Ugly Remote Control

I found it very interesting to read all of the past reviews of this product. I feel that they have unjustly given the product a bad review because they are cheap...the reviewers I mean. This is a high resolution unit. If they aren't willing to accept the fact that you need to buy good video tapes (expensive) then they should be happy with what they get. After all if you put cheap crappy gas in an expensive sports car, who's fault is it if the car runs badly.
So here is my review. This is a very good VCR for the money, I got mine really cheap so that is a bonus. When I first hooked it up I wasn't too happy with the recording quality on regular VHS tapes, TDK DSP. Then I saw the little button on the front for SVHS-ET. That made a very big difference. It does seem however that if you want to record in EP you NEED a proper SVHS tape. Recording EP using a cheap tape does not do this VCR justice. I bought a JVC SV tape, recorded in EP and was amazed at the clarity it had, even in still mode. I have never seen a VHS movie so clear. This was on a 50" hitachi, and I stopped watching VHS because it looked so poor. But now with this VCR I am happily taping movies and watching them. Beware, do not go CHEAP.

Similar Products Used:

older jvc hi fi VCR

cheap! durable for such a lightweight. et recording option.
ability to play svhs tapes if only such prerecorded tapes were available

build quality. tuner

This deck is a stopgap solution in my transition to dvd's and as such is ok. After roughly 400 hours I've had no mechanical problems with it. The tuner sucks bigtime but if you do as I do and record from the source the picture is quite tolerable if not startlingly good. I'm going to keep it until it breaks which should be years of use for a very reasonable sum.

Similar Products Used:

Proscan, Toshiba, Sony, Sharp

s-vhs capability

remote is so-so.

I've had it for a month and I'm still not convinced that the ET mode makes a difference in picture quality.However, the s-vhs mode does look alot better than regular vhs mode.However, some pre-recorded tapes look awful.The color saturation is terrible.I have not had any playback or transport problems so far.I'm gonna give it a few more weeks...

Similar Products Used:

n/a

Not many. So called S-VHS and S-VHS ET. S-VHS SP looks better than S-SHS ET SP mode.

The ET mode really sucks. Do not see the benefits. Used Maxell type high quality tapes as well. Plastic design. Too Light weight. Probably won't last as long as my other JVC. You have to order the controller eye if you want it.

The only quality I do like about this is the tuner and recording in VHS in SP mode do look good. Beyond that forget it. The ET function does not do what it claims. I have Dish Satellite JVC model 4722, a JVC D-series 32" t.v., a VR407 Kenwood receiver, and a JVC #523GD DVD player. I have been partial to JVC based on prevoius equipment I have owned and liked. I have recorded from my Dish in EP and SP mode trying the ET function and the results were very poor. Any recommendations would be appreciated. My 17 old JVC unit which has only been cleaned 3 times ever equals the recording quality of this thing. I would use that but I can't tune to regular channels anymore. I would of taken this back for another brand but I am 30 days past the return date. I would not recommend this unit for buy.

Similar Products Used:

17 year old JVC silver plated series 4 head standard VCR

cheap reliable lot of features for the money

auto clock, picky as to what kind of tape works best

Its really interesting to read some of these reviews for this unit and try to figure out what the reviewers are thinking. one guys mad because this unit doesnt match the
quality of some of his pro gear, when the heads on his pro stuff prob cost more than this entire unit!! another
states matter of fact that it wont play s-vhs or et(hint,
read the instructions to find the front panel button that
turns that function on)and another is mad because of picture
quality. well, the picture quality wont match a dvd, but it's in line with other svhs units I've used, but picture
quailty is affected by type of tape. one reviewer says
basf tape is best but I like tdk or maxell gold. I got this
unit to match the earlier model I have, an 3500u. I've had that unit for 2 years or so and its worked great so far.
sp recordings off of digital cable are great, but at slower
speeds you get the noisey reds that have always plagued
svhs. Working evenings I sometimes need two decks to record
my "shows" but its not critical to me as to picture quality.
these are just to watch my huge library of svhs and the
occasional dubbing between units on my rxv-800.These units
are great for use as a bridge to digital vcrs that are
just over the horizion. If you look at this unit as what
it is, something to timeshift with with a little better
quality than vhs than you will probally like this vcr.
but if you are expecting pro quality or a unit that will take a lot of abuse or quality that will embarass a dvd
player you will be disapointed, as you should be. this unit
is good for what it is. As to nylon parts mentioned by another reviewer every consumer vcr( and most dvd and cd players) have these kind of compromises, including the 800$
mitsubishi svhs that I used to own that didnt last as
long as my 3500u!! sorry if the tone of this review is somewhat peeved, but I really hate to see a quality
product slammed because some expect caviar for the
price of hamburger, or try to use any type of modern
consumer product without reading the instructions and then
get mad because it doesnt work or works incorrectly.
Hint, the book that came with your stuff is NOT a novel
about a mexican guy named "manuel"

Similar Products Used:

jvc-hrs3500u, mitsubishi svhs, rca svhs

One of the best of the sorry lot of affordable VCRs today. SVHS is a major plus. Transport loads and runs smooth and quiet.

Video quality on standard tape with or w/o ET is marginal.

Buying a new VCR today can be a terrible dissapointment! When my good old Sony failed, and the cost will be very high to repair it - I chose to pick up a cheap-o VCR to get by for now. My first puchase was a Toshiba '515 for $70 from Wal-Mart's closeout rack - good video but an unreal lack of quality... no surprise it was defective.

Ultimately I went to Best Buy and ended up with this JVC - actually the newer '3900, as it was the best of the bad lot. Definitely more solid than most, it loads the tape smoothly, runs silently, winds the tape very fast and the remote is okay - at least it is not a complex mess like the Sony units I have had.

The bad side - I am not impressed with the SVHS ET option. At first I didn't realize I had to engage it on the front panel... when I did, yes the video is better - but not up to true SVHS. When using a SVHS tape - it's a credible performer. So don't expect what true SVHS can deliver using a common tape - but a compromise.

Overall - at least I have compatibility with my other SVHS deck, and a VCR that has better build than the real cheapies out there. I have read the comments below, and I can't help but wonder if some issued have been addressed with this newer version - namely lack of high-speed wind and noisy transport issues. I've also noted many comments comparing quality of this VCR to those purchased 10-15 years ago... todays VCRs are disposable! Apples to oranges here folks! We get what we pay for, and this one didn't cost a lot for what it does. BTW for those looking for a flying erase head, the '5900 has that for only $20 more.

Similar Products Used:

Mid 1990s higher-end consumer models from Sony and JVC. 2 year old Sony.

S-VHS quality and Price

None for this price range

I agree with Billy, in that this is a great SVHS for the price, and that some of the reviews here are pretty picky. The picture quality of this is amazingly better than my old Magnavox Hi-Fi, which cost something like $300 about ten years ago. There are a lot of complaints about the SVHS-ET function not looking better than VHS. Well, if you want to record somthing in SVHS quality, do it on a SVHS tape!! It seems stupid to complain about the quality of simulated SVHS, when you have a full blown SVHS player right there in front of you. Use it!! I too thought the Plug & Play feature did not work, but it just takes a long time. You can also speed it up if you go the the initial setup menu and tell the VCR your PBS channel, you can also program the specific time zone if it is switching. Most likely you are picking up a PBS station in another time zone, and that is why you are having a problem. Anyway, I have found most of the problems mentioned here (excluding the quality control complaints) trivial. If people had some common sense and took their time in setting it up, it would work great. And for the price, I don't know how you can complain. This is a great player for the price, but discriminating tastes might want to look at more costly models.

Similar Products Used:

Old Magnavox Hi-Fi

This is about HR-S3900U, Transport is smooth and quite,fast, picture quality on par with other SVHS machines, cheap

Universal remote which needs two hands!!!? No menu button on machine, SVHS-ET quality not so good.

I bought this HR-S3900U as open box from best buy.Initially when I played tapes recorded on sharp, I was very disappointed.Picture has too much color push(It was beatiful in Sharp).But Finally I figured out after going thru manual that keeping Video calibration off giving the correct picture for the cassettes recorded on other VCRs.I have seen many people complaining many problems, I guess mostly because they didn't go thru Manual in detail.
I liked the slow motion in forward and reverse.and liked jetspeed picture search.One wonderful thing is all the program indexes I made on Sharp is working wonderfully for index search on this machine.

As far as SVHS-ET, initially I didn't find much difference with standard tapes(including Sony premium). Then I tried
TDK EHG(Extra High grade $1.50 each), Maxell HGX gold($1.00 each), Maxell HI-FI($2.00 each) and Sony V-Higrade($1.50 each). The picture quality was good in ET in Order Sony V-High Grade, Maxell HI-FI, TDK EHG, Maxell Gold. These tapes really improved picture quality a lot with SVHS-ET. But when compared to my friends Sharp 101U SVHS quality in ET mode, JVC is not reaching that quality.

Note: I heard Fuji Master120,Fuji SuperHG,TDK DSP tapes are very good for SVHS-ET.

Similar Products Used:

Sharp 4 head HIFI and Panasonic 4 head hifi

Changeable display, S-video, Super-VHS.

Tracking, quality of workmanship.

30 days after purchasing this model, the video died. We returned it for exchange, but the new model was DOA; both the tuner and tape play wouldn't work. It didn't track other tapes recorded previously very well, at times did not respond to commands and ate several tapes. The auto time function did not work well, either. At times it would reject a tape put in for play, even though this tape played well at other times.

S-VHS Input-outputs

quality

I was hoping this was going to be my last VCR purchase. The playback had bad audio with hiss and crackling noise. I doublechecked everything against another machine and got the same noise on it and not on my SONY.I got video noise in the S-VHS ET mode using Sony V tape. I did not like the way the remote worked for slow motion and shuttle search.I may just have had a bad apple. I took it back and bought a DVD player.Maybe I will get another VCR later, but not a JVC.I know a lot of JVC's also can get a lot of loading/unloading problems, but I wanted to try to get the bang for the buck.
3 to 4 stars if you get one to work right.

Similar Products Used:

Many other vcrs