Sony SLV-N71 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR
Almost Perfect
I've had this one for almost a year now.  One of the few VCRs on the market that has full metal top/side cover, along with full 17&quot; component width.  The construction feels substancial and solid.  The coaxial cable supplied is thick and of high quality.  It supports XDS(Extended Data Service) that not only displays TV station call letters, but also program names in most cases.  Too bad our local PBS station doesn't supply XDS clock signal that I can't get the auto clock setting to work.<br />I can't tell how much the Adaptive Picture Control(APC) helps but video quality is about the best I've seen.  Good stereo reception, much better than the Panasonic 4611 I've also owned.  Doesn't rewind tape as fast as the lower model N51, but I use a tape rewinder anyway.  I found the &quot;Remaining time on tape&quot; display extremely useful, saves me doing math with the tape counter.  The auto head cleaner is a good thing as I regularly borrow tapes from public library.  Also this model has battery backup built-in so moving the VCR from one room to another won't give me the headache of re-programming everything all over again.<br />Misses are few.  Like other reviewers pointed out, the Clock display is replaced with Tape Counter on the front panel whenever a tape is in.  To see the clock you have to enter the menu system as if you were to change the time setting, or just turn the machine off.  Like most of today's VCR, it doesn't support LP recording.  And when playing LP speed tapes, auto tracking can never find the best setting.  The Stereo and SAP indicators, when receiving stereo broadcast or playing a hi-fi tape, are only shown on the front panel.<br />The newer 2002 model, SLV-N77, removed APC, the front QuickSet Timer Dial, and VCR Plus from the feature list.  The front panel display also changed to a simpler and more generic version.  I never used the VCR Plus nor that gimmicky dial, anyway.