Panasonic PV-V4522 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR
Not as bad as everyone suggests
Noisy? Only on rewind or fast forward.<br />Eats tapes? Hardly.<br />Bad recording? Not from what I can see.<br />This was a better machine than the JVC I've reported on. I couldn't get this machine to automatically program the clock for me, but it did fine with the cable channels and programming the clock is pretty easy.<br />Overall, this is a very easy machine to use. It's my third Panasonic VCR I've owned. In fact, it's the third VCR I've ever owned, my first two being Panasonics as well. My first lasted 20 years, the second 10 years. Hopefully, this one will last as long if not longer than the previous ones.<br />Unlike the JVC and many other VCRs I looked at, this one does NOT require you to hit a TIMER button in order for it to go into standby recording mode. Just program what you want to record (whether it's one time, daily or weekly), hit the power button and your done. You have up to 8 slots to program, which is nice and seems to be the standard these days. My previous Panasonic only had 2 slots, so this is a VAST improvement for me.<br />The remote can program various name brand TVs unlike the JVC remote, which ONLY worked with JVC TVs. Also, I was able to get this machine into my universal remote whereas with the JVC, I couldn't.<br />Picture playback is pretty clear and the colors look fine, whether on a pre-recorded movie or from a recording I did from the TV.<br />No tapes have been eaten and playback from the machine is NOT noisy at all. I guess those other people have VERY sensitive hearing or else, they bought a bad machine.<br />Featurewise, it's pretty standard. My only gripe with this machine (and the reason I gave it 3 stars instead of possibly 4) is that I have experienced a problem that others have stated in that it rejects tapes sometimes. You'll put in a tape sometimes and then it spits it out. After another try or two, it generally takes it. The only thing I can fathom is that the spindles on the machine are not sensing the spindles on the tape correctly, so it assumes it's not seating correctly and spits it out. Either shaking the tape or just trying it another time or two has worked for me and I have experienced this with my other two machines once in awhile, but not to the degree that I experience with this machine. But, that is a MINOR factor for my wife, who  is the main user of this machine.<br />Overall, this is a pretty good machine and I've had pretty good experiences with Panasonic in the past, which is why I finally came back to this one.e tape correctly, so it assumes it's not seating correctly and spits it out. Either shaking the tape or just trying it another time or two has worked for me and I have experienced this with my other two machines once in awhile, but not to the degree that I experience with this machine. But, that is a MINOR factor for my wife, who  is the main user of this machine.<br />Overall, this is a pretty good machine and I've had pretty good experiences with Panasonic in the past, which is why I finally came back to this one.