Price Paid:  $180.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
Before I give my 2 cents here, I want to qualify something. I have been involved with home video and video editing for almost 12 years now. While I am by no means a professional, I DO know what I am talking about. I have used and tested dozens of pieces of VHS equipment over the years and have owned 6 JVC SVHS vcrs. What I say here comes from long experience, and are not the kind of knee-jerk reaction you typically see on user/net reviews. After doing some reading on the DigiPure NR system, I found that all models from the 7800 (now 7900) and up have it. This looked promising, as the 7800 was only $300-400. After finding a review on audioreview that referenced Crutchfield as a very good vendor, I went to their site. Not only did they have it for a lot less ($199) but they had it in scratch and dent for $169! I placed the order and in 4 days had the VCR. Excellent job by crutchfield. Now for the VCR itself. It delivers. Plain and simple, the DigiPure noise reduction system really does work. Most of what I have is in EP speed, and this VCR cleans up the video dramatically. When you hit play, for a couple of seconds, the image looks like fairly standard EP VHS: a little noise, kinda dull, good color. Then the NR kicks in and the image clears right up. It does brighten, and the background noise that tends to "swim" and flicker smooths right out. Even the edges look a little sharper. The trade off is a slightly soft picture, and a loss of a little of the fine details. But on an older tape, this wont matter much, and you get a much less "busy" image, much much smoother and easier to watch. For reference, I am watching this on a brand new 27" Panasonic with s-video. I am VERY happy with this VCR. My only concern and caveat is that VCR's in the past few years have been built very cheaply and disposably. And JVC have always had a problem with their VCR's mechanicals, especially the tape loading mechanisms, lasting more than a couple of years. I have owned several since 1990, and they all had this failing. So, while I might end up buying another in a year, I recommend this to ANYONE who wants to get the best image out of their old tapes.

Strengths:
Amazing noise reduction system that works better than advertised

Weaknesses:
longevity issues, light build materials

Similar Products Used:
every major JVC svhs vcr since 1990

Price Paid:  $199.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
Disappointing step down from 7600. I''ve had 3 7800s and none have worked properly. Either the digital TBC/NR or Video Stabilizer circuit have not functioned correctly in 3 units I''ve tried.

Strengths:
S-VHS, price

Weaknesses:
Build quality, quality control

Similar Products Used:
JVC 7600 JVC 9500

Price Paid:  $199.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
Like many of the reviews discuss below, the physical build quality this unit is pretty poor. But certainly no worse than any other VCR made today other than $1000+ semi-pro and pro units. The great selling point of this VCR is the built in Time Base Corrector and Digital Noise reduction. This make any amazing difference in picture quality but have one fatal flaw. One a large number of tapes engaging these features cause a preiodic tearing of the picture at the top of the screen. This occurs anywhere from once every 30 mins to nearly all the time depending on the tape. I can find no correlation between this problem and the tape. Some old tapes in poor condition don''t have the problem and some new tapes in excellent conditon do. For whatever reason the problem appears to manifest itself much more often on prerecorded tapes. I have seen several similiar compaints in other forums about this problem (avsforum.com) so I don''t believe that my unit is defective. Also the TBC can only be used for tapes that played on the machine (i.e., it does not effect recording and it does not effect signals that are being passed thorugh the VCR). With the TBC and digital noise reduction disabled, the picture quality of this units is below average, with it on it is very much above average. Unfortunately given the problem it has with at least 50% of the tapes I tried, I am going to return the unit. Perhaps the 9800 with 4 megs of digital memory would not have this problem.

Strengths:
TBC and digtial noise reduction (when it works)

Weaknesses:
Problems with TBC and digtial noise reduction. Weak performance without TBC and digitial noise reduction.

Similar Products Used:
JVC 3800, two six year old Sony VCRs

Price Paid:  $260.00 from HiFi 2000 Barrie

Summary:
In response to some of the negative reviews I say,"Picky,picky,picky!!!". Is the VHS-ET picture as good as S-VHS? No. Is the VHS-ET picture better than VHS? From what I have seen the picture in VHS-ET mode is slightly better and quite passable for taping regular TV fare on regular tapes.The S-VHS picture is excellent considering the medium.The unit is lighter than my old Sharp VCR but everything works fine.The unit does not contain sophisticated video editing features but whar unit in this price range does? It is fine for editing my Hi8 camcorder tapes.
To those who are unhappy with the performance of this unit perhaps they need a reality check.
I am very happy with this unit and its out-of-the-box ease of installation, setup and performance.

Strengths:
Excellent picture in S-VHS.Easy setup. Quiet operation.

Weaknesses:
Light build quality

Similar Products Used:
Sharp VCR 10 years old.

Price Paid:  $265.00 from Bay Bloor Radio

Summary:
This machine makes terrific recordings in SVHS and SVHS ET SP mode. I can barely tell a difference from the original cable signal. EP mode is noticeably poorer, but unfortunately I have to use the EP mode in everyday recording, because I barely have room for all those videotapes on my shelves as it is.

My machine is prone to dropouts in playback mode. No idea why. The same tapes that cause dropouts in my JVC play fine in my 9 year old Panasonic. Even tapes I've recorded in the JVC have dropouts when played back in the JVC, but still play fine in the Panasonic. I wonder if I have a defective unit.

Not too impressed with the way this unit programs, either. Programming channel 50 is a pain because I have to hold down the channel up button for an eternity while it scrolls slowly up the numbers one by one. The time buttons jump in increments of half an hour if you hold them down, why couldn't they have built this into the channel buttons? Also, having separate up and down buttons for the month, day, time, and channel seems a bit excessive. I use a learning remote and the programming function on this VCR take up WAY too much of its memory.

Anyways upon reflection this unit seems way overpriced, especially given its problem with dropouts.

Strengths:
SP recording, ET mode

Weaknesses:
prone to dropouts

Similar Products Used:
9 year old Panasonic HiFi VCR