Rating: ![1 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-1-0.gif) Summary: Tracking problem Review: The tracking worked fine for about a month. Now the auto tracking attempts to find the best picture, but snow results. The manual tracking function works, but does not improve the picture. Cleaning did not help. A slight tap to the unit clears it up. Must be something loose inside.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: You get what you paid for! Review: This is a basic entry level Hi-Fi VCR. I have 3 panasonic VCR and this one was my fourth one. The worst part was recording as you have to press 2 buttons in order to program recording. When it was recording, a big "REC" showed in the beginning and then replaced by tape meter which could confuse you as you might not realize it was recording. When programming, channels were not defaulted to those you had access but it went from channel 1, 2, 3...ie, it was a bit time consuming to program. Remote was OK but it was quick enough if you do commercial skipping. Soundwise, for some reasons, it was better than my hi-fi panasonic even with the same home theatre set up. Durability wise, I bought mine from Nov 2002 & I broke it in early June 2003 when I tried to clean up the tape head. Something just fell out when I opened it and tried to clean it the 2nd time. I guess it was my fault. The inside of it was made with a lot of plastics which I don't think it would last long anyway. However, it is reasonable if you don't pay more than $ bucks for this unit. Now I have to deal with Toshiba people. Don't know the outcome yet. Picture quality was good for me as I didn't have any problem like others. Tracking was better than my 3 other panasonic. It usually found the right tracking for the tapes that we put in. Noise was reasonable to me and was silent when playing. Rewind was quick as advertised. It had good feature like showing you titles of TV programs when changing channels and auto clock setting.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: You get what you paid for! Review: This is a basic entry level Hi-Fi VCR. I have 3 panasonic VCR and this one was my fourth one. The worst part was recording as you have to press 2 buttons in order to program recording. When it was recording, a big "REC" showed in the beginning and then replaced by tape meter which could confuse you as you might not realize it was recording. When programming, channels were not defaulted to those you had access but it went from channel 1, 2, 3...ie, it was a bit time consuming to program. Remote was OK but it was quick enough if you do commercial skipping. Soundwise, for some reasons, it was better than my hi-fi panasonic even with the same home theatre set up. Durability wise, I bought mine from Nov 2002 & I broke it in early June 2003 when I tried to clean up the tape head. Something just fell out when I opened it and tried to clean it the 2nd time. I guess it was my fault. The inside of it was made with a lot of plastics which I don't think it would last long anyway. However, it is reasonable if you don't pay more than $ bucks for this unit. Now I have to deal with Toshiba people. Don't know the outcome yet. Picture quality was good for me as I didn't have any problem like others. Tracking was better than my 3 other panasonic. It usually found the right tracking for the tapes that we put in. Noise was reasonable to me and was silent when playing. Rewind was quick as advertised. It had good feature like showing you titles of TV programs when changing channels and auto clock setting.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Silly, Inconvenient trick needed to record shows! Review: This is so silly -- most VCRs, you turn off the VCR, and it records the shows you have entered. But not this Toshiba! Instead, you must use the remote control and press two "TIMER" buttons at the same time in order to get your shows recorded. If you forget, and simply push the POWER button -- sorry, no shows get recorded. Just plain stupid! Note: No VCR-Plus either. Price is nice though.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Leaves something to be desired Review: This VCR is a good entry-level VCR for someone who wants to watch Dolby Pro Logic videos and otherwise use a VCR in their home theater setup. For experienced electronics users and entertainment technology buffs, this VCR will leave the impression that there is not much to the deck. The digital display is suspiciously similar to the Sony SLV-N77, even though the two decks are different in features. The digital display is a point of issue, simply because there are four indicators and a four-digit multipurpose clock. The counter is displayed in hours and minutes; for seconds you must turn on the on-screen counter. The deck's operation noise is reasonable, although it is not amazingly quiet it does not bother you if you have your volume at a moderate level. The Auto Set Up works well, but it takes a long time (over ten minutes). The deck allows for unattended search (e.g. ff/rew) and if you press play more than once when coming out of this mode you will inadvertently activate double-speed playback. The Hi-Fi sound also takes a bit too long to return after a special effect is performed (e.g. pause, ff/rew, slow). The deck's main problem lies simply in the lack of things it can do. It gives the impression of a budget deck. As a final note, its tape transport mechanism is maddeningly slow to respond to remote commands and front-panel buttons, making it easy to miss the end of the commericals. Of course, the commerical skip does not work at all, often starting play again in less than thirty seconds after activation.
Rating: ![1 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-1-0.gif) Summary: Gear noise is annoying. Constantly tick, tick, tick, tick,.. Review: Unless you plan on putting this vcr into a soundproof chamber, do not buy it. There is a constant clicking caused by internal gears that drive the mechanism within the machine. Trust me, once you hear it either while playing or recording a tape, it will drive you nuts, much like chinese water torture (for you youngsters, that is the sound of one drop of water hitting your forehead, than another, and another and another. I can't believe that toshiba would allow such a product to come with their name on it
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: pretty good VCR, cant beat the price! Review: Well my old Toshiba ate a tape and its tracking was beyond repair so it was time to replace it. I love Toshiba for their customer support they've given me in the past regarding lost remotes, tech advice, and repair. This VCR felt very light compared to my old Toshiba, however it played back tapes both commercial and self-recorded flawlessly. This unit is also pretty silent to my standards. There is no squeek in the playback nor in the rewind or fastforward modes which seemed to happen a lot with my old Toshiba. The super fast rewind is true to the advertisement, and I clocked a 4 hour tape completely at the end of the tape, back to the beginning at 56 seconds. WOW! The setup was so completely painless on this system I'd think a 5 year old could integrate this. My only problem with this deck is that the display only shows hours and minutes, not seconds. So sometimes when you're recording something, you dont know that you are until you see the minute change over. Took a little getting used to. All in all this is a great VCR at a great price
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