JVC HR-S3900 Super-VHS VCR
entry-level SVHS deck = entry-level quality
I bought this as an upgrade to my old Panasonic VHS Hifi VCR ($500 when I bought it back in the early 90's.)  I assumed an SVHS deck would easily outperform any VHS VCR, not so as I discovered!<br />In VHS mode, at EP (slowest speed), the JVC SVHS VCR has mediocre picture quality, slightly worse than my old VHS VCR!  In SP, the two are about equal, with the Panasonic exhibiting less noise.<br />In &quot;SVHS ET&quot; mode (using regular VHS tape), the JVC SVHS VCR again has mediocre picture quality, but with slightly higher resolution.  In SP, the picture is slightly better than the old Panasonic.  SVHS-ET depends on tape-quality a lot, and I was using 'mid-grade' TDK VHS tape (E-HG)  Seems like this is more a marketing gimmick than a useful feature.  <br />In SVHS mode (using SVHS tape), the picture is a lot better, and the VCR starts to earn its 'SVHS' label.  Even in EP (slowest speed), the image detail is noticeably better than VHS or the fake 'SVHS ET' mode.  Using SP speed, image detail is roughly the same, but less picture noise.  All in all, the picture is almost indistinguishable from a live TV broadcast.<br />Playback of prerecorded (store-bought) VHS movies was very medicore...more picture noise than my 8 year old Panasonic VHS.<br />As long as you use real SVHS tapes with this machine, you'll be ok.  Otherwise, look elsewhere!  A less-expensive regular VHS VCR will give you better picture-quality (for VHS tapes)!