Price Paid:  $219.00 from Costco

Summary:
Perfect picture. Have been using it for around 3 years, not one problem, excellent product. Not the cheapest one out there but worth every penny. (I have not always been convinced by Sony products I've owned, but this one I can definitely recommend.) The only minor flaw is that the clock doesn't seem to automatically adjust to daylight savings time although it supposedly should.

Strengths:
Picture quality

Similar Products Used:
Other VCRs that bit the dust and had a picture that was not as good.

Summary:
This is the best VCR I've ever owned. I replaced a 10 year old Hi-Fi VCR from Sears with it. Quiet rewind and play back. The auto clock set is great as well as the VCR+ option. I think the picture quality is fine(after all it's tape not DVD), however it would be better if it had S-video output. The audio, also is fine for tape. I think if people are looking for higher quality picture and sound, they need to look int getting a DVD player.

Strengths:
Auto clock set, VCR+, ease of operation from remote & unit both,

Weaknesses:
None to mention at this point.

Summary:
This review is actually for the 798 model, w/o the new "regeneration" feature. Aside from the recently developed problem of tapes getting stuck on eject, I've been extremely happy with the feature set and the quality of both recording and reproduction from this VCR.

Strengths:
Excellent quality, features.

Weaknesses:
After a year of use, occasionally tapes get stuck when ejecting.

Summary:
I recently purchased this vcr to replace my previous one (some old hi-fi sanyo) that kicked the bucket. I don't know why the other viewers encountered problems with horrible images or pale displays, but this vcr has worked perfectly for me. I've used some S-VHS models before, and while this Sony doesn't produce as sharp recordings, its image quality is still very clean and sharp. The vcr is also extremely easy to set up and use. Almost all of the functions on the remote are also found on the unit itself, and seting the timer is a breeze. The only thing I find odd about this unit is the 'Reality Regenerator' feature that claims to restore images to their original quality. How it can make this claim confuses me - I don't notice any difference with it on or off.. so it stays off. I've had the thing for 3 months now, and still not a hint of a problem.

Strengths:
Many programming features and very easy to use.

Weaknesses:
That 'Reality Regenerator' thing doesn't seem to accomplish anything.

Similar Products Used:
An anonymous Sanyo that took a taping of Friends with it when it died.

Summary:
I bought the 799HF to replace a 7 year old 595HF that died. I liked the features, especially the ability to put in a recording program from the front panel. I do so HATE having to turn on my TV, wait for it to warm up, then switch to the video input, program the VCR, switch the TV back to normal input, then shut off the TV. And my wife hates it when I tell her I have to interrupt the show she's watching so I can set up to record some other show... I end up waiting for a commercial. Anyway, my defunct 595HF would let me program VCR+ with the TV off, and the 799HF lets you program time/channel with the TV off.

The next day, I took the unit back to the store and traded for a Panasonic PV-S9670. Features are nice and all, but the Sony just didn't produce decent pictures and sound.

The best thing about the R2 "Reality Regeneration" feature is that you can turn it off and leave it off. It just adds noise to the picture, making it look very grainy.

Actually, there was a lot of video noise (mainly luma, some chroma) everywhere even without R2. Watching a cable channel through the tuner, it was noisy. Playing back a rental movie, it was noisy. Recording and playing back was disastrous. Fields of white were particularly susceptible, invaded by moire' patterns.

The 799HF also didn't want to pick up the Hi-Fi tracks from the EP tapes I'd recorded with my 595HF. And when it switched to the linear audio track, there was no volume. Basically unusable.

Although Sony claims that their remote control now works with other vendors' TVs, the definition of "works with" seems a bit limited. With my Zenith, it'd turn the set on and off, let me adjust the volume, and it had channel up/down. No mute, no channel recall, and most glaringly, no ability to enter a channel number.

The Panasonic cost me $75 more, it has a lot less features, but it records and plays back beautifully (and I haven't even tried the S-VHS yet!). And the remote works with my Zenith TV (but no mute or channel recall buttons on it, what's up with that?)

Strengths:
Great feature set

Weaknesses:
Poor record/playback