Customer Reviews

Ambico V-0759A VHS 2-Way Tape Rewinder

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First of all, my unit started to fail less than 1 year after I purchased it. The motor started to get weak and had trouble rewinding tapes fully, sometimes stopping before completing the task. Other times the lid wouldn't open automatically at the end of the rewind mode, and I had to press some of the buttons to make it pop up. Even when the unit was working normally, it was obvious the rewinds were not as tension-controlled as the product's manual says. I noticed some "cinching" which is when the tape layers are unevenly wound and a wrinkle can be clearly visible between them, causing serious tape damage if left in that condition. This always occurred during the first 10 minutes of a tape or so, showing up as visual disturbances on playback. To wrap up - if you want good, smooth and fast rewinding (which this unit didn't provide even when new), use your VCR; regardless of what they make you believe, it won't cause any unusual wear and tear neither on the machine's heads or motor. Skip this product, it's not worth the trouble.

I would have to disagree with the other reviewer regarding the noise level on this vcr rewinder. This unit is relatively noisy during rewinds or fast forwards. The real problem that I have with this unit is that it doesn't seem very reliable. The lid of the machine seems to get stuck after it is done rewinding (or fast forwarding) tapes. This unit has an automatic eject feature which does not work all the time. The lid jams preventing the tape from being ejected and causes an electrical odor and a overheating in the mechanism. I would not recommend leaving this vcr rewinder unattended when you are rewinding tapes. As long as you keep an eye on the unit it should be okay. But I suppose that this rewinder is more trouble than it is worth. If this unit didn't have this obviously apparent flaw I would give it 5 stars. And I assume this flaw is typical in this vcr (not just mine) rewinder because the design and build quality is quite flimsy and poor.

I had one of these and I replaced it with a Gemini 2 way rewinder which is of a much higher build quality and runs more reliably than this one. The problems I experienced with this Ambico rewinder are: Very noisy, flimsy construction, Door getting stuck at times, Some tapes actually got tangled inside the reel of the tape itself while rewinding the last 12 inches or so. Like I said, if you can still find a Gemini rewinder go for it and ditch this piece of garbage.

This 2 way rewinder works great! Insert the tape, press Fast Foward or Rewind close it up and it's done in no time. BUT the "counter" feature that would idealy help you locate a certain spot on your video tape is the antiquated type that starts off at "000". I pushed FF on a tape that was listed as "aprox. runnig time 60 min." and the counter showed up at 875? Huh? Not too convenient!

This Tape Rewinder is noisy, slow and at first didn't work to rewind at all, just fast forward, but I was persistant and got the rewinder working. I was not happy with it at all.

This rewinder has a nice appearance and runs quietly - just humming along instead of a loud racing like others we've heard. The eject system is smooth not clunky. As nice added features it has a fast forward as well as a rewind and a counter. I'd highly recommend this machine for any home.