Philips VRB613 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR
Well designed,updated, and ventilated Philips VCR...
Thank goodness Philips was one of the first companies to trim the fat on the older vcr chasis box size standard. Also, commendations for including large heat vents on the side of this and other various Philips vcr models. After all, a large percentage of vcr equipment failing within the first 2 years or so is due to poor heat and air ventilation;heat kills,end of story.This particular model makes one wonder if it's even worth spending another ($) or so for the S-VHS version (not offered currently on Amazon.com). I've compared both and found little difference unless you're a heavy recorder. The S-VHS quality closely resembles the original recorded source but don't expect dvd calibre.On this regular hi-fi model there is a tad-bit of red color bleed (look at objects or letters in red and notice the artifcat known as dot-crawl).Color bleed is when the electronics of any video medium, to certain degree in error, allow reds, some blues and greens to seep out of the objects' or images' edges causing a sort of smeared-edgy look. The audio hi-fi portion is very clear and dialogue is also very articulate. The hi-fi audio level is quite exceptional. I once owned a hi-end, reputable brand name vcr where the hi-fi audio was horrendous.It suffered from low sound level.The highs were lows and the bass had no &quot;punch&quot;.Dialogue was nothing but babble and the video always had a muddled and streaked look(regardless of cleaning the heads or not). As for price, it's almost average or acceptable when you compare buying a low-end dvd player for about ($). I would not spend more than ($) for this vcr model. Also, previous reviewers who mentioned their previous/serious problems with this model, I too believe you. While this Philips model I purchased does not suffer (yet) from any problems, I have owned more expensive brand named vcrs and were shocked they did not last past 3-5 years under normal usage (then, again what's normal).In total sum, nothing more irritable and inconveninent than purchasing from a reputable brand name and having the unit fail you...So far for me this has not been this case with this model (and yes, I've had it for quite some time)...