Ideally, I'd like to build my own PVR because I don't quite like the Tivo or the Replay, but I don't think that's going to happen for a few reasons. (lack of Linux/FreeBSD drivers for tuner/video capture cards that have hardware compression, and lack of CPU power to try to compress two live streams simultaneously).

My next idea was to get two of the new Sony VCRs that have smart tag stickers you put on the tapes and it stores what is recorded on the VCR to the sticker, so you just wave the tape in front of the VCR and it shows you what's on the tape. Two problems with this. First is the cost of the VCRs (I know, doing my own PVR right wouldn't be any cheaper). Second is that I can't find anywhere that sells additional stickers, and while I do a decent job of keeping up on what we record, my wife has been known to be as many as 20 tapes behind.

So, failing these, I think I'm looking to replace just the one dying VCR (about half the time I hit FF or REW when it's stopped, it turns itself off, and when I turn it back on, it ejects the tape).

My objective is to find a VCR that preferably fullfills all of these qualifications, and I was looking for opinions from the crowd.

1) Decent quality. Hi-Fi Stereo, 19u heads (or equivalent technology, as most of our recording is done in 6 hour mode).

2) Able to FF and REW a fixed amount of time.

3) Not a TOAD (ie, I want discrete power on/off IR codes)

4) Able to stack with my existing DVD player, which means that it should be 17" wide. If narrower than 17", it needs to be 9.5" deep or less. Preferably not too tall either.

5) Able to FF and REW to index marks (where recording started). On this, do the various VCR manufacturers use compatible methods of marking the index on the tape? My good Philips Magnavox has indexing, but it obviously needs some kind of mark on the tape because it doesn't detect where recording started on tapes that were recorded on my other (dieing) Philips Magnavox VCR which doesn't support indexing.

Having many programming slots would be nice, but unless I move my good VCR into the living room, it won't be doing the bulk of the recording.


This message was edited by Eric S on 10/26/01 19:25.03.

Sony still fits all the requests that you have! Heck, you can get all of those features in the $100 price range from Sony!

I just bought one last night from Wal-Mart for $99.96 + Tax. Model # SLV-N51

Sonicflood


Here are some specs:

Flash Rewind Great for rental movies, this feature rewinds a T-120 tape in about 60 seconds

Instant Replay With the touch of a button rewind the tape a few seconds then play back to catch that line of dialogue or a that great touchdown.

Commercial Skip automatically advances the tape 30 seconds at the touch of a button

Plug & Play setup with Tuner Preset and AutoClock set Just plug in your new Sony VCR and the Plug & Play feature immediately scans the channels, stores active channels in memory and sets the clock!

Index Scan Lets you scan the Index marks on your tape to locate a program

Auto Repeat Play When the tape reaches the end, this feature automatically rewinds and starts playback.
Front A/V Inputs Added convenience for connecting a camcorder or video game system.

19 Micron Video Heads Yeild better picture quality in EP mode. Reduces distortion caused by crosstalk.
Dual Azimuth 4-Head recording/playback Two speeds for SP speed and two for EP optimize playback picture quality. They also enable Crystal Clear freeze frame, frame advance, and picture search.

Multi-Brand Remote Operates power, volume and channel tuning for most major brand televisions.

Multi-lingual on-screen display Status and operating messages in English, French , and Spanish

ChildLoc® Circuitry Freezes control of the VCR except for timer functions.

Auto Head Cleaner maintains excellent picure quality by automatically clearing tape residue whenever a tape is loaded or ejected

Digital Auto Tracking for automatic tracking adjustment

8-event/1-month timer Stores information for automatically recording 8 events over the course of one month

Compact design Only 14" wide

Energy Star Compliant Saves money and helps protect the environment by saving electricity in standby mode. Meets US EPA standards for energy conservation.


Recording Speeds: SP/EP
Playback Speeds: SP/EP/LP
Channel Coverage: VHF: 2-13; UHF: 14-69; Cable 1-125
Total Channels: 181
Dual Azimuth Heads 4
Video Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Better than 45 dB
Dynamic Range (VHS Hi-Fi) Better than 90 dB
Frequency Response (VHS Hi-Fi) 20-20,000Hz
Wow & Flutter (WRMS, VHS Hi-Fi) less than 0.005%
Programming (events/month) 8/1

5Lbs, 12 oz.
14-1/4" x 3-3/4" x 9-25"
360 x 94 x 240mm


This message was edited by Sonicflood on 10/26/01 23:23.15.

That Sony was high on my list already, I just didn't know if it could FF and REW by user-specified amounts (my old VCR will do this, so if I recorded a 2 hour block of four shows, I can skip any one of the shows without having to skip to the next index), and I was also interested in finding out if the Philips and Sony indexes were compatible.

A VCR??? I didn't even know they still made those things :)

I haven't had a VCR in my theater for nearly two years, and I don't miss it a bit. Between DVD players and TiVo, I think my bases are covered.

Like I said, building my own PVR tops the list, it just isn't practical at this time, and none of the affordable PVRs on the market meet my needs.

If money is no object...

The new Panasonic DVD Recorder (works just like a VCR but records onto DVD-R) is awesome. You can use it like a PVR if you like since nothing on the disk is permanent until you finalize it. You can jump right to the show you want , etc. The only downside is that the cheapest I've seen it is $799

Just an FYI, the Sony SLV-N51 is the only Sony TOAD I know of.

Do a search in the Pronto/RC5000 forum, and you will see that no discretes to date exist for this VCR.

Dave

If you are looking for an excellent top of line
unit with most of the same video edits as a hard-disk
unit, I would recommend jvc hrs 9800. I had looked
at just about every unit in our market and tried out
a 5900 model. For the price and the tech specs (tbc
correction,audio scan, fast rewind and digital r3,
I am very pleased.. Even has a ghost reduction tuner
which is very strong. Recordings from direct tv are
just like the original. It is hard to tell them
apart.

Crutchfield has them for a good price - $400

I got my 9800 from Crutchfield's outlet for $359 a couple of months ago. Mine is a 'B' stock deal. I've had a 9500 for atleast 3 years and I had only used it for video editing. It's right good for that purpose. I'm tickled pink, think pink (!), with the 9800's performance. My cable TV service sucks so bad! Crumcast style! The anti-ghosting feature helps the picture quality. It's billed as helping clean up off-the-air broadcasts, but apparently some, proably many, auuuh most cable service is so poor....well, it helps on mine.

If you want to maximize all your VHS or S-VHS tapes this is a good deck to do it with. It takes a $1000, or more, pro-sumer deck to beat it's performance, and only by a little. Camcorder shot video will look very good on the 9800, the Time Base Correction curcuits will really firm up edges in the images.

We'll proably never see nicer consumer S-VHS machines, me thinks, at this late date of the format. I've got my eye on JVC's new decks with S-VHS on one side and Mini DV on the other side....Best wishes, Rachael!

Finally went with the Sony SLV-N71, as the N51 was a TOAD and the size didn't work (too narrow to go under the DVD player, too deep to go on top of it), and I really didn't need a full blown editing deck. Most of the same features as the N51 (takes 2 min 30 sec to rewind though). Love the ability to set up a recording from the front panel without the remote or even turning the TV on :-)

While it doesn't let me enter a time to FF/REW, it does have a bar that you can position a cursor on, and the VCR goes to that position. This would be much more useful if they put the tape position where you're at now over the marker, and the tape position of where you're going to end up over the cursor, so you don't have to estimate.

And yes, the "start of recording" index that my Philips/Magnavox VCR puts on the tape work fine with the Sony.

I think this should keep me happy until I can put together the PVR of my dreams :-)

Oh, and after having to get up 5 times to push the tape back in while scanning a single tape of 6 hours of TV, I went out and bought the N71, put it in place, then took a hammer to the old VCR. Very thereputic.

YEAH!! YEAH!!! Smash it!!!!! I love smashing stuff like that!!!

Especially a product that messes up and seems to laugh at you when it happens!

JJP

Eric, were you a stand-in in The Terminator??? : - )

Larry

Hah! I've been asked if I'm related to Schwartzeneger (last name is Schwertfeger), but I'm just not buff enough to play stand-in :-) On the other hand, I am remotely related to Goldie Hawn, but I don't think that qualifies for hammering a VCR :-)