Panasonic PV-V4525S 4-Head VCR, Silver

After my old JVC VCR at last died after well over 10 years of faithful service, I purchased another JVC. Alas, it never managed to synch up and was unalignable. Next I came to amazon and, after reading lots of reviews, settled on the PV-V4525S as the best bet for the money. Unfortunately, the unit had a real problem. The power circuitry held for just 5-6 seconds at a time. Impossible to set up. With rising frustration I found out how smooth the amazon return and replacement system worked. No sooner did I send the defective unit by USPS (at their cost), within a day I was informed that the replacement was on the way. Awesome. As for the replacement. Being on a cable box, the unit did not synch up to the time, but had to be manually set. No problem at all. After that, the first recording was excellent. The general fast forward stop problem, much commented on, seems just a minor annoyance, that in view of the good recording quality, I have no difficulty living with. The large clock, another deciding factor, that I was used to having on my old unit, is bright. I would like to have the convenience of being able to toggle AM/PM during programming, but WTH, nothing is perfect. Now for longevity. My fingers are crossed.

Overall, I'm very happy with this VCR. My old one was on its last leg so almost anything would have been an improvement, but this Panasonic is one of the best I've owned over the years. The picture and sound qualities are excellent. After reading reviews from Amazon customers, I was already aware of the overshooting problem when fast forwarding or rewinding, but I didn't realize how annoying it could be. Sometimes I'm in the mood to make a game of it to see if I can outwit the darn machine, but it usually wins, so as games go, it's not that satisfying. I think it takes longer than normal to rewind a tape, but that might be my imagination since I haven't actually timed it. The clock sets itself and can be easily read from across the room. I like this feature a lot. In summary, I'm docking the VCR one star because of the tricky fast forwarding and possibly slow rewind, but I haven't considered returning it. It's a sturdy, well made machine that records and plays movies even better than I expected. In spite of its little quirks, I have no problem recommending this machine to anyone who is looking for a quality stand alone VCR with a reasonable price tag.

Watched my first VHS movie after an easy set up and switching TV to aux 2 setting. I used the plugs in the back. I like that it included a functioning remote and plugs to connect to the TV. Though I don't watch and record TV, I only watch movies from years of collecting. I felt it was worth the extra investment for a new new unused VCR that will last years as VHS die out and I did not want a reconditioned unit that others had issues. The movie was a very used oldie and it had clear image and sound. It pays to read the vendor and product reviews. If there are any issues, I will update this review.

I purchased two of these on May 22, 2006. Both conked out, Kept coming up on screen I may need to clean the heads. First off its amonth old, secondly, I spent $8 on a head cleaner, and am having the exact same problem. Same thing, on both vcrs, which I think is kind of strange, actually. I tried to find Panasonic dealer to have them look at it, I put in my zip, and Texas kept coming up. (I live in NYC). I'm ready to throw them both in the garbage.

I was lucky to have found this VCR, not only working but brand new. It is just like the one I had 15 years ago. The model is different but they use the same remote control. I still have my old VCR, it works fine, but I use my new one because I feel my older VCR deserves a rest. I record with both VHS and DVD units, but since getting this brand new VCR I tend to record more with VHS tapes, I guess old habits are hard to break. I bought this brand new VCR for around $100. The new VCR's come with a DVD player, which is not the same as a VCR only, but not only that but the old VCR's like this one have a built-in tuner. This unit has two RCA inputs, one RCA output, and a cable in. No HDMI, USB, RGB, or component here, just the good old fashion connections. If you come across a brand new VCR for around $100, I recommend buying it.

The VCR is like new. It works great. The remote was not like the original that should have came with this VCR, and did not work at all. New Batteries were no help. My previous VCR was the same model as this new VCR, and it works perfect. So I'm happy.

First, I received this item about five days ahead of schedule - and I live in the state of Hawaii! Instructions to hook it up - mmm...mmm..."moderately difficult"...I will say that I understood how to hook it up with and without a cable box AFTER THE FACT. They're printed on the box! However, I used it the same day that I received it. It searches fast and it does overshoot the target (now I know what that means...). It has a commercial skip. It plays non-HDTV recordings very clearly. It stops at the point I press stop (while recording). It seems like I can view my videotaped soap operas faster than I did before. It gives you speed options to record (SP, SLP). It has a timer to set when recording. It has a display clock. I am enjoying this Panasonic (whose saying used to be "Just slightly ahead of time") VCR very much. Pameli.

I usually love Panasonic products, but this one I do not recommend. First of all, the terminology is tricky: I was trying to replace one that had commercial "advance," which turns out not to be the same as commercial "skip," which actually means nothing. It provides a button you can use to fast forward 60 seconds at a press to go through commercials. However, since commercials are not timed at 60-second intervals, you either wind up under or over shooting, and it takes a lot of presses to get it just right. Just plain FF is easier than this silly button. Which leads to the second major problem: the darn thing zips through FF and REW so fast that when you press the STOP button, you are 9 minutes away from where you wanted to stop. There is simply no controlling it any better than that. So you are wasting time trying to get to the place you want to be anytime by going back and forth, let along through the commercials. Finally, the manual is so skimpy as to be useless. I had to call the tech support number several times to find out how to accomplish certain procedures. They verified that yes, whatever it was, was not in the manual, if you can call it that. I am still trying to decide whether to go ahead and return this VCR or not. The shipping costs may not be worth it. The only thing you can say for it is that it is inexpensive. Oh and the picture quality is not as great as it is billed.

Excellent condition and fully functional