Panasonic PV-V4524S 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR, Silver
Commenting on the older, black version
Aside from losing LP speed, this appears to be the same machine but in silver and for less money. <br /> <br />I bought the black version in 2002 to replace another Panasonic from 1981 (that still works but is on a different TV set). The playback quality is excellent and it offers two inputs--useful on a TV with only three inputs. <br /> <br />This works great on my new TV, a 24\\" Sony WEGA. I strongly recommend the purchase of a high-quality composite video cable from Acousitc Research or Monster Cable for the VCR on a really good TV. <br /> <br />I am a die-hard Sony guy but I don't like Sony's VCRs. I had a 2000 model and wound up getting rid of it a year later because it had an annoying tracking problem and was slow to rewind. This one has fast rewind. Some complain about the noise of the rewind speed, but any fast VCR is going to have noise to a degree. I can't even notice a motor noise during playback, but that may be because I like to crank my sound up on my TV. <br /> <br />It may not have the quality of a DVD player but you can't beat a VCR to record shows off TV, and if you have a ton of old VHS movies like I do this VCR is probably the best one. Not sure if the quality has gone down on these VCRs but I may buy one to use on my iMac.