Panasonic PV-VS4821 4-Head S-VHS Hi-Fi VCR

by Panasonic

Product Details

Product Manual [1.81mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 14.1 x 3.5 inches ; 7.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00005A0QY
• Item model number: PVVS4821
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,797 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware: The "Disposable Bic" of SVHS machines!, July 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Panasonic PV-VS4821 4-Head S-VHS Hi-Fi VCR (Electronics)

I bought and returned this product...The PVVS4821 is made of...thin plastic - mine weighed in at just over four pounds!! It was so light that when you inserted a tape, you had to hold the macine or it would be pushed back from the "force" of inserting the tape!

The writing on the rear panel is not painted, so you can't read what the jacks are for...When you try to push in the S-Video, the whole panel bulges back; again it's the...thin plastic and incredibly skimpy construction.

Note that [this] Panasonic [model was made in] China for this new model...you'd be better getting last year's 4820 instead if you can!

The remote is terrible. Tiny buttons that are almost useless for essentials like volume, channel. And really bad layout has you fumbling all over the remote.

The picture is not as good as previous units because they substituted dynamorphous heads with...vanilla video heads. It doesn't even have 19-micron, so slow speed picture is noisy. Think circa 1984 video head technology.

The good thing about this unit is the commercial advance, which usually works. Too bad that some other manufacturers...don't have this feature. Also, the VCR Gold Plus works well, if you're too lazy...to set up your own machine once. Instead, I'd rather have adequate power-backup so I don''t lose my programming if the power goes off for long.

Anyway, what a disappointment. It's really hard to find a decent VCR these days, but I think that you'd do better with a good Mitsu or Toshiba - asd I've checked SVHS from 4 manufacturers side-by-side. Also tested the rather poor sony slnv81. This Panasonice ranks dead last by a long shot. I'm writing this because I'm peeved at how their poor product wasted my time and lost me shipping...!

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great VCR, December 3, 2001

By 

Romu (Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic PV-VS4821 4-Head S-VHS Hi-Fi VCR (Electronics)

To all readers: Please don't let be fooled by all these negative reviews. This is a great product. Let me explain why.

I'll just get to the point: Why would you buy a S-VHS VCR in the first place? Because of the enhanced picture quality, the superiority of S-video over standard composite. And this is just what this product delivers. All recordings I have made so far in S-VHS mode (using a true S-VHS tape)look wonderful, maybe not exactly like DVD, but VERY close. The quality is way, way higher than you can get on any other "standard" VCR. Normal VHS recordings look very good too, and are of the best I've seen. This unit also lets you record in "S-VHS ET" mode, which is basically making a S-VHS recording in a standard VHS tape, which looks close to true S-VHS.

Playback quality is simply EXCELLENT. Both original tapes and recordings look awesome. Even some recordings that I made with my old Sharp VCR looked remarkably well when I played them on my new Panasonic, I was really impressed.

The only weakness I've found is that recordings made in SLP mode (VHS mode) are somewhat poor, not as sharp and beautiful like those made in SP mode. They look acceptable, in my opinion. S-VHS in SLP mode is better. LP mode is very good, both in VHS and S-VHS.

It also has its bells and whistles, like commercial and movie advance, lighted remote control, etc., which is all useless, in my opinion, but most people seem to like that kind of stuff.

I'm very satisfied with the picture quality of this VCR, which is what matters the most. Don't be fooled by perfectionists that complain about the remote, or the color(of the unit), or the lack of some useless feature.
You want a perfect VCR? then go spend.... If you are just looking for a VCR that delivers great picture quality in both recording and playback, look no further. And at this price, you can't go wrong.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Low Quality VCR, October 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Panasonic PV-VS4821 4-Head S-VHS Hi-Fi VCR (Electronics)

When recording in S-VHS or VHS-ET the picture quality is poor. The picture is grainy and the detail isn't there. Recording in SLP is extrememly poor. Automatic tracking is useless, you practically have to track manually each tape. Playback of store-bought tapes is decent, though. No complaints about the features or the remote. The unit is indeed very light, as another reviewer said, but these days all VCRs are much lighter than they used to, so you shouldn't judge it by that. I returned it to the store, needless to say and wouldn't recommend this VCR to anyone. I guess Panasonic isn't what it used to be.