Price Paid:  $150.00

Summary:
I am extremely dissapointed with this product. I had owned a Toshiba VCR before this one and it worked great and lasted for a long time, this one didn't even make it a year. The warrenty is a joke, I had to have repairs done 2 months after I purchased the unit. A band of distortion would dominate the screen when playing tapes, recorded from TV shows or purchased from video stores and the stereo sound would fluxuate between R and L causing audio distorition. Well the service place near my home fixed the VCR, but the problem has returned not 6 months later and they won't fix it this time. It seems that Toshiba didn't pay the service center for the work done, they said it was minor work, the service center said major. So now they won't fix my VCR because they don't want to get screwed by Toshiba again. Their product is faulty, their customer service stinks and they screw their own service providers. Stay away from this unit and this company.

Strengths:
None

Weaknesses:
Lousy customer service and useless warrenty.

Price Paid:  $199.00 from The Audio Alternative

Summary:
Probably the best non-SVHS on the market, period. Only one flaw, which they ALL suffer from, you cannot turn DNR off like you should be able too. This is a flaw from the factory and as of 1/17/01 there is no fix available. In most cases you will want DNR on, so this can be overlooked if you can get this unit for less than $200.

I see a lot of complaints about how noisy it is. It is because the case is not nearly has heavy as they use to be. You can lessen this by putting something heavy on top. Just use something that distributes the weight over a large surface area like a ream of letter/legal paper or a telephone book. Then look inside via the tape door just to make sure nothing is touching the top.

One major problem is Toshiba's Customer VCR Support. I asked why the DNR fuction would not turn off. Six weeks later, after calling every week, and three VCRs later, they still had done nothing to find out. Their only response six weeks later was I must have some confusion over the DNR operation. Of the four different people I talked to, NONE showed any signs of being proactive even after my call had been escalated the second week.

Fortunately, The Audio Alternative was kind enough to put me in touch with their distributor who gave me the number to Toshiba's Technical Service. Within five minutes he called me back with the answer: Every W708 has this problem with DNR due to a programming error at the factory, numerous complaints have come in, and they are still waiting for an answer from Toshiba's Japan engineering division.

Because of the DNR flaw, I give it 4 stars. If DNR worked like it should, I would have given it a 5.

Because of Toshiba's poor Customer Support I give it an overall of 3 stars, but almost a 2.

Strengths:
V3 drum, 6 head, inputs front and rear, great sound and picture, auto date/time set, SQPB.

Weaknesses:
Cannot turn DNR off, a little noisy, Toshiba Customer Support

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, etc.

Price Paid:  $139.00 from Consumer-Direct.com

Summary:
I have had a Toshiba 4 head VCR that has been bullet-proof for over a decade, so I knew that I would look to them for a replacement. I have already stepped up to the Toshiba SD-2109 DVD player, which delivers absolutely astounding performance and features for its price ($189), but I do have a large collection of pre-recorded tapes and recordings that I have made. If you sit in the same boat, then give the W708 a try. The Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) Perfect filter is not just marketing hype. I have countless tapes in my collection that have occasional glitches in the picture and sound during playback. To test this feature out, I selected my copy of Star Wars: Episode I, because it has had a bad video and sound glitch in a scene since I purchased it. On the W708 with DNR on it played flawlessly for the first time. I then played it with DNR off, and the big glitch reappeared.

This VCR also features six heads instead of four, and it provides great playback including flicker free pauses, great slow motion effects, and quasi-SVHS playback compatibility. The sound is very clear, and the effects steering in Dolby Pro-Logic is much sharper than I expected. 180 minute tapes rewind in less than a minute, and it does so without any sudden starts or stops.

The only complaint that I have, and it is very minor, is that the VCR/TV select button is not on the VCR itself, but only resides on the remote control. So if I want to use the stereo receiver for surround sound during television viewing, which I do all of the time, I need to locate the remote control to get reception. Since I have a techno-toddler, this can be a pain in the ass.

Besides that small complaint this is a great VCR. My father-in-law recently spent $350.00 on a JVC S-VHS VCR, which was a total waste of money since he doesn't record and only watches pre-recorded tapes. The W708 has better image and sound quality on pre-recorded tapes because of the digital filter.

If you are looking for a replacement VCR, and have a large tape library, give the W708 serious consideration. At just $139 you will find great performance without having to step up to the price range of a S-VHS machine. I highly recommend this machine.

Strengths:
Price, 6 heads and digital filter deliver best non-SVHS picture that I have seen, clear sound, great tape transport, SVHS playing compatibility

Weaknesses:
VCR/TV source button only on remote so you must have it to turn on VCR and get TV reception.

Similar Products Used:
Older Toshiba 4 head vcr, GE 4 head hifi VCR

Price Paid:  $140.00 from consumer-direct.com

Summary:
I bought this VCR because I have a Toshiba TV that I love (the CZ32V51), and wanted to see if other Toshiba video products are as good as it is(yes, they are). An SD1600 DVD player is next!
This is Toshiba's highest-end non-SVHS VCR. You can get it cheap at consumer-direct.com. For $139, I think it blows away any VCR in its price range in terms of features and quality (or I wouldn't have bought it). Video quality is fantastic, as is audio quality. Pauses have no white lines at the top and bottom (like most VCR's I'm familiar with), they're perfectly sharp and clear. It cleans up the signals on older tapes really well with its DNR Perfect circuitry. And it rewinds rental tapes in less than a minute.
I've recorded with it only once, and it was easy to set up and the recording quality was fantastic.
Now that DVD players are really taking off, if you need/want a new VCR with outstanding picture quality and tape handling for rentals/occasional recording and don't want to spend a whole lot, the Toshiba W708 is a great choice.

Strengths:
Fantastic picture, great pause stills, good tape handling (fast forward, rewind), lightning-quick tape rewind (400x)

Weaknesses:
Kinda noisy drive mechanism, not the easiest to program, remote has limited range

Similar Products Used:
none