Panasonic PV-V4540 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR
Solid Product, But Some Annoyances
Picture and sound quality are excellent, and the styling is attractively different (for instance, the front A/V inputs are not color-coded, as is usually the case, but are black, so that they don't stand out jarringly  against the black case).  The remote, though full-functioned, is poorly  laid out, with tiny buttons for some important functions.  Pressing the REW  or FF buttons when the VCR is already in that mode does not, as on most  other machines, initiate the fast rewind or fast-forward modes; to access  those you have to press STOP then REW or FF.  Most annoying of all, the VCR  lacks a precise hour and minute timer for tape position; it has only a  scale (that shows up on your TV image) that indicates roughly where the  tape is positioned, between beginning and end.  If you need to know  precisely where you are on a tape, you'll want a different VCR.