I Need To Get A New VCR Right Away (1 Viewer)

Alas, my venerable old Sony VCR apparently just bit the dust. Does anyone have any low-cost recommendations? I'd like to stick with Sony (I don't want any compatiblity problems (tracking, glitches, etc.) and am looking for SVHS if possible. The Crutchfield listing for the SLV-900 (with "Quasi-SVHS" quality) isn't all that reassuring.

Sony SLV-900

Yes, I know I'll eventually get TiVo, a DVD Recorder, etc., but I just need a VCR ASAP.

Any suggestions are welcome!

I grabbed the JVC HRS5901U S-VHS a while back and it's a good VCR. Also has an S-video input to record from your PC or another source.

A word of advice- never use the quasi-VHS type options. It gave me some weird video, just slightly better than standard VHS. Just buy yourself a buncha S-VHS tapes and never record to VHS again.

A little off topic, but does Sony manufacture a true S-VHS deck? Or even a D-VHS deck?

no reason to stick with sony for compatability reasons that I can think of. JVC wouldn't be a bad choice, they did originate the VHS format after all.

Wow - good call... Maybe I'll Ebay or Craigs my current Toshiba Cinema series VCR and go for one of these if I can get enough from my older VCR.

Mark,
You can get a JVC HRS9900 for next to nothing nowadays. It has every option you could possibly want in a VCR and then some. It is JVC's top of the line SVHS from a year or two ago. I've got one, and as far as SVHS players go, it can't be beat. And to Ken, no, Sony does not currently make a SVHS or DVHS deck at the moment.

BryanM - how much did you pay for one of those?

I paid about $200 for a JVC factory sealed refurb on ebay (MSRP of $599!). The guy had 10 of them. If you look on ebay, I am sure you will find them (probably same guy, he's always selling them), but I can't remember his name right now. It came in mint condition-like new with all accessories factory sealed. It was well worth it and I needed a good SVHS player anyways. An excellent player and worth the $200 if you are in the market for a VCR. Oh, and don't go for a "Quasi-SVHS" player. It's not the same. Get the real deal. One more thing. If you do a comparison between the HRS9900 and the current HRS9911, you will see that the 9900 actually has more features than the 9911. Why JVC would do that, I don't know (plus, i'm not to keen on the 9911's flip-down facade).

Right now it looks like it's just a blown fuse. But if I need to get a new player, the JVC looks solid. As always, HTF rules.

But is this unit truly worth the $100 over the Ecost 5901-U?

Depends on what you are looking for in a VCR. In my opinion--is it worth the extra $100 or so dollars--Most definately. I think it's worth a lot more than that. JVC's 5XXX series is their midway line. The 9XXX series is their top of the line VCR. It has every possible option you could ever want and for a VCR will give you the BEST possible picture a VCR will deliver. Don't get me wrong. JVC invented the VCR and the 5XXX series player are good. It just depends on what options you want. But for the price it can be had for nowadays, I would really recommend getting one if in the market (all this coming from a die hard DVD supporter!)

I don't see any JVC SVHS 9xxx series models listed on ebay at all! At online stores I see the 9911 for sale around $350.

BryanM - I'm just looking for a better transfer from my DirectTivo and from just normal viewing of VHS (infrequent). The marginal price after selling my own VCR would be worthwhile for the 5XXX series. Not too sure about the 99XX line because I'm barely spending that on my DVD player.

I still do serious HT VHS viewing (widescreen VHS only - not P&S VHS) on my system because the images from my Sony SLV-R1000 SVHS VCR are so good.

The R1000 is built like a tank, cost ~$1200 new and are usually advertised as in superb shape used. Probably $200-$350 on eBay. This baby even has licensed Faroudja digital filtering inside designed specifically by Dr. Faroudja for Sony a few years ago. This is one of the last great VCR's made for the consumer. I returned a brand new JVC 9XXX VCR to pick up one of these instead.

Okay, it's not a fuse and it looks like I'll be buying a new one. Here's my question with the JVC SVHS decks-- I need to swap tapes with people infrequently (particuarly my mother) who don't have SVHS decks. Is this possible, particularly with the SVHS-ET option?

It's possible UNLESS you record with the SVHS-ET option. Just record with SVHS turned off.

I have the 5901 and I generally like it. But one thing I find annoying is that there's no counter on the unit; you have to use the on-screen (TV) display for that.

Wait a sec - I thought the SVHS was just better color separation in terms of the recording over VHS - Am I to understand that it won't run properly on regular VHS decks?

All the JVC VCR's that are S-VHS, ET S-VHS can record & play in S-VHS, ET S-VHS & Regular VHS. So if your mother only has a VHS VCR all you do is record in VHS. Also if you do get one I would not use the ET Recording mode spend the few extra $ & record in S-VHS. Don't know how good their prices are? but you can try www.crazyg.com to get an idea of prices & models & I've found with the 9xxxx series the older the model the better the vcr is because it seemed to me that every year JVC took some features off or cheapened the build quality.

Bill Will

I agree to a point. I think JVC "peaked" with the 9900. I did a LOT of comparing of all the 9XXX series and found the 9900 to have the best options and build quality is excellent. Don't get me wrong, the 9800,9600, etc... are all fine players, but to find one of those in mint condition was extremely hard (plus the gold color wasn't appealing to me on the 9600 on down). The 9900 is also a very high quality build and has all the features of the previous decks (i.e. Ghost reduction tuner, TBC with 4MB frame memory, Dynamic Drum w/ TimeScan and Pro-Slow, also the cable eye controller, etc...). The current 9911 is the one missing some of the features. I think it is because JVC was wanting to put some of it's emphasis on it's DVHS decks and off of the SVHS ones. It is just my opinion of course and you can still find mint 9900's while searching etailers.

SVHS is higher resolution than VHS .... right close to laser disk. Well mastered SVHS movies can look very close to DVD. (i.e. I have a widescreen commercial SVHS of Indy Jones and see no need to ever buy a DVD of it.)