Samsung SV-5000W Worldwide VHS Format VCR
Samsung SV-5000W: Overall, quite good.
This particular Worldwide VCR comes with a wide variety of options- so many, in fact, that it is likely that you will never use them all unless you are very heavy into format conversion.  The setup and implementation of the conversion, all digitally handled within (requiring no separate input or output converter) makes it very convenient to view PAL, SECAM, or other variant video tape formats with any type of TV.  The best part is that the input format is normally selected automatically (output must be manually selected, but this is very easy), and the VCR produces a very clean, crisp image.  <br />Of course, two or three times conversion produces grainy and/or fuzzy images, but this is to be expected with any system.  Do not expect to record NTSC in SECAM and then be able to view that on an NTSC TV without loss of image quality.  Conversion of PAL to NTSC, then viewing it on an NTSC TV, on the other hand, is marvelous.<br />Overall, this is a superb VCR.  My only qualms with it are the inclusion of some rather idiotic features (ART mode, which makes the image look &quot;artlike&quot;; Strobe mode, which displays images from the video stream in single frame fashion), as well as the inability to select a recording program that records on Weekdays only.