Sylvania 2870LV 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR
Excellent for its price
This VCR has everything you need to play and record videos.  It has helpful features like a jog/shuttle on the remote, time and index searches, and reasonably easy programming.  My only complaints are that it's a little  harder to learn than most (but once you have it figured out, it's good),  and the motor is a little loud when rewinding/fastforwarding.