Sony SLV-N71 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR
All the goodies
My 7 year old Hitachi finally died, so I read a few web pages and decided on this Sony. There are several features I really like about it: the remote works with my ancient non-Sony TV, the programming is easy (I don't use VCR-Plus+, I do it manually), and there's a little knob on the front of the VCR that allows me to program it without turning the TV on. As you push and turn the knob, the clock display turns into a programming display. It's a quick and easy way to do some last-minute programming as you head out the door. Or can't find the remote... I don't like the fact that you can't see the time of day when the VCR is turned on/playing/recording. Incredibly annyoing, since I use the VCR to turn channels and as such it's always on when I'm watching TV. The tuner is much stronger too, I'm picking up channels from where I used to live, a 2+ hours drive away--barely, but they're there. Another new feature to me was the display of the program's name as I turn the channel, and this is on broadcast TV, not cable. I'm not giving this a 5 star rating because of the clock issue, and because it doesn't have the 4-hour EP setting, and because you can not program it to record something more than a month away. Of course you can record M-F, one day a week, etc., but the first recording of that program can not start more than one month ahead of the current date. With my old VCR, I could enter any MM/DD/YYYY as the start date. The picture quality is much better than what I was used to, even though the Hitachi was repaired just 2 years ago, and the rewind/fast-forward are both faster as well. I'd buy it again, certainly, but only after I bought a small clock to put next to it so I could tell what time it is when I am watching a tape.