Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
My family has used a PV-9451 for about 3 years now. We have never had any problems with it, the picture quality is good, it has never shown any signs of breaking down(even after I unscrewed the cover and used it without the cover for awhile) and it seems to work better than other VCR's I've used at SLP speed. I use it with a mono TV, so I can't comment on the HiFi quality, but the sound as far as I can tell is good. I would recommend the PV-9451 or similar model for anyone who is interested in the best picture quality VHS can offer (which isn't much to say, by the way) who does a lot of playing tapes and recording tapes off antenna or DSS, but not much editing.

Strengths:
Comparatively decent picture quality at SLP speed, especially when recording off DSS. Front AV jacks are nice to hook up a camcorder. Good REW/FF speed. Seems reliable, although it's not old enough yet to really tell. The Light Tower remote has lots of features(the first VCR I had that had an EJECT button on the remote), and the manual timer programming is so easy to figure out, it hardly needs VCR+. The tuner is good, but only if you hook up an external antenna (rabbit ears). It can pick up some UHF channels without connecting an antenna, but not very well. It has never had any "issues" with tape type that some VCRs have, it works as well with the very cheap 10/$5.00 cassettes that we mostly buy as it does with HG tape. And it has cheerfully accepted every prerecorded tape I shove into it, whether a brand new purchase or a crinkled, worn-out rental.

Weaknesses:
Hey, it's VHS, so how good can it be? Betamax rules!! Not good for editing, since it has no FEH, and the counter is not shown in units panel display, only on the TV screen. Also, like too many VCRs made today, there are very few controls on the unit itself, so if you lose the remote, methinks you're screwed.

Similar Products Used:
Panasonic PV-VS4821, almost identical to 9451 except SVHS, Sony SLV-751HF VHS and SL-HF-600 B-max from the days when they made VCRs solid.

Price Paid:  $140.00

Summary:
Purchased to replace ancient VCR given to me by my brother. Recommended by Best Buy salesman, originally planned to buy comparable Sony. Worked well, good picture and sound, recorded well for about one year and one week (just longer than the warranty) then died.

Strengths:
Good picture and sound. Recorded well.

Weaknesses:
Throw away product. Poor quality electronic components. Cheaper to buy a new one than have this one fixed.

Price Paid:  $139.00

Summary:
This Panasonic unit performs reasonably well on the functions that matter most to me: taping and replaying TV shows; playing rented tapes. I am somewhat concerned with the less than stellar rewind and index search functions.

Strengths:
The picture quality seems good for the price. Controls on the main unit and the remote work logically and well. Rental tapes play back with reasonably good picture quality.

Weaknesses:
Program search function occasionally does not work; it sometimes fails to find the recorded program which I previously indexed. Another glitch is the crude stopping action when coming out of a fast forward or fast reverse. Prior vcrs worked in a much smoother fashion than this. Of course, this could simple be the quirks of this particular unit and may not be representative of all 9451s.

Similar Products Used:
magnavox.

Summary:
I am disenchanted with Panasonic. I had the predecessor to this model (PV-7451) and it quit (would no-longer track tapes correctly) after only 3 years-and I fought with it for the last 6 months of that period, thinking perhaps the problem was dirty heads or bad tapes. I finally bought a replacement and found out that the problem was the VCR. Based on its short life-span and average performance, this unit only deserves 1-star.

Strengths:
nice remote

Weaknesses:
poor quality - only lasted 3 years

Summary:
First off, I was pretty impressed at the improved picture and sound quality I got after replacing my aging GE. The remote is nice, too. The "Lighttower" that they package with most of their VCRs now is universal (it's currently programmed to operate the VCR, TV, and cable box) and is backlit to boot. The front panel jacks come in handy when I want to hook up the Playstation or Dreamcast.

I don't watch a lot of broadcast TV anymore, so VCR Plus is kind of a useless feature for me. I suppose it's good though to have it there for those who can actually use it.

I'm no expert on VCRs, but I will say that I'm impressed with this product and it should be reliable, judging from my experience with Panasonic products in the past.

Strengths:
Excellent picture quality, great remote.

Weaknesses:
The OSD isn't pretty.

Similar Products Used:
OLD (1980s) GE stereo VCR with Dolby noise reduction (that tells you how old it is, hehe)