i found this VCR outside in the lane way behind my house. it looked like good condition so i brought it inside. to my suprise it booted up, i poped in a tape and BHAM it worked. i was like NICE FREE VCR. i hit eject. it didnt come out....

so i cracked it open to find that one of the plastic gears poped out. i fixed it and it worked prefect!

soon after using it a few times. it would eat the disc up. i poped out but the tape was all pulled out. it was only a year old at the time.. what a peice of crap.

Image was fine, front rca input a plus.

It's a Toshiba vcr. Need I say more?´

I bought this Toshiba vcr mainly because of Toshiba's reputation and the fact that my previous vcr was a Toshiba and I had been quite happy with it (till it broke down after some 5 years) However after only less than 2 years the W603 wouldn't power up, it would just flash the display and sometimes it would be hours before it would decide to work again. Meaning that I could not use the program in order to set the timer to record a program. This rendered the machine useless expect for watching videos only. Real disappointment. And this happened just after the warranty expired. I would never again buy a Toshiba vcr. I am so very disappointed that I spent the money on this brand and it lasted for so few months. I would rather walk into a Walmart and buy the cheapest vcr there is instead of spending the extra money on a Toshiba knowing that it will likely stop working after a few months. At least a cheap one is easy to justify. Very disappointed at Toshiba. They seem to be heading the same direction as Sony, where their products are made to last only a few months and then expect you go buy a new one (like my Sony car cd player, that stopped working after 2 years).›

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba vcr - can't remember the model.

High Fi Sound, Fast Rewind, Good record quality on SP mode.

Counter stays on after starting up which is very annoying. Menus for setup are not very clear, and input modes can be confusing.

I purchased this VCR from Best Buy so I could move my old Zenith to the bedroom. This VCR has good playback quality, the audio is exceptional, and the record quality in SP mode is very high. I've been very happy with the performance of this player.

Similar Products Used:

Zenith HI-FI VCR

The price, but mostly my bragging rights to my friends :)

The way that it's programmed with the on screen display always on unless you manually turn it off.

I picked up this item for, yes, $2.14 (w/tax) used at a thrift store. There was no manual, but there was remote and vcr was in mint-looking condition, so I bought it... I bought it Today (5/1/2003) and I can already tell that it's a bad design. It is crazy to design a VCR where you manually have to turn off the on-screen display every time you turn on the VCR!!! WHAT THE HECK WERE THE DESIGNERS THINKING!?!?!!! I wonder why this working and handsome VCR sold for $2 in a thrift store!?

Similar Products Used:

stereo Hi-Fi vcrs made by RCA and Proscan. (these 2 companies as well as GE are in bed together, meaning that they are made in the same factory and are all compatable)

The W603 is a quiet player. It has a fast rewinder.

Video tracking is bad. Final straw was when I ordered the Mambo Kings (starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas)from Amazon and it was not watchable because of the jittery video. I returned the video as defective and got a replacement. Same problem! I then bought an inexpensive Sharp vcr and put the Mambo Kings in and it plays without a problem. The W603 displays status information to the screen when a video is started and keeps it displayed until the remote is pressed to clear it. This is inconvenient.

The Toshiba W603 has played 60% to 70% of prerecorded videos decently for me. The rest are not watchable because of tracking problems. The tracking display pops up but it cannot make the proper adjustments. The adjustments cannot be made successfully manually either. The poor tracking capabilities of the W603 overshadows its positive qualities. It might be ok as a second vcr since it can play many of the video from the rental stores.

Similar Products Used:

I have purchased a Sharp and a MGA vcr in the past. These eventually failed after more than 10 years due to problems with the tape rewind and playback mechanisms. But I was very satisfied with these u

front A/V inputs blue display

poor build quality!!! lousy remote average playback quality

I have 3 words to describe the Toshiba W-603: Piece of S___! Like the other reviewers, I purchased this unit on the strength of Toshiba's reputation for quality TVs and DVD players. Barely two years and not much use later, the tracking went haywire. I tried cleaning the heads, but the problem did not go away. Anyhow, this unit and the reviews I've read have turned me completely off Toshiba VCRs 4ever. Similarly, when it comes to purchasing my next TV or DVD player, I will give the competition the edge, all else being equal, as payback for being sold a piece of crap. My advice to anyone looking for a VCR is to stay away from Toshiba, as their VCR quality is highly questionable.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba M660 (vastly superior older model), Zenith

17" width, front AV

poor auto tracking, poor tuner, on screen display

At first I thought, what a deal! Having owned Toshiba products (DVD player, PC, cordless phones) this brand had always met if not went above my expectations.
A VCR, 17" wide (great for my component stack), front AV, Toshiba quality... or so I thought.
This VCR's appeal ends at the exterior.When it came time to perform, this machine, well, how can I say... sucks.
The main purpose of this machine is to play my kids' tapes, for them to watch satellite channels without having to switch on the receiver.
This machine has a problem in its auto tracking for both recording and playback; at first I thought it was just the tape, but when I record a show and played it in another VCR, movie was so jittery. Tapes that play perfectly fine on my other machines can't play properly in the Toshiba.
Then, I thought, maybe I just got a lemon. But my opfficemate, who bought the same model had problems playing back home movies he made in his camcorder (VHS-C) and placed in a VHS tape adaptor. He thought his camcorder or the adaptor was faulty, but playing it in another machine showed who the culprit was.
Another problem is channel tuning. I connected my DirecTV receiver to this machine via a satellite quality coaxial cable, through channel 4, which should be good enough for my kids when they watch. but one day, they complained that the show they were watching had a picture but no sound. I had to retune the VCR's channels to get back proper reception in channel 4. Since then I had to do it multiple times, so much that I had to teach my 5 year old son how to fix it himself (which he does good).
Also, the remote is so lame. I am currently not using it, instead, I programmed the VCR functions to my satellite receiver's universal remote.
Another thing is the on screen display, which whenever you turn on displays the show's name (good), rec mode and time. This is nice, if after a few seconds, it disappears. But you have to manually press the display key twice to get rid of the displays. I'm thinking it will burn in to my TV if left on.
And since this machine is for my kids, I did not really see the problems until after a few months, when the return option expired.
I have more, but this should be sufficient enough to rate the VCR the lowest possible score in this review. I would have given this a zero, but 1 star is the lowest.
I am disappointed at Toshiba for marketing this poor excuse for a VCR. For me, it is a blemish in their stellar reputation.
'nuff said.

Similar Products Used:

GE VG 4258, JVC S-3500

hmmm. It came with Free Batteries.

Lousy Picture and Cheap remote.

Terrible!! Same problems as previous person had w/ tracking. Not to mention that the remote is very cheap. I bought this for my son about 3 months ago and thought it was a great deal. Well, lets put it this way, I am online shopping for a new VCR. Don't waste your money. It is not a deal when you have don't want to use it.

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Goldstar VCR not sure what model. I have had my goldstar for 6 years now and it works better and has a better picture than my new Toshiba.

17" Wide case

auto tracking, channel tuning, remote

At first I thought, what a deal! Having owned Toshiba products (DVD player, PC, cordless phones) this brand had always met if not went above my expectations.
A VCR, 17" wide (great for my component stack), front AV, Toshiba quality... or so I thought.
This VCR's appeal ends at the exterior.When it came time to perform, this machine, well, how can I say... sucks.
The main purpose of this machine is to play my kids' tapes, for them to watch satellite channels without having to switch on the receiver.
This machine has a problem in its auto tracking for both recording and playback; at first I thought it was just the tape, but when I record a show and played it in another VCR, movie was so jittery. Tapes that play perfectly fine on my other machines can't play properly in the Toshiba.
Then, I thought, maybe I just got a lemon. But my opfficemate, who bought the same model had problems playing back home movies he made in his camcorder (VHS-C) and placed in a VHS tape adaptor. He thought his camcorder or the adaptor was faulty, but playing it in another machine showed who the culprit was.
Another problem is channel tuning. I connected my DirecTV receiver to this machine via a satellite quality coaxial cable, through channel 4, which should be good enough for my kids when they watch. but one day, they complained that the show they were watching had a picture but no sound. I had to retune the VCR's channels to get back proper reception in channel 4. Since then I had to do it multiple times, so much that I had to teach my 5 year old son how to fix it himself (which he does good).
Also, the remote is so lame. I am currently not using it, instead, I programmed the VCR functions to my satellite receiver's universal remote.
Another thing is the on screen display, which whenever you turn on displays the show's name (good), rec mode and time. This is nice, if after a few seconds, it disappears. But you have to manually press the display key twice to get rid of the displays. I'm thinking it will burn in to my TV if left on.
And since this is for my kids, I did not really see the problems until after a few months, when the return option is expired.
I have more, but this should be sufficient enough to rate the VCR the lowest possible score in this review. I would have given this a zero, but 1 star is the lowest.
I am disappointed at Toshiba for marketing this poor excuse for a VCR.
'nuff said.

Similar Products Used:

GE VG-4258, Mitsubishi U58, JVS S-3500