Price Paid:  $145.00 from Sound Advice

Summary:

I’ve compared this unit to other currently available S-VHS vcrs (JVC, Other Panasonic) Firstly I bought this unit as a floor model from Sound Advice. The features include two line level inputs (front and rear), spatializer sound processing, movie and commercial advance and indexing.

I bought this unit to record DVDs and as a stop gap until either DVD or Digital Tape recording become cheaper, and for playback of my existing tape library.

Recording
Using S-VHS tape recordings gave results that took my breath away, especially on landscape vistas, and although this machine does add a little noise, albeit with a soft pleasing effect, it was better than the JVC which did not seem to capture flesh tones as accurately. Even the 4820 and 4821 added more noise on playback. Although this unit doesn't have S-VHS ET which allows higher quality recording on regular tapes I get around it by drilling a hole in the body of the VHS tape housing. Results using this method were less brilliant than using true SVHS tape but well worth the extra effort. Initially, in trying to copy some DVDs this machine would either playback in black and white in SP or with horizontal bars in some scenes. I later found out that this is due to the copy protection and was able to get around it by upgrading my Sima color corrector to the Pro model (SSC)

Playback
Playback is very good and allowed me to see features on older recordings that I had not noticed. One annoying thing is the pause which adds distortion to the picture though I suspect that this may be because this was a demo unit since it only occurs on tapes made from other machines. Tried to find out if Panasonic was going to be upgrading this model since it seems to be discontinued but they replied that they were moving towards the digital format.

The commecial and movie advance work well enough though I haven’t had the time to really put them to the test.

The spatializer is intended to simulate surround effects on 2 speaker systems but I found that it can add to the output of the rear speakers in ProLogic mode and makes for a nice gimmick sometimes. Still it is usually set to off.

The remote is not very well laid out and is hard to operate due to the small buttons but it does have a one touch record button which is good for quick recording TV or sattelite programs. It also has an eject button. However if you loose or misplace the remote it it almost impossible to change the recording speed and activate the commerical and movie advance features.

Another nice feature is the onscreen display of program information (date time etc) when playing back material recorded on this vcr.

Overall 5 stars ; 5 for value

Strengths:
Tape Transport, Picture, Commerical and Movie Advance, Spatializer, Fast Rewind, One touch record

Weaknesses:
Lack of front S-video input, Pause, Remote, Rear panel jacks, Lack of S-VHS ET

Similar Products Used:
JVC 4800, Panasonic 4820, 4821

Summary:
This is a great vcr, it's worth a lot more than the $220 that I paid for it. I originally purchased this unit because it had an s-video output and has received several good reviews. I've been using it for the past 5 months and have not had any problems.
I mostly tape shows off of a digital satellite and the videotaped material looks as good as the original broadcast.
I have also taped off of regular tv broadcasts, and have used the vcr to watch rented video tapes. The picture is very sharp on those materials as well.

Strengths:
Excellent picture, easy to use remote control, commercial & movie advance, S-VHS recording.

Summary:
After using this unit about 4 months, I can agree with most of the reviews on this site...the picture is great, I love Panasonic reliability (have never had one fail). The commercial advance feature is BLISS when it works (depends on program material)downgraded the rating slightly for this deficiency.

Summary:
I had to return this unit to the store. Talk about disappointing. I bought the machine based a lot on postings from here. Anyways, this unit disappointed in several respects. Video playback was too red (in case you wonder, yes I did adjust my TV set. That's not where the problem lies). The movie advance feature doesn't work on any movies I have or rented. Then there's the recording quality. Ugh! I taped off of a 8mm tape and the reproduction came out like neopolitan ice cream. Bands of orange, red, and green streaked across the screen. My old Panasonic which just went out of commission performed better than this so-called higher grade machine. I know other people have much better experiences with this machine. But I'm gonna take my chance next with a Toshiba 6-head.

Summary:
Only have had it several days but I love this VCR! Almost cried when I saw Commercial Advance in action! Watched a 4 hour NASCAR race I had taped and all but 1 commercial was bypassed. I'm in heaven! Sure beats my old GE Mono unit!! Picture quality is amazing using S-video to the TV. I highly recommend this unit.