Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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...!

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.

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.

I purchased this VCR with the intent of enjoying the bells and whistles that came along with this unit, but much to my disapointment, this unit would shut off after 10-15 minutes of playing and for several minutes after the shut down, I could not turn it back on. After cooling for a few moments, it would turn on, but after another 10-15 minutes, it would shut off just as before. Needless to say, it doesn't matter how many bells and whistles this unit has, if it's going to shut down as often as it does, it's not worth keeping, so I'm sending it back and I'm going to buy a VCR that works.

This VCR is better than the current 3.5 star rating. It works great, has S-VHS, does a great job of autodetect, superb tracking, etc. The only issue I have is that you cannot turn off the autodetect once it is enabled--a minor issue.

Well worth the price!

I always heard how Panasonic made such fine VCRs. While this may have been true in the past, I believe that Panasonic is slipping. Which is all this VCR gave from the time I got it - a "slipping" picture. Every tape I tried would miss-track, or the picture would flutter & roll, or loud mistracking noises would happen every few minutes. Didn't matter if it was an old tape, freshly opened tape, newly purchased movie, every one miss-tracked or the picture would roll, etc. Despite "autotracking" feature, I constantly had to manually track the machine, especially after fast-forwarding through a commercial. My previous Panasonic worked very well for two years, and then did the very same thing, despite my taking good care of it. Which is all a shame, because this Panasonic VCR is one of the few available with an S-video output, which would have meant a superior picture-if only it didn't slip, slide & roll.

I bought the Panasonic PV-VS4821 S-VHS VCR in July 2005 at a store closeout sale. Eight months later I'm very happy with this unit. Apparently you can't buy these new anymore. I also own a JVC HR-S7600U S-VHS vcr (a more expensive unit with TBC and somewhat better picture quality) and a Toshiba RD-XS32 DVD recorder. Of course, DVD and other digital video is taking over, but S-VHS vcr's still have many desirable features and conveniences and are close to DVD quality in SP mode.

The Panasonic PV-VS4821 is still my favorite of the bunch for practical, convenient, every day recording and playback. The PV-VS4821 is far more easy to use and program than the others. My favorite features are the super high speed fast forward and rewind and super easy programming, commercial advance, and availablility of "ET mode". You can pay more for one of the high end JVC S-VHS VCR's with better picture quality, but there are con's to the JVC's, such as short life spans of many of the units, and a terrible program menu. I finally mastered the Toshiba RD-XS32 DVD recorder (and recommend it) but it's menus are riduculously complicated with unnecessary/duplicate menu loops and a massive instruction manual.

When I am burning old tapes to DVD, I use the JVC as the player because it has TBC, thus theoretically better play, but I don't notice the difference vs. this Panasonic. I have not had any problems playing old tapes in the Panasonic PV-VS4821. So I would not hesitate to use the Panasonic as a player for burning tapes to DVD.

I had one mechanical problem with the Panasonic PV-VS4821 which was solved quickly and free through Panasonic tech support. After 7 months of heavy use (and after I made a change in the SVHS-ET menu setting), the vcr suddenly stopped playing and recording properly, with a number of different types of tapes tested. I sent a message to Panasonic Tech support via the Panasonic web site. Two days later I received an e-mail from Panasonic with instructions to "Reset the vcr". This solved the problem. (To reset the VCR, Hold down the Play button and the Channel up button on the main unit vcr front panel for more than 5 seconds until unit turns off.) The unit has been working again for the last week with daily programmed recording.

Pro's
- Super fast high speed fast forward and rewind. This is true when you are reviewing tapes, as well as when you are rewinding the tape.
- Extremely easy to program compared to most other brand VCR's and DVD recorders.
- Picture quality in SP mode is excellent for the money, close to DVD quality. Any mode with this unit is superior to regular VHS, even though not as good as some high end JVC s-vhs decks, which you will pay alot of $$$ for and the JVC's fail on other features.
- Commercial advance feature. Great feature! It doesn't always cue up precisely to the exact beginning and end of the commercials, but it's still a great feature. If for any reason, you want to go back and see a commercial or promo, you can still rewind and watch it. The VCR actually records all of the commercials, but it fast forwards through them automatically if you don't want to watch them. You can turn this feature on or off through the menu system, but the default setting is on.
- S-VHS ET feature allows recording near S-VHS quality on your old blank vhs tapes if you want to use them instead of more expensive S-VHS blanks. I mostly use real FUJI H471S S-VHS tapes, but ET mode is a convenient feature that can save $$$.

Con's
- Very lightweight and fragile compared to earlier models. (My vcr says was manufactured in Indonesia in 2002 whereas other Panasonic S-VHS models were manufactured in Japan.)
- Difficult to read the writing on the rear panel and find the correct IN/OUT plugs. The letters are raised black on black, not painted. You need a strong light or flashlight.
- No S-video input in the front. S-Video line-in is on the back only.
- I encountered one mechanical problem after 7 months of heavy use that was solved quickly and free by an e-mail from Panasonic tech support and involved "resetting the VCR". (Hold down the Play button and the Channel up button on the main unit vcr front panel for more than 5 second until unit turns off.)
- No TBC which can provide better playback of some old tapes (i.e., for burning to DVD) if you encounter a problem old VHS tape that's not playing properly. This is a feature you will pay alot for if you need it, though. I have played many tapes in this vcr and have yet not encountered any playback problems.

Broke in one month. Got fixed free of charge. Then broke again the same way just over one year. Refused to fixed without charge. Very disppointed with both their stuffs and services.

Spend the money on this one. It is worth it. We love commercial advance and now time phase all the programs we watch. SVHS means you can record in SLP without loss of picture quality. Then replay with CA zooms through the commercials. High speed rewind, VCRplus, and auto clock set also excellent features. After we got our first one of these, we dumped the cheap Sony and got a second Panasonic.

THis late model Panasonic VCR is perfect for dubbing old tapes to DVD with DVR. It has a S-Video Input and Output in the back for easy and highest quality connection from VCR to DVR or PC.
It also has front and back AV Inputs for both Audio and Video.
My experience with this vcr has been nothing but perfect. I am frankly shocked to find these poorer reviews. - Outside of JVC model S_video or Super VHS recorders I dont think there is anything better than this PV-VS4821. The picture quality is outstanding. Also easy to use and very reliable as far as putting through a lot of different tapes through it.
Highly recommended.