Comparatively decent picture quality at SLP speed, especially when recording off DSS. Front AV jacks are nice to hook up a camcorder. Good REW/FF speed. Seems reliable, although it''s not old enough yet to really tell. The Light Tower remote has lots of features(the first VCR I had that had an EJECT button on the remote), and the manual timer programming is so easy to figure out, it hardly needs VCR+. The tuner is good, but only if you hook up an external antenna (rabbit ears). It can pick up some UHF channels without connecting an antenna, but not very well. It has never had any "issues" with tape type that some VCRs have, it works as well with the very cheap 10/$5.00 cassettes that we mostly buy as it does with HG tape. And it has cheerfully accepted every prerecorded tape I shove into it, whether a brand new purchase or a crinkled, worn-out rental.

Hey, it''s VHS, so how good can it be? Betamax rules!! Not good for editing, since it has no FEH, and the counter is not shown in units panel display, only on the TV screen. Also, like too many VCRs made today, there are very few controls on the unit itself, so if you lose the remote, methinks you''re screwed.

My family has used a PV-9451 for about 3 years now. We have never had any problems with it, the picture quality is good, it has never shown any signs of breaking down(even after I unscrewed the cover and used it without the cover for awhile) and it seems to work better than other VCR''s I''ve used at SLP speed. I use it with a mono TV, so I can''t comment on the HiFi quality, but the sound as far as I can tell is good. I would recommend the PV-9451 or similar model for anyone who is interested in the best picture quality VHS can offer (which isn''t much to say, by the way) who does a lot of playing tapes and recording tapes off antenna or DSS, but not much editing.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic PV-VS4821, almost identical to 9451 except SVHS, Sony SLV-751HF VHS and SL-HF-600 B-max from the days when they made VCRs solid.

Seems to have much better picture and sound quality than my old Panasonic. Granted, that one was a mono VCR. Plays all my tapes better than my other VCR

None that I have found yet.

I bought this VCR to hook into my Kenwood VR-309. I wanted to engage in the Pro-Logic sound capabilities through both my VCR and Television programs that provided a surround sound track. The first thing I watched was the THX sound effects on the StarWars Trilogy. I was rather impressed. I had never watched the Trilogy in surround in the hundreds of times it made it into my VCR. I can't wait to watch a more recent movie that has a surround sound track. I'll bet the sound will be even better. I value this VCR at 5 stars simply, for its value, for the price I paid ($123). I give it an overall of 4. That's because we all know there is always something better.

Similar Products Used:

Older Panasonic model. Approx. 7-9 years old.

Good price, good picture when it works, good tuner

tracking is a pain, lots of noise, seems easily affected by rental tapes - that is, have to clean heads every couple of tapes

I like the picture quality and the tuner works well with my rabbit ears (no cable), but I've been disappointed by playback of rental tapes. I get a lot of visual noise after two or three movies and a message to clean my tape heads - I know some may be in poor shape, but I've cleaned the heads twice on this unit in a month, and not once in 12 or 13 years witht he Hitachi. I think I may have a lemon on my hands, but don't know enough about electronics to say what could be causing my problems. Purchased at Costco for $239 Cdn, which works out to about $20.99 American. Couldn't recommend it, but I can't help but feeling my problems are down to one bad unit. The auto tracking also makes me a bit nervous, since I don't know how it's supposed to work (not too well, based on my difficulties.

Similar Products Used:

hitachi VCR, bought in early 1980s, which just packed it in this year

Lighted remote, good quality SP recordings
made in Japan

Somewhat grainy RF output, motor noisy, lacking timer backup.

Bought the PV-9451 to compliment my Panny
DVD-A110 and my 27" Superflat TV. Other factors that influenced decision were my past experiences with Panasonic products, and the reliability record of their VCR's.
Playback quality of pre-recorded tapes is very good, although not quite as good as my Sony 775, although in comparing the two, I think the Panasonic will hold up longer than the Sony will. If you are loking for a good quality inexpensive 4HD Hi-Fi VCR, I would recommend this unit.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Slv-775HF
Toshiba M674

nice remote

poor quality - only lasted 3 years

I am disenchanted with Panasonic. I had the predecessor to this model (PV-7451) and it quit (would no-longer track tapes correctly) after only 3 years-and I fought with it for the last 6 months of that period, thinking perhaps the problem was dirty heads or bad tapes. I finally bought a replacement and found out that the problem was the VCR. Based on its short life-span and average performance, this unit only deserves 1-star.

low price

tracking

This stereo video recorder although capable of producing good video and sound appears to be very finiky in that the hi-fi audio auto tracking often doesn't work with pre recorded tapes. About 40 per cent of the time, the soundtrack crackles and the tracking control has to be used to get rid of the noise - not always entirely successfully. The tracking control also has very narrow limits, so that a little too much correction either up or down will flip the unit into mono mode - certainly this gets rid of the noise altogether, but does defeat the purpose of having a hi-fi stereo machine. The picture seems relatively unaffected, but like my previous Panasonic recorder, using the still frame and slow motion results in a very noisy picture - however, these latter features are unimportant to me personally.

I'm able to live with this glitch now, but I'm concerned that as the unit ages, the problem may not be so managable.

Similar Products Used:

earlier Panasonic video recorder

Good picture and sound. Recorded well.

Throw away product. Poor quality electronic components. Cheaper to buy a new one than have this one fixed.

Purchased to replace ancient VCR given to me by my brother. Recommended by Best Buy salesman, originally planned to buy comparable Sony. Worked well, good picture and sound, recorded well for about one year and one week (just longer than the warranty) then died.

The picture is pretty good, and so is the sound for a standard VCR. It has nice features and a good On Screen Display. I have it hooked up to a Harman Kardon AVR65, which also has a Toshiba SD3109 DVD player, a Yamaha Cassete Deck, and a JVC CD player hooked up to it. The sound the HK and the Panasonic reproduce are superb. Also this rewinds and FF's really fast too. I recommend it highly I brought J&R down $129.99... $136.80 Shipped. Nice VCR.

This VCR is an outstanding value. I recently replaced my Panasonic PV-4351 with this newer model. The old one had tuner problems. The picture quality between the 2 is roughly the same. That's not bad considering the 4351 cost $260 in '94. The 9451 cost me only $135, normally everywhere else between $150 - $160. The 9451 maintained the performance of the 4351, added many useful features including VCR+, and was "HALF" the cost. My ratings are value oriented. I also purchased the Panasonic PV-S9670 S-VHS VCR. The DynAmorphous heads are truly worth their price. The 9451 has noise, but is minimal. The 9670 wipes out that noise, that is on the standard heads. That noise can NOT be seen when watching on the 9670. The 9670 also costs $300 and the lowest price DynAmorphous head unit, the 9664, is $230. The $95 price difference between the 9451 and 9664 is agreeable for the performance. I wouldn't recommend any other units, 9661 or 9662, because the small cost savings between them and the better performing 9664, is not worth it. The 9451 is only $10 more than the 9450. The 9451 adds VCR+ and front panel camcorder inputs. So I would only recommend the 9451, 9664, 9668, and the best, S9670. This of course is judement by the excellent performance of the 9451 and the S9670.

This VCR is an outstanding value. I recently replaced my Panasonic PV-4351 with this newer model. The old one had tuner problems. The picture quality between the 2 is roughly the same. That's not bad considering the 4351 cost $260 in '94. The 9451 cost me only $135, normally everywhere else between $150 - $160. The 9451 maintained the performance of the 4351, added many useful features including VCR+, and was "HALF" the cost. My ratings are value oriented. I also purchased the Panasonic PV-S9670 S-VHS VCR. The DynAmorphous heads are truly worth their price. The 9451 has noise, but is minimal. The 9670 wipes out that noise, that is on the standard heads. That noise can NOT be seen when watching on the 9670. The 9670 also costs $300 and the lowest price DynAmorphous head unit, the 9664, is $230. The $95 price difference between the 9451 and 9664 is agreeable for the performance. I wouldn't recommend any other units, 9661 or 9662, because the small cost savings between them and the better performing 9664, is not worth it. The 9451 is only $10 more than the 9450. The 9451 adds VCR+ and front panel camcorder inputs. So I would only recommend the 9451, 9664, 9668, and the best, S9670. This of course is judement by the excellent performance of the 9451 and the S9670.