is very decent...for the first 8 months that is.We purchased this VCR in Oct. of 2003...and as of June 2004 it appears to be nearing the end of its usable life. We use it to record about 2 hrs of programming a night, apparently this is too much for this VCR to handle over long periods. When we bought it picture quality was amazing, as was sound quality. SLP recording quality is fair but not impressive. LP and SP modes are very good. At about 7 months of age, it began fast-fowarding without notice. Taking batteries out of remote, thinking that was the problem, made no difference. We had to fight with the thing to get it to respond at times. When it started fast-forwarding, nothing would make it respond, not even hitting the power button on the unit itself. Only unplugging it and re-plugging it back in would stop it long enough for you to remove the cassette from inside. After that we would get a "No Cassette" message all day as the VCR repeatedly attempted to fast-forward. When that began to go away, the picture quality began to decline. Recording on tapes, the bottom of the screen began to get distorted and, later on, lines began to run through the picture. Now, sound will periodically drop out for 1/2 a second while recording at various intervals, which is highly annoying on playback. We have cleaned it numerous times with a head cleaner to no avail. It appears that this VCR encounters serious problems if you use it repeatedly for long periods of time. It's really sad because we love this VCR, it has worked great and had a fantastic picture(except for SLP), for a long time now. It's a shame that it is giving up after only 8 months. Perhaps you will fare better. I give this VCR 4 stars based on its performance before it began acting up. I would recommend it because we were very happy with it. But be cautious that this VCR may not last very long. Or maybe it was just us. This puts us in the unfortunate position of having to replace it with another VCR....none of which have good reviews on amazon.com.
Rating:
Summary: A Rare Find
Review: This Panasonic is nothing particularly special; just a garden-variety inexpensive 4-head Hi-Fi VCR. But for me, it has one HUGE feature that no other VCRs I know of still offer: the ability to record in LP (4 hour) mode. Sure, LP isn't quite as good as SP, but if one has a 3 hour program to record, using LP to fit it all on one tape beats the generally pitiful SLP mode of most units. I find the picture quality of recordings I make at all 3 speeds to be at least as good as any of the other multiple VCRs I presently or previously owned. Even the SLP picture is fair, but LP and SP are noticeably better. The sound quality of the Hi-Fi stereo is great, as would be expected. All in all, a pretty decent VCR, but the ability to record in LP mode makes it a great machine; and the primary reason I purchased it.
Rating:
Summary: BEWARE!!
Review: This piece of junk blew out the speakers on my 27" Toshiba TV. Toshiba customer service said that this happening is within the realm of possiblilty. I hooked it up according to directions and the speakers are gone. I called Panasonic and they wanted it shippped to them "for testing". I am sure they'll decide there's nothing wrong and blow me off. Stay tuned....
Big surprise!! They found nothing wrong. They kept my VCR for over two weeks for "testing" and found nothing wrong with it. I KNOW I believe them!! What a crummy company to deal with!! NEVER AGAIN!!
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