Compact size, made in Japan, excellent picture and sound, smooth operation.

none

This VCR is a great little basic player. I don't do a lot of recording, it's mostly for playback of pre-recorded purchased VHS tapes. I have owned other Panasonic VCRs and have always preferred the picture quality and reliability of their VCRs compared to the competition. I recently purchased the 4520 at Sears, they were the only store that still had stock left over from the 2000 model year. I looked at the 4521, and the quality just isn't there. The 2001 models are being made in Indonesia now, no longer Japan. If you are still able to find a 4520 model, I recommend that you pick it up quick because you will be very happy with the performance.

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Sony, RCA, Zenith, Fisher

Product brand-name, made in Japan (high quality), excellent on-screen menues, excellent sound and good picture quality. Low price.

Comercial skip feature is limited (only skips in intervals of 1, 2, or 3 minutes.

Hey you guys,

I have to speak out here! I just purchased this Panasonic HIFI VCR about a month ago. I paid $150 CDN (taxes in). I don't see what all the compalining is about. Picture is good, HIFI sound is excellent! Remote is very good and on-screen instructions are fab and easy to use.

This VCR is replacing my 11 year Fischer Studio Standard HIFI which I paid $600 CDN for. Excellent machine by the way.

The Panasonic is light and somewhat limited in certain features but what do you expect for an entry-level HIFI VCR?

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Fischer HIFI VCR (again made in Japan).

Ease of use, when something is always broken there is nothing to use

only plays two movies, then breaks.

Only been able to watch 6 movies in 8 months, picture and sound seemed good but the motor was loud.
It has been in the shop three times for a total of 4.5 months and Panasonic is still unwilling to replace it.
The price was good, but it still works out to $25 for each movie reviewed.
The VCR is a joke, and Panasonic should be ashamed of themselves.

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sony

Price, Picture quality, ease of use

Information shown in Multi Function Display window

I cannot hear the motor exept when it is FFE or REW. Picture is really solid with beatiful color. Stereo sound is better than the old Zenith. Yes the remote takes getting use to, BUT once the syntax of the menus is understood it is very easy to use. The only thing you can see in the Multi Function Display window when the unit is in use is PLAY, FFW, & REW; however, hitting the display button puts the time and other info on the picture. A heck of a buy for $89. I just hope the tape transport will hold up as good as the old Zenith (which I now use to digitize VHS tapes).

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Zenith - 15 years old & still going strong

Cost, stable clean picture. Good sound. Comprehensive on screen display.

Maybe the display but I only have it set up to show the time anyway.

I purhased this to use with my Sony STR-DE635 receiver in a room theater set up. So far it's worked wonderfully, the picture is clean and steady with no colour variations etc. As for the sound it passed through the stereo and Dolby Pro-Logic signals clearly.
So far I'm pleased with this VCR.
Good buy in my book.

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JVC, Panasonic, Sylvania mono videos. This is my first video.

Excellent sound. Panasonic has excellent repair record in Good repair history for Panasonic in Consumer Reports

Poor remote, snowy picture, noisy FF,RW,Eject

I just bought this VCR (PV-4521-K the 2001 model for the PV-4520-K) a few days ago to replace my Radio Shack VCR that prematurely died from a motor coronary.

The first thing I noticed about this VCR are the incredibly small buttons on its universal tower remote. The channel and pause buttons are the size of pin heads. How is anyone going to find these buttons in the dark? The remote is a wedge shape that is too thick on the bottom so it does not site well in my hand. The rectangular base keeps digging into my palm. I'd recommend tossing the remote before you injure your hand on it and getting something larger like an RCA universal remote.

The rewind and fast forward is noisy. The play/record noise isn't noticeable. The tape eject sounds like someone is kicking in my door. It will wake up the dead.

The biggest drawback is the tuner which adds snow to the upper channels. The tape doesn't have to be playing. If I simply flip back and forth using the VCR/TV button, it looks like I'm viewing some channels through pebbled glass. I hooked it up to another TV this time using RCA cables and I still get a snowy picture. I also noticed faint horizontal lines on the picture of most channels. Unfortunately this noise gets recorded on the tape.

The "tape remaining" on screen display is a progress bar only that is marked to the nearest hour. It is missing the hh:mm that you see on my last 3 VCR's. So you don't really know if you have enough tape left or not.

The audio quality is excellent. I have it hooked up to a pair of amplified computer speakers and it rocks.

If you don't mind the hard to handle remote, the snowy picture, and noisy motor, this VCR is for you. As for me, mine is going back to the store.

Similar Products Used:

Radio Shack, Mitsubishi, Sony

Good Price

No AV jacks in front, loud a$$ motor, feels and looks like a toy, remote

I bought it because my house got broken into and my JVC (that I loved) got stolen. I went to get a new JVC and the local shop was out of stock so I grabbed this one because it was similar price and my insurance company wanted reciepts. Got it home, went to hook up my video camera and was disappointed with no jacks in the front then played a tape and the motor was louder then the movie, the remote is stupid (but I like that it is back-lit), the setup screens vibrate and the machine is light and plastic feels and looks like a toy. On the plus side Panasonic is reliable and the picture quality was good also has fast rewind and commercial skip. I returned the machine after 2 days and went to Sears and got my JVC HR-VP680, so far so good.

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JVC

Low cost, simple setup, easy to use

Very, very noisy motor; I'm taking it back Very very noisy motor; I'm taking it back tomorrow

The low cost simply doesn't warrant the inconvenience of trying to hear the audio above the sound of the motor. If you're smart, you'll pass on this one. Otherwise, you'll end up taking it back the next day. Caveat emptor!

Low price, fast rewind

I heard complaints of a noisy motor. Also, this unit lacks front-panel A/V jacks.

I am actually writing a review about the PV-V4520's monophonic sibling, the PV-V4020. And yes, this model (like all recent low-end Panasonic VCRs) have a noisy motor -- but at least it rewinds a 6-hour tape in less than 2 minutes. The Sanyo I had tried before I bought this Panasonic has a quieter motor, but its rewind is unacceptably slow... it took all of 25 minutes just to rewind a 6-hour tape! (I must have bought a defective unit, but a second Sanyo sample I had tried had the very same problem!) Also, that Sanyo consistently chewed up my tapes and had a clunky remote (row after row of tiny, identical, look-alike buttons) and lacks easy programming!

IMO, you get what you pay for... Every single VCR manufacturer had to cut a lot of corners just to sell a VCR for anywhere close to $100. If I were to buy a new VCR I wouldn't buy ANY unit priced less than $150.

Overall, I am rating the PV-V4020/4520 3 stars because you can buy even crappier VCRs than this one.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic PV-9450 (same problem), Sanyo (unknown model number, junk)

simple attractive design, easy to use, price

No Front A/V jacks, lack of picture adjustability, STUPID "shuttle tower remote", unimpressive picture quality, No displays on the unit except ("play", "rew", etc...) menu screen shakes, and one last annoyance: It's LOUD! "BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!"

I'm not sure how Panasonic got top rating for its VCR's from consumer magazines as I was not impressed at all with this unit. The picture quality is mediocre, the menus are incredibly annoying and difficult to navigate through, there's only one set of A/V jacks in the back...basically re-read my "weaknesses" section. I wanted a decent, inexpensive VCR to play the tapes I dont have on DVD (I refuse to re-buy my ENITRE video collection, though some are exceptions like Kubrick films, etc.) and something to have my games hooked up to while allowing easy hookup of my other VCR for dubbing. If you have no need for those things, then buy it. I personally think this is an over-rated product being sold strictly on the basis of the Panasonic brand name. I understand you get what you pay for, but I just bought a Sanyo at Wal Mart (of all places!!!!) which has superior picture quality, 2 sets of jacks, picture sharpness control, backlit buttons (on the unit itself!) and a whole slew of other features!
My advice is to stay away from the Over-hyped "Greedy Four" - JVC, Sony, Panasonic, & Philips. They're all junk. I've owned all these new models from the "Four" and the Sanyo blows them all away. And it has the same warranty as the Panasonic. If you are brand loyal, then get this panasonic. But really, shop around as there are tons of other great decks out there under 100 bucks that do more than this heap can.

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Sony SLV-N50, JVC-VP682U, Sanyo (just bought, blows all the others away!)