Toshiba W522 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR
Not Real Impressed
I brought this home last night and I can't say I'm real impressed.  The feature that was the most important to me -- OTR that started immediately and whose length could be defined -- works fine, if a bit clumsily, considering you have to push two buttons simultaneously.  But other features have made me seriously think about returning it to the store.  The picture is horrible -- full of sparklies and snow.  I believe the problem is in the connectors, since not only the recorded tape is sparkly, but so is the live TV picture when viewed through the VCR.  When I turn the VCR off, my TV picture returns to its normal sharp quality.  I've checked my connections and they're tight, so the problem must be inside the VCR.   Also, the timed recording feature is awkward.  Granted, I'm used to a 12-year old Panasonic which was the easiest to use and best VCR in the world, IMHO.  In the old VCR, to set timed recording I just had to program the event and turn off the VCR.  With this Toshiba, you program the event, then push two buttons simultaneously to set the timer function.  But after you've done that, the only way to turn the power back on is to use the power switch on the VCR itself, or hit the two timer buttons again, then hit the VCR/TV button to return it to VCR mode.  Awkward, to say the least.  Another problem I've found is that there's no way you can tell from the cabinet display whether your tape is recording or not.  When it goes into record it displays a big REC for about 10 seconds, then returns to the clock display.  There's no other indicator that shows the tape is rolling or recording.  So if you miss that first REC display, you have no idea if it's really working.    The remote doesn't feel like it's working half the time.  I have to push and repush buttons to get them to finally work.  One feature I do like is a &quot;show title&quot; display.  For instance, as you click through the channels it will display the title of the program that's airing.  Of course, this must be generated by the stations themselves, so it's not available on every channel.  Still, it's a nice idea.