Sony SLV-N500 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [1.13mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 10 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00008RUXT
• Item model number: SLVN500
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,992 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Make the most of what you watch on tape with the SLVN500 hi-fi VHS videocassette recorder. At a compact 14 inches wide, this VCR is packed with convenience features designed to simplify recording and viewing, from one-month, eight-event advance programming to commercial skip. Its front audio/video inputs are great for quickly hooking up a camcorder, game console, or second VCR.

The SLVN500's four-head design ensures smooth slow-motion play (forward and reverse) and clear still-frame images, and with hi-fi sound the unit records and plays back stereo audio tracks. If you route the stereo output to an AV receiver, you can even enjoy four-channel (left, center, right, and monaural surround) Dolby Pro Logic mixes from TV and Dolby-encoded cassettes.

A feature called instant replay backs the tape up 10 seconds for each touch of the replay button for quick recaps of a missed line or exciting action. The VCR automatically marks the tape with an index signal at the point where each recording begins so you can easily scan back to the start of a recording using these signals as a reference. Other features include 19-micron heads (for the clearest possible picture when recording or viewing in extended-play mode), digital auto tracking, instant replay, flash rewind, a multilingual onscreen display, and a multi-brand remote control. ChildLoc circuitry locks the VCR after the timer has been set so young hands don't accidentally cancel programming.

From the Manufacturer

Make the most of what you watch on tape with the SLVN500 Hi-Fi VCR. At a compact 14 inches in width, this VCR is packed with convenience features designed to simplify your recording. Our 1-Month/8 Event Recording Timer will help you to make sure you never miss a favorite program. The SLVN500 offers a combination of convenience and great recording results. Commercial skip (which causes the VCR to skip ahead 30 seconds for each press of the button), the digital auto tracking system, instant replay (10 seconds back), flash rewind, and multi-lingual on-screen display (English, French, Spanish) make playback even more enjoyable.

This VCR features 19 micron heads. When a recording is made in EP (Extended Play) mode the fine pitch of the video head ensures higher quality recording. It also features ChildLoc circuitry for parental control. After the VCR timer has been set, all buttons can be locked out so that all settings are not canceled by mistake. Other features include on-screen programming, a linear time counter, auto repeat, auto play, and auto power off. The unit has one RF video/audio output, one RF video/audio input, two composite video inputs, one composite video output, two audio line inputs, and one audio line output. One each of audio line inputs and composite video inputs are conveniently front-mounted, which allows easy camcorder connection for recording onto videotape without having to turn the unit around. Supplied accessories include a multi-brand TV remote control, an instruction manual, a 75-Ohm coaxial video cable with F type connector, and two size AA batteries.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars minor (missing) features make a big difference, May 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sony SLV-N500 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR (Electronics)

It plays a tape. It records. The rewind/ffwd function is amazingly fast with a good display of how far you've gone in the tape, which makes it very easy to set up a tape to record in the right spot. The front AV inputs make recording home movies onto VHS tapes for our family very easy. The "commercial skip" feature takes a while to get used to (it's just a 30sec scan forward), but is nice now that I have it. Setting the time and timer for recording is easy on the onscreen display, although the clock/display on the front of the device shows the time only if the VCR is off or if there is no tape in the VCR. Since I like to keep a cued tape in the VCR "just in case," I do not get to see the clock. Since I'm not thrilled with the VCR already, this irks me.

I would not buy this model again because of the remote control. First of all, it seems very finicky about being pointed just right and it goes through batteries like no other remote control I have used. Second, you have to press Enter after your channel selection before it will change the channel. Given that not every push of the button is received by the VCR right away, I've been frustrated pushing enter several times only to have my channel selction disappear from the display because too much time had elapsed. The buttons are small and not grouped well so I actually have to look at the remote before pushing a button. I think I could deal with these problems if there was a "previous channel" button so I could just flip between two channels, but there is no such button! It drives me nuts.

In my experience Sony tends to make reliable products, so I can expect to be grousing about this VCR for years.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars zeroing in on the remote isn't easy!, June 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sony SLV-N500 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR (Electronics)

The vcr is easy to set up and to program but it has a few very annoying quirks such as lining up the handheld remote in line with the receiver on the unit. The field seems very tight-can you image having to get up from your chair to direct aim the remote? The second issue is that the fast forward to play button doesn't react very quickly so you miss the beginning of the next sequence of the show.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good VCR, April 21, 2003

By 

Ray Cassavaugh (Saranac Lake, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony SLV-N500 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR (Electronics)

This is a good vcr with excellent slow motion playback at the EP speed. Remote has tiny buttons but very full-featured. It is not very good at playing back homemade tapes made with other vcr's especially for pause and slow motion. Rewind to 0000 is aggravating; it bounces back and forth narrowing down to 0000 numerous times. All in all convenient features and good picture quality.