JVC 7800, 9900, 9911 or Sony SLV-R1000? (1 Viewer)

[Geordon]

We need to replace one of our VCR's, so figured this is my chance to upgrade to S-VHS. I have spent the day perusing the forum, and it appears the list is down to JVC 7xxx, 9xxx or Phil and Rachael's choice of the Sony SLV-R1000 from ebay. Here are my prices:
JVC 7800 $199 (new)
JVC 9900 $349 (new)
JVC 9911 $299 (new)
Sony SLV-R1000 $300-$500 (ebay)

Of course, any of these are more than the current Walmart VHS special of $58.74, so the lower the better, but I am willing to spend more, if the price point isn't excessive. I will easily agree that the 7800 is a good starting point. I can't figure out the difference between the current models 9900 and 9911, looking at JVC's web site. Anybody know the difference? I like what I read on the R1000, but it seems Phil and Rachael are the primary owners, and this model is early 90's? versus a 2002 model 99xx.

I am primarily into DVD watching with our CRT FP, but need VHS for time shifting TV viewing.

Can Phil or Rachael, or anyone else comment on which of these models would be the most bang for the buck, and would be a long-lasting unit?

Thanks,

Geordon

 

[Phil Nichols]

Geordon,

Of course you know my choice.......get the best condition R1000 you can find off eBay. I returned a new JVC9800 for a new R1000 (2 1/2 years ago). Back then I noticed that serious (big $$) FP HT's almost always had an R1000 in their rack - not a JVC - I guess that's what convinced me.

However, if you like new, everything I've read points to the JVC 7800 as being just fine.

 

[Geordon]

Phil,

I think we all like new, but there was no way I was going to pay the new price of $25,000 for my Barcographics 1208/2 CRT. I am looking hard at the offerings on ebay, as we speak. Not a huge fan of Sony the company, but I know their good stuff is good, and will buy if that is the way to go.

Geordon

 

[Phil Nichols]

As I understand it, SVHS was "peaking" in the early 1990's, so the R1000 may have been kind of a statement/flagship product by Sony at $1200-$1400 MSRP. They collaborated with Dr. Faroudja to implement some of his ideas into the player. I suspect it's the digital sine filter that may be Dr. Faroudja's design, but I'm not exactly sure this is the circuitry that is his - there may be something else inside that was his instead.

You could buy the R1000 new up to about a 1 1/2 years ago. Being available for that many years says something for it's excellence.

 

[Rachael B]

I don't have a Sony 1000 but a Videographer friend has an editing pair and I'm well impressed with their performance. I do have a JVC 7500, 9500, and 9800. I'm very well satisfied with the lot. I'd say the features & ergonomics are better on the JVC's but the Sony's performance is a touch better and the Sony's build is better. The Sony's sold for about $1000.

Geordon, the nicer your display device the more I'd consider the 9xxx JVC or the Sony 1000. If you're gonna use the VCR with an analog tube, the 7xxx would suffice. Best wishes!

 

[Tony Kwong]

For SVHS I like the old Sony SLV-R5. It's a great machine. Kurtis bahr has an extra one. I hear that he added some modifications to maintain reliability in the power supply. I like Panasonic's old AG1970 as well.

 

[RoyGBiv]

I have both the JVC 7600 (the previous year's model) and the Sony SLV-R1000. There is no question that the picture is easily seen to be better with the Sony. I am using them with a 46" Mitsubishi HDTV. I use them for time-shifting. The one thing I don't like on the Sony is the tape transport. First, the fast forward and reverse are much slower than any other machine I've used. Second, the search modes are much more difficult to control precisely. For time shifting these matter to me as I am usually zooming through commercials, etc. So, you have to decide what is important to you.

SMK

 

[Geordon]

Just to let everyone know, I ordered the 9900. Took 3 days to get ahold of someone at JVC who knew anything about the 9911. Apparently, the 2001 model 9900 features of Timescan, Dynamic Drum, and Ghosting Reduction were removed from the 2002 model 9911.

9911 supposedly has 1.5x playback (undocumented -- press play button twice) and several slo-motion speeds of 1/2, 1/6, 1/18 forward and reverse instead of the 1/2 and 1/3 speeds on the 9900. The 9911 also has one or two faster search speeds than the 9911.

Since yesterday, B&H Photo ran out of stock on the 9911 at $299.95 and up'ed the price to $399.95 when they become available. Crutchfield ran out of the 7800 at $199.99, so, based on the new prices, and no TimeScan, I ordered the 9900
at $349.95. I added a mess of Fuji H471S, regular SVHS, and Pro VHS tapes to the order for this machine and our older unit.

The customer support rep said the same everyone else on the
forums say about JVC. New feature get added, then removed in later models. Her personal choice was to get the 9900.

I also have 30 days to decide whether I want to add a 4 year extension to the factory warranty for about $75. I am half tempted to do so, based on the questionable quality control of other posters, but then again, my open-box
J610U Hi-Spec Drive VCR has given me years of reliable service.

Thanks for the help,

Geordon

 

[Marvin]

Geordon,
So how is the JVC 9900? My current VCR may be dying and I absolutely need one with a jog/shuttle. Sony appears to have removed this from their VCRs, for some reason.
Crutchfield doesn't carry the 9900 or 7xxx models anymore as far as I can tell. Did you get yours from B&H?

 

[Rachael B]

Geordan, JVC is constantly changing things. They seldom leave well-enough alone. They made the 9xxx model pretty similar for a long time. The colour went back and forth between silver and gold. The 9400, 9500, 9600, 9800, and 9900 are the same basic player with variations. It seemed rather pointless to keep varying the design in mostly cosmtic ways, but that's JVC! It's terrible that they've gutted the 9xxx design. The ghost reduction tuner is a major loss. Maybe you have to buy the D-VHS unit to get all the S-VHS features now? The D-VHS deck looks like a full-featured S-VHS deck that also plays D-VHS tapes from where I sit.

I'd say it's a good time to grab a VCR now before the selection gets any worse. I bet both the 9800 & 9900 are stille available if you look around. One wonders how much longer there will be anything besides $79 sleds left on the market? Like sombody's signature sez, "At what point do they stop selling VCR's to people like my parents...", or something to that effect. Best wishes!

 

[Geordon]

If the 9911 indeed is missing the same TimeScan Dynamic Drum Head as the 9900, then I am very pleased with my decision to go with the 9900. We absolutely love watching shows at 2x and 3x without the chipmunk voices of 1.5x playback. I also think both the audio and video are cleaner at 2x than 1.5x, due to the difference in sampling methods. Maybe, it is just an illusion.

Rewind speed is terrific. The complaints about not being able to stop on a dime when fast forwarding is a problem, and harder to judge than my old JVC VHS, but this is probably due to the higher speeds, variable-rate slow-down, and the TimeScan.

Picture quality is remarkable, especially with Fuji SVHS at SP. I do record at EP, and much better than EP on the VHS machine.

One oddity, is with the auto channel settings, when the VCR does the initial channels or after power loss. We have plain old cable, and the strongest local channel (CBS) is ignored by the VCR, required me to manually add it back in after each power outage.

The Navigation system sounded neat, but without being able to set the program name when I create a program schedule for repeated recordings, isn't as useful as it could be. Right now, use of the date/time stamp is better than nothing.

Still getting used to the menu commands and remote over my old deck. I wish I could have more TV controls on the remote when in VCR position. Using the VCR/TV/DBS slider is a major pain.

I have purchased a DVD Player, Camera, Camcorder, and various other camera accessories, video tapes, film, and paper before this VCR from B&H, and have nothing but praise for the company.

All-in-all, this the 9900 is a keeper.

Geordon

 

[Marvin]

Geordon,
You must have gotten one of the last 9900's. The only ones I can find now are refurbs on eBay.
Anyway, I'm now leaning towards the 5901, which is under $200. The idea of spending an additional $200-300 for the 9911 doesn't sound too appealing. I guess I blew it by not getting one of those 7900s while Crutchfield was closing them out at $199.

 

[ChrisAG]

I just bought a JVC 5911 (the top model of all brands offered at Future Shop, includes a flying Erase head) for $265 CDN, but haven't had a chance to test out it's S-VHS ET feature yet.

Previously I had a six year old JVC plain VHS (but with flying Erase head) that I was very pleased with, but it died as a result of a neigbourhood power surge. At the time, I was amazed at how cheap and lightweight VCRs had become. Now that has been taken to a new low with the latest VCRs (though not just JVC). They are super lightweight, and the panel for the A/V hookups on the rear tends to flex as you make the connections. They are truly disposable items, unless you go above the 5911 (though they may be harder to find, especially in Canada).

 

[Marvin]

So Chris, or anyone, would you recommend for or against the 5901/5911?

I use my VCR mainly for watching pre-recorded videos and also for editing home movies from 8mm. I don't do very much time shifting. Is it really worthwhile to get a 9911 (or something similar) at twice the price of the 5901?

 

[ChrisAG]

The 5911 has all the features I wanted (S-VHS ET, flying erase head, insert editing) at a decent price, and two other JVC VHS machines with insert editing in my family have performed well over the years, so I'd still recommend them despite the external build quality. At that price, its pretty hard to go wrong, given it should last 5+ years.

 

[Rachael B]

Mavin, I guarantee that a 9xxx series deck will make better tapes from your 8 mm tapes. The digital Time-Base-Correction will firm up edges of subjects in your home tapes. The benefits of the TBC circuits are most apparent on home video. Good, recorded tapes are better shot than what we video and doesn't need as much help. If you're thinking of going MiniDV on your video anytime you might consider JVC's DV/S-VHS double deck. As it's price has edged down I've been tempted to get one, just a thought... Best wishes!

 

[Marvin]

Thanks Chris and Rachael. Though I'm sure the 9911 would have made better recordings, I decided to go with the 5901. I just couldn't see spending $450 for a VCR at this point.
I probably would have gone with something in the middle of these 2 models - the 7800 or 7900 - had I been able to find one. I guess I waited too long.

 

[Geordon]

Marvin,

In case you really did want a 9900, but not for $450, do a search on Google for JVC 9900, and you should find a number of places selling this for about $375 - $380. AAAcamera.com had the 9800 for about $316.

 

[Marvin]

Chris (or anyone else that has a 5901/5911),
I ordered and received the JVC 5901. It's ok so far though I haven't tried recording anything yet. Just getting used to the way it works.
As far as I can tell, there's no tape counter on the unit itself; you have to use the on screen display via the remote. Seems like a minor annoyance. Is there really no counter or have I overlooked something? Is it like this on all JVC VCRs?

 

[Geordon]

I don't have a 5xxx series, but here goes...

The remote should have a Display button, in which case pressing it will cycle through Time/Channel/Tape Counter on the VCR display. A second button, which may be called OSD, is used to display the information on the TV screen.

Geordon