Price Paid:  $69.00 from Costco

Summary:
This unit offers much to love but also a huge, deal-breaking shortcoming. On the pro side, the transport is nearly silent, it has the best jog/shuttle I've ever used (on the unit AND the remote), and the one-minute rewind, auto tracking and auto set-up functions are excellent. The big con: the picture quality is terrible. Recording on SP with high-quality tape colors are washed out, reds are smeared, and dot-crawl is reminiscent of Pac-Man. The quality is so poor that using SLP isn't much worse. Rental tape playback is passable to poor. I didn't expect perfection for $70, but I can't imagine who would find this picture acceptable regardless of price. Recordings by my ancient, tired Magnavox VR1260 look high-def in comparison. Adios W-714, back to Costco for you.

Strengths:
Quiet transport, jog/shuttle, auto tracking and set-up functions

Weaknesses:
Terrible picture quality

Similar Products Used:
Magnavox VR1260AT01, various Panasonics and Sony, JVC 3800