Price Paid:  $350.00

Summary:
This reply is for the previous poster. It IS possible to manually adjust the tracking on this model. Push both of the CH/SET buttons simultaneously and release. This turns off the Auto tracking. Now press either the Up or Down CH/SET buttons to manually adjust. Pressing both buttons together again turns Auto tracking back on.

Strengths:
Picture quality, features

Weaknesses:
Age

Similar Products Used:
Sony

Summary:
First of all to Mike S:
I don't know if you've tried this but I've had some success in reducing the crackling if you adjust the record level in the menu. It's set to "preset" I think, and you can change it to manual and reduce it. Tapes recorded on the JVC do fine, but others (rented or recorded on other VCR's) can have a higher gain than the JVC seems to be able to handle.

A question of my own:
Over the last couple of years I've been annoyed by what I refer to as tracking lines. Horizontal white lines that move back and forth accross the screen. On other (older) VCR's I've had you would adjust the tracking and get rid of these. This JVC has "auto-tracking" and doesn't allow manual adjustment. I've tried using a wet head cleaner with a slight bit of temporary improvement. If anyone knows what can be done about this I would GREATLY appreciate it.
Thanks

Strengths:
nice looks, good sound, many features

Weaknesses:
tracking, crackling with some tapes

Price Paid:  $51.00 from E-bay auction

Summary:
Got this recently at e-Bay for only $51.00. Retailed near $500.00 new in 1996. I really wanted this model because it matches my titanium finish equipment and it is full component width to look good in my stereo stack.

Flying erase heads, twin job shuttles (one on the remote), smooth and steady operation and excellent Hi-Fi sound. Most importantly, you can adjust the recording level! This feature is very hard to find these days.

All in all a wonderful machine for a regular VHS model.

Strengths:
Styling, dual job-shuttle control, flying erase head, sturdy construction, variable audio level with meters

Weaknesses:
Remote looks like the hull of a Star Trek spaceship!

Similar Products Used:
JVC HR-4600, JVC HR-A55

Summary:
I initially wrote a reveiw for this in 1997 on the Tapedeck page - before the Home Theatre page was created.
I have owned this JVC HR VP720U Hi-Fi VCR for just about three years now and wanted to voice my complaints about it to see if anyone else out there with this VCR concurrs. I really like all of the features this VCR had (Jog Shuttle Random Assemble Editing, Flying Erase Head Ultra Spec Drive, VCR+, Front & Back gold plated audio hookups, auto tracking, auto-slow rewind, . . and many other various features).

However, whenever I'm playing some (about half of) Dolby Surround, or Hi-Fi tapes I notice a very annoying crackling or buzzing sound every once in a while. Sometimes it gets so annoying I have to switch the VCR to play the tape in Normal, or Mono modes to alleviate this problem. It totally defeats the entire home theatre setup! I used to think it might have been because of dirt buildup or something, but I've gotten it serviced and cleaned every summer since '96 and the problem has never cleared up.

Does anyone else out there own a JVC VCR and experience similar problems?
If so, please email me!

I like all the features of this VCR, and it looks terrific! If it weren't for the noise problems on Hi-Fi / Dolby Surr tapes (it's not the tapes either, they worked fine in 3 other Hi-Fi VCRs) I'd say it's one of the better VCRs out there. The editing capabilities are fantastic, and all of the features work flawlessly. Playback however, doesn't.

mike s v7q2@unb.ca