Panasonic PV-V4612S 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR (Silver)

Rating:
Summary: Bad tape handling mechanism
Review: After having this machine less than a year, the machine would no longer accept tapes. I was very frustrated in my attempts to get it fixed (it would cost more than the machine originally cost to get it fixed by the company), and service centers are very scarce where I live (downtown DC). I am very disappointed with the quality of this machine.

Rating:
Summary: PANASONIC PRODUCTS ARE WORTHLESS
Review: After only 2 uses this VCR began 'squeaking' during play. (Another reviewer describes it as 'hamster wheel' sounds, and I AGREE! It's quite annoying, and no matter how high you turn the volume, you still notice it). The programming features are more complicated than they need to be, and the recording quality is just as bad as my 10 year old VCR.

Rating:
Summary: Try again!
Review: After only 2 uses this VCR began 'squeaking' during play. (Another reviewer describes it as 'hamster wheel' sounds, and I AGREE! It's quite annoying, and no matter how high you turn the volume, you still notice it). The programming features are more complicated than they need to be, and the recording quality is just as bad as my 10 year old VCR.

Rating:
Summary: piece of junk
Review: Do not buy this VCR. I had this one for six months, and had trouble with VCR not accepting tapes. Cover where tapes are put in came off. I sent it back to Circuit City, and bought a Sony.

Rating:
Summary: piece of junk
Review: Do not buy this VCR. I had this one for six months, and had trouble with VCR not accepting tapes. Cover where tapes are put in came off. I sent it back to Circuit City, and bought a Sony.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this model
Review: Don't buy this model from Panasonic. I wish I'd read all these reviews about this model. This is really a piece of junk. It won't accept any tapes after using it only for 6 months! The whole mechanism of tape accepting mechanism has somehow stopped aall of a sudden. I used have another panasonic model before this one, which worked for almost 4 years without any trouble. So I don't blame all their model, but this one with all fancy looks and options reminds me of aan old proverb 'all that glitters is not gold'.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this model
Review: Don't buy this model from Panasonic. I wish I'd read all these reviews about this model. This is really a piece of junk. It won't accept any tapes after using it only for 6 months! The whole mechanism of tape accepting mechanism has somehow stopped aall of a sudden. I used have another panasonic model before this one, which worked for almost 4 years without any trouble. So I don't blame all their model, but this one with all fancy looks and options reminds me of aan old proverb 'all that glitters is not gold'.

Rating:
Summary: A VHS VCR of good value!
Review: For the price I consider this a good value VHS VCR. Picture quality on playback is as good as any unit I have seen. The record/playback quality is not as good as some Sony units and that is one reason it only gets 4 stars. The transport works well. The stop to start times run between 2 and 4 seconds - depending on how long it is stopped - not bad. Rewind/fast-forward handling seemed gentle enough. Sometimes it auto plays a new tape and sometimes it doesn't; never figured out why. Picture quality of the tuner from channel 2 to 78 was as good as a Sony XBR TV. I could not check out the auto clock set since our cable provider doesn't support. I also did not check out the commercial advance feature. However, the movie advance does work quite well-it's almost like magic; only works through the remote and is fairly hidden. There is some breakup in the picture during search (not too bad through) and pause frames are almost perfect - a small amount of breakup at the very bottom of the picture. The other reason for only 4 stars is that the tape counter does NOT show on the unit display ever, but only on the on-screen display; and that only during play/record and fast-forward/rewind - not search. Not that it would bother everyone, but the remote control has very small, closely spaced buttons except for the transport controls which are logical and large enough. The worst buttons are the channel and volume controls - placement, size and spacing are very bad - maybe another 4 star reason. The unit controls are power, eject/stop, record, play, rew/back-search, fast-forward/search which is nice. Played a dozen or so pre-recorded tapes, an equal mix of commercial and my own recordings, so far and the unit has handled them all with good picture quality.

Rating:
Summary: While it does have nice features, it is not nicely made.
Review: I bought this model and it died after less than 3 months. Specifically, the tape eject motor died and the faceplate fell off very easily. Their customer service was very unhelpful and it would have cost me almost $70 to get a replacement from Panasonic. Be careful buying this unit.

Rating:
Summary: Panasonic VCRS
Review: I had problems when I tried to get Panasonic to repair an old VCR but it seemed to fix itself. I have 2 Panasonic VCRs now, and I like the older model with easier VCR+. The newer one defaults to a different programming tool. I also hate the Commercial Advance which prevents you from changing the tape to tape another program immediately after.