Price Paid:  $187.00 from B&H mail order

Summary:
My results have been pretty poor. I wish I had bought it locally so I could return it. I'll try and get it serviced, because I can't believe Panasonic would release a product with performance this bad.

Strengths:
features

Weaknesses:
video clarity (or lack of it)

Similar Products Used:
my older non-SVHS Panasonic has always worked great

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Ecost

Summary:
Clunky, cheap and not worth the money. A big step backwards for Panasonic VCRs.

Strengths:
As usual with Panasonic, good SP picture. Lots of hookups.

Weaknesses:
VERY noisy. Amazingly noisy for a Panasonic. And the buttons feel very cheap and unresponsive. I have seen $99 Walmart specials that were better.

Similar Products Used:
JVC HR-S4500

Price Paid:  $230.00 from American TV

Summary:
I was looking to get a Super VHS VCR for the purpose of being able to record off DSS and my Hi8 camcorder with less loss in picture quality than regular VHS. There were only three models of SVHS in any of the local electronics oulets, a Mitsubishi something, a JVC HR-S3900U, and the Panasonic PV-VS4821, which I chose because it was the most expensive, and, in general, more expensive equals better quality. I have had mixed results from this VCR. It works well overall but some charachteristics are disappointing to me. I think it was a mistake to purchase for me because it''s not a good editor, but I would recommend it if you have a TV with S-video input and a high-quality source such as DSS, Hi8, or DV, and want to dub and record shows but not edit. Be prepared to shell out extra cash for SVHS cassettes, because ET mode stinks with a capital S. There is a way to get around that, though. The VCR uses a mechanical sensor similar to the write-protect sensor to tell if you''ve put in an SVHS tape. If you look carefully at the bottom of an SVHS cassette, you can see a small hole in the groove that runs along the edge of the cassette that a VHS cassette doesn''t have. Drill that hole in a VHS cassette, and the VCR thinks you''ve put in an SVHS cassette and will do a regular SVHS recording instead of an ET one. The result is almost indistinguisable from what you''d get with a real SVHS cassette.

Strengths:
Awesome picture quality at SP speed in SVHS mode, indistinguishable from DVD, better than standard VHS models in recording in standard VHS mode at all speeds. Lightning-fast rewind and FF. Commercial Advance is cool. So far it has held up well, although it''s still new. . S-video and RF cables are included with the VCR. The manual timer programming is easy, I doubt I''ll ever use VCR+Gold.

Weaknesses:
Picture quality is not as good in SVHS mode at SLP speed, picture in all speeds in SVHS-ET mode stinks, it is so full of video noise it looks like a very distant TV channel. Inital setup of the VCR is somewhat difficult, it has auto clock set but in my case it didn''t work right. It was also hard to get the VCR to tune in VHF/UHF air channels when first plugged in, even with an antenna. This VCR is not a good editor, there is no FEH or jog/shuttle, and the counter will only show on the TV screen for a few seconds if you press DISPLAY on the remote, it does not show on the unit''s LCD display. Also, it has front A/V jacks but only for composite video, so every time I want to hook up my Hi8 camcorder using its S-video terminal I have to drag the VCR out of the TV cabinet and disconnect the DSS reciever. Commercial advance is a neat feature, but it only works off DSS and not off VHF/UHF air channels. Also, it doesen''t always fast forward through all the ads. I''m not sure how the VCR detects commercials, but sometimes it gets it wrong and stops FF-ing in the middle of the commercials, or continues into the program. Index search doesen''t seem to work right, it always overshoots or st

Similar Products Used:
Panasonic Standard VHS PV-9451, very similar, see my review of that one. Sony SLV-751HF VHS more than 10 years old, SL-HF-600 Betamax more than 15 years old.

Summary:
I got the first one in September. After 1 week of normal use, the unit started to make a large hissing sound when playing or recording a tape. I returned it and got another one. Had it for 3 weeks. It never made any noise, but was not happy with the picture quality. I have digital cable with S-Video out and S-Video input on my TV. I tried recording on SVHS tape as well as good quality VHS tape. The SVHS recordings were better, but image was not quite as good as the origional and looked pixelated. My 5 year old normal Sony VHS VCR recorded better. I took the Panasonic back and got a Mitsubishi HS-U795. It was marked down to $250, but origional cost $550 when it came out in '99-2000. The Mits VCR makes the Panasonic look like "My First Sony". Image quality is amazing. Playing back store-bought tapes and TV shows recorded on SVHS tape looks close to DVD quality.

If you can find the HS-U795, buy it. It has been discontinued and will be replace later this year. If you can not find anyone with a HS-U795 left in stock, consider the HS-U776. It does not have as many picture adjustments as the 795 and does not have the 3D-Y/C filter, but would still probably be better than the Panasonic 4821.

Price Paid:  $175.00

Summary:
Well I replaced my Panasonic PV-V4660 (great vcr) with this new PV-VS4821. There's good, bad and ugly parts about the VCR.

The Good is that the quality looks great on SVHS and VHS (haven't tried that ET-VHS yet), Commercial/Movie advance work great, Tape FF/RW is very fast, has most of the bells and whistles, and it has a very easy interface to setup programming.

The bad is that Panasonic is no longer using DynAmorphous heads on their VCR, but the clairity is still very good. Panasonic has also gotten rid of the ablity to name recorded programs, it can still catagorize them (comedy, drama,etc), but no longer can you name the programs (simpsons, reddwarf,etc)- a small gripe. There's also no s-video input on the front (asinine).

As for the Ugly, this panasonic has a small display windown with bright green letters, the 4660 has about 2-3 times as much room with a much dimmer blue color. The VCR is also a bright silver, the 4660 was a dull silver/grey and matched my other componants better. Oh well, I'm not brand loyal anyways...

Overall the VCR performs and functions great, I'd recomend it to anyone looking for a SVHS VCR. I've forgiven Panasonic for their retarded color scheme and think this VCR will provide me with many hours of taped shows and movies. 5 stars for value and 5 for overall.