Hi-Fi VCR's....Are there good ones anymore?

Any deck in the $200 or higher range by JVC, Mistubishi, Panasonic, Sony or RCA should have good tracking stability and should play your tapes with minimal video noise. Those under $100 models are really designed to play pre-recorded rental tapes, despite their features.

 

Panasonic Hi-Fi in 1980? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? In reality, Sony announced Hi-Fi technology in April of 1983 and JVC announced they'd offer it a month later... then, they all had to tool up the plants, build the decks and ship them over here.

Patrick, your Quasar was a Matsushita (Panasonic). Based upon the *correct* timeline, it was one of the original Hi-Fi decks.

 

I bought an under $100 Magnavox VCR but I don't record onto VHS tape anymore and buy movies. It is mostly used as a receiver to get the TV audio to my mixer which of course is plugged into my stereo and to get the pictures of movies on DVD onto the TV and if I wish to occasionally play VHS tapes, I play them. I don't like recording shows onto VHS tape off of TV at all.

 

Nope, Honest mistake...been using Panasonic since the 1980's...forgot to add the ( 's)...

Of course Hi-Fi came a few years later...I purchased Panasonic's first Hi-Fi Model...What a thrill it was back then...Indeed!

I'm waiting on the thrill of my first DVD Recorder...Someday.

 

Ahh. Thanks for clearing that up, Michael.

 

My first VCR was an RCA in 1981, cost $775! Big ole top-loader. I've still got some videos I recorded off TV from back then: Saturday Night Live hosted by Ron Howard doing his monologue while popping the top on a Bud. Steve Martin's Best Show Ever with John Belushi just a couple of months or so before he died. "House of Dark Shadows" off WOR- TV with commercials. Many more...

if you see this Michael, I'd be interested in hearing what you have on video from back then.

 

We try, we try..

 

Hey Rick,
Are you looking for anything in particular?

 

Oh, no not really, I was just curious as to what "vintage" stuff you've got. It's a lot of fun to pull out old TV shows and see old newscasts, commercials, etc. Another one I have is a young-looking Joan Lunden talking about John Lennon's death. An old Twilight Zone-esque show hosted by the late James Coburn called "Dark Room", an episode called "Uncle George" with the late Claude Akins, June Lockhart, and the late Dub Taylor

 

I received my SHARP VC-H965 from Amazon.com today. I'm happy to say that so far I am pleasantly surprised. None of my tapes have mistracked so far. In fact I didn't even have to use the manual tracking yet! On the new RCA model I had breifly, some of the same tapes were near impossible to track properly. No problems here. The picture may not quite as good as my 1994 RCA, but it's pretty close. The sound is just as good though and that is a real plus because I use the VCR to watch regular TV in stereo. For the price ($79.99 & that includes the shipping) and for my purposes it's fine. I don't think I could do much better until I upgrade to DVD-R...hopefully in 2 years or so. I definitely will hang onto my old RCA to use when I convert. It still plays well, it just is problematic when I record. Into the closet it goes....

 

I get a kick out of the commercials also I have some movies that are not available on DVD yet...

A few...
Convicts Four, House Of Numbers, Pretty Poison, The Gazebo, 80 steps To Jonah, The Fastest Gun Alive, Ride Beyond Vengeance, Tortilla Flat, Alfred Hitchcock Presents-"The Jar", Sunshine (TV Movie)...and many more with neato commercials! I have over 575 DVD's...I keep the tapes for their sentimental value...Did you notice how HEAVY the old VHS tapes were?