Rating: 
Summary: Great price, painful setup, marginal picture quality
Review: After our old Magnavox VCR died after 8yrs of faithful service, we decided to replace it with something we could use to watch the occasional VHS tape (we mostly rent DVDs now) and save programs recorded with our ReplayTV. This VCR had all the features we wanted, a fine rating on Amazon (which is now lower than when I purchased it), and a price that couldn't be beat. Here's the skinny:
+ Setup was excruciating. Took several resets and rescanning of channels to get the clock set (auto-clock setup isn't available if you are a Directv subscriber).
+ Remote control layout is fine. The fact that it lights up is kind of cool, although we haven't needed that feature yet.
+ Picture quality is adequate. It's fine for watching a yoga tape that I've seen a million times already, but when I tape programs that I've recorded on my ReplayTV (which is digital quality), it looks only slightly better than watching streaming video on my computer. Not impressive, although it may be better on a smaller TV (ours is a 36" flat screen. On our old 25", everything looked great!).
+ Bottom line: you get what you pay for.
Rating: 
Summary: UGH! ...
Review: Being that we had already gone through 2 other Panasonic VCR models (we started really cheap and worked up to this one) we thought that we just had a run of bad luck with them. Other Panasonic gear we had purchased was AOK for the most part. However, these 3 Panasonic VCRs (inclusive of this one) all had the very same problem - CRAP AUDIO. In most of the tapes, no matter new, old, rented, bought - whatever - the HI-FI indicator would blink on and off during playback. When this happens - of course - the stereo sound would go on and off creating an unacceptable listening experience. And yes, quite a few tapes would just GROWL at us and we couldn't hear the movie.
Since we didn't have these problems in other VCRs we isolated it to the Panasonic(s). We have even emailed them about this insanity. The really strange thing is although we see other poor reviews up here that mention sound, we are surprised after going through THREE of these VCRs, there aren't more. We didn't even bother to see if the problem extended into the recording side. We are just through with Panasonic VCR's - 3 strikes and they're OUTAH HEA!! ...
Rating: 
Summary: Seems to work fine--perhaps better not to ship
Review: Bought this recently from an electronics store in Baltimore. Was using Amazon.com as a good resource for reviews and was surprised by the number of negative reviews for this. Set it up very easily--took perhaps a total of 10-20 minutes and the set-up for time etc. was very easy. It is a bit loud when you're Ff/Rew but for the price it seems reasonable. It is extremely light and I would not be surprised that a lot of the problems people have had could be through sending it through UPS. Only had it for 1 day and have used it on one tape I bought. But my suggestion would be to not get it shipped.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this one or the 4620.
Review: First of all, I wish there was an option to not give a star. A product ought to meet minimum performance requirements. This unit doesn't.I purchased this VCR very excited about its features. I experienced a problem with it putting a yellowish cast along the top of the video. I thought it might be the tape so I put the tape in an older Panasonic VCR and a Sony VCR. The color was not present. I then played the VCR through my RF input thinking perhaps that my new Panasonic TV had faulty video inputs. The same problem happened. I returned the unit and bought another just like it. It too had an identical problem. I dismissed it as a QC problem since the VCRs were made in Malaysia. I then located a new Panasonic 4620 VCR. It was made in Japan (like the good old days.) The yellow band was gone --- to be replaced by distortion. Vertical lines at the top of the pictures were all slanted almost 90 degrees to the right. The trees in the battle scene from Gladiator looked like someone had taken an axe to them. I exchanged it for another of the same model. Same problem. I went through all of the previous diagnostic routines using the tape in other VCRs and had no problem. I also plugged the unit into my Sony TV. The image was improved but still unacceptable. All images had a slight tilt to the left. Tracking adjustments did not help me in any of the cases. I gave up and decided to stick with my old 4-head hi-fi Panasonic VCR from 1987 (now only usable in mono). I also ended up taking the new Panasonic CT27D20 television back and exchanged it for a Toshiba 32A50 suspecting that the Panasonic TV shared part of the problem. The Toshiba is great! I also purchased a Panasonic DVD-R65 DVD unit. The Panasonic DVD is a fantastic unit. I've been a long time Panasonic and Sony fan. But I lost faith in Sony TV quality -- they just don't last long. I'm now wondering about Panasonic. What's puzzling is that their VCRs are rated highest in quality by Consumer Reports. I was very thorough in my analysis. Perhaps I had the 1 in 1,000,000 statistically bad ones. The units were not characteristic of my Panasonic experiences. Nor do my experiences match up with other reviews. The tapes I test were all good ones too. The Toshiba is a first for me -- so far it, the old Panasonic VCR and the new Panasonic DVD work great together.
Rating:
Summary: You can't go wrong
Review: For the price paid,this unit has all the competition beat. It lives up to the Panasonic reputation of fine quality at a reasonable price. Only quibbles: crowded remote, and wish it had real time counter on unit display rather than on-screen only. Anyway, I love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Did not last...
Review: I always loved Panasonic VCRs. This one just did not last. Even after regular cleaning, the thing eats tapes. Even pulled it apart and cleaned it by hand. No change. Just over a year old.
Rating:
Summary: Did not last...
Review: I always loved Panasonic VCRs. This one just did not last. Even after regular cleaning, the thing eats tapes. Even pulled it apart and cleaned it by hand. No change. Just over a year old.
Rating:
Summary: Quality is fine, but it cannot control my cable box for VCR+
Review: I am satisfied with the quality, but disappointed with the features, specifically VCR+. I had been using a Panasonic PV-4564 for a long long time and I liked it a lot. It finally got a tape stuck in it (as has every VCR I have ever owned at some point, oh well) and I figured with the prices so low on this 4611, I would just buy a new one instead of fixing the old. The most important feature to me is the VCR+ feature, particularly how my old VCR could change the channel on my cable box. When I did my research, I ruled out all VCRs without VCR+. When I got this PV-4611, I was extremely surprised to realize that Panasonic has apparently silently done away with the external control feature! (History reminder; the *original* VCR+ systems from the 80's were tiny little remotes that sat on top of your TV and sent out the right infared codes to control your VCR and your cable boxes. And they also worked off of those crazy numbers in the TV guide, of couse. Apparantly, now VCR+ only means ONE of those things.) I cannot find information on Panasonic's web site about my old VCR, nor can I find any info on whether they even have any current models with the feature I want. Just to be clear: the problem is that I have to set my cable box to the right channel in advance of my timed recordings. And I cannot record shows from two different channels without manually changing the channel at the right time. Of course, I could do away with my cable box, but then I could not record from scrambled channels like HBO. Grumble. The actual VCR I received is working fine and the quality seems good. I'm going to keep it (but only because the price is so low), but I'm sure irritated with Panasonic. p.s. Does anyone know what "VCR+ Silver" really means?
Rating:
Summary: Worst appliance I have ever purchased
Review: I bought this VCR to go with a new Panasonic TV; after trying for a week to hook it up, I asked a friend to try. He failed, too, then I spoke with the service dept. of Panasonic, who said to send it back to them. "Works fine here," the service rep said. He sent it back and we tried again. Then I hired an electronic wizard to set it up. He spent 2 hours tryimg to set it up and then another two hours on the telephone with our new friend Dan at Panasonic, and Dan finally turned him over to someone else there, and it now works for "Play," but Record? Never! It will not record even when we sit there and push the buttons manually, Both the TV and the VCR are simple, basic machines, no bells and whistles. The VCRPlus feature will not function. I plan to return it to Panasonic, not the store where I bought it, as a lesson in how not to make a VCR, and I will buy another brand. I would have thought that to have both machines the same brand made the same year would make it easier, not impossible, to make them work together, Not so. I have always liked Panasonic and trusted them Not any more, and never again.
Rating:
Summary: Not a star performer
Review: I bought this when the PV-V4521 I wanted wasn't available. Took the unit home, set it up. Then the fun began. I was able to get it to work with my dish fine. My child wanted to watch a video, so I put one in, then hit rewind. Seconds later it was done, and began to play. It played for 15 seconds, rewound, then stopped. Hrmm. I ejected the tape, the VCR ate it. Oh great. I tried another tape...a new, blank one, the same thing. I looked online for something about this, and another review site had several folks this happened to. I boxed it up and return it, this time trying my luck with a Samsung VR8160 instead. The instructions were good, I liked the lighted remote. Installation was easy. Couldn't tell you on how the VCR played, since it was too hungry to play and insisted on eating tapes. I gave it a 2 because it at least powered up. The menus are easy to navigate, but this tape eating feature...well...I bought this unit to PLAY tapes, and it serves me no purpose if it's going to not do that. I'd be leery to recommend this one to someone else.
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