Customer Reviews

Sony SLV-N900 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR, Black

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I still make it a point to check out VCRs and the like whenever I get a chance to get to the store. I love to comparison shop this stuff. The quality and dependability of SONY's VCRs over the past few years were in a sad state of decline. SONY made some very good VCRs in the past. SONY's SLV-N900 4-Head HiFi VHS VCR demonstrates a genuine effort to return to the type of quality product they were once known for. This unit makes very good recordings. Pre-recorded tapes look excellent as well. What really impressed me was the playback image of EP recordings. I observed that black & white movies recorded in EP look better than those recorded in SP, which is a little hard to explain, but friends and members of my family agreed. However, I have found this true of all the recent SONY VCRs that I have seen on the market since 2002. This unit also has an incredibly fast rewind. I also found the Quasi S-VHS playback to be very indispensable. If you have a collection of S-VHS recordings this unit plays them back with very good results. Unfortunately, I could not find many of these units on the shelf anymore. They were out there and then they just vanished. This VCR really impressed me.

This is about as good of a VHS VCR you will find. If you want better quality and more features, look SVHS. But if you want a solid, old school VHS player/recorder, this is an excellent choice. The jog-dial recording system is a BREEZE: your 80 year old grandmother could program this VCR. Its also got excellent picture quality on both commercial recordings and my old personal recordings, and content recorded on the SLV-N900 is also very good for VHS. I love the commercial advance feature, which I relied upon until I got Tivo, and also the high-speed rewind and fast forward features. But hey, its a VCR. Not exactly cutting edge tech, now is it. If you must get one, I recommend this one. Sony seems to be one of the only companies that still delivers a quality VHS VCR, despite their early fumbles with rival Betamax!

It states here that this VCR has a 1-minute power back up. This is not the case at all. If the power goes off for even a second you will lose the time and output channel. If you can't get the time on your cable system this makes this unit worthless if you have it set to tape shows you are missing.

I got one unit, called Sony about this problem and after 2 hours on the phone, they told me it was defective and that they would take it back. Amazon took it back for me and sent me another unit. I got it only two days later and when I set it up and tested it, it had the very same problem. I called Sony, had to ask for a supervisor and was transfered 4 times until I finally got someone that said they would 'research the problem and get back to me.' Three days later they called back to let me know that this was how the unit was designed. No one that I talked to at Sony had any idea what I was talking about and even blamed this problem on me.

Amazon was very good about this. They do have it listed with a feature it does not have but they were very quick to send out another unit at no cost to me and pay for me to ship the first one back. It is actually a nice unit with a good picture and several nice features. If your power never goes off, this would be a good VCR. I am still considering returning my second VCR to find one that actually has the features that I am looking for. Amazon needs to change the feature list of this item.

I lost four hours of my life on this that I will never get back. Sony's customer service is one of the worst I have talked to in years.

When my six and a half year old JVC gave out, after working perfectly for all those years, I started shopping for a new VCR. After comparison shopping I decided on the Sony SLVN900.

After 96 days of only occasional use it stopped working-would not play or record and ate two brand new tapes. Finding no solutions on the Sony web site I called Sony. Their idea to reset the unit did not work so I called back and they agreed to do an exchange, for a refurbished unit, for $30. I now have $150 plus tax invested in a refurbished unit. Hopefully, this refurbished VCR is in like new condition inside but who knows. I have only had this second unit four days so the verdict is still out.

The auto clock and channel preset did not work on the first one and does not work on the second one. With the fast rewind it is nearly impossible to stop the tape where I want it. Usually several tries are needed.

On the remote the number keys only work when setting the timer. Otherwise, you have to scroll through all the channels. These keys only work with a Sony TV, not with any other brand. Keys on the remote are bit small and harder to use than other brands.

Sony reps on the phone were great to deal with. But, with this experience I will not buy another Sony product.

Remember trying to tune old fashioned VCRs? This machine does all the tuning automatically, but the first SLV-N900HF I bought with all of its awsome electronic features would not play a tape with any decent picture quality. Black and white, for example- was just that, not too many grey tones inbetween. In color movies,everything looked like the tropics with purple skies and flourescent skin tones. This clearly was defective and so I brought it back.and got a replacement brand new sealed SLV-N900-HF.

As I set up the second new machine, it seemed more like an inexpensive walkman than the very best VCR Sony makes. It looks cheap with an unimpressive finish overall. The LCD screen replaces the older large symbols for video setting and for tape-in with tiny ones that are very hard to see.

This machine had good picture quality. It might have even been as good as my old machines were, but unfortunately, this VCR would not activate my cable box through the =hole in the head= infa red emitter on top. Here in tthe big city we have cable boxes (the cable companies want to make the U.S. all cable box equipped, I hear so it will be more difficult to =steal=cable channels.) Instead of using a cable mouse as all previous Sony VCRs, this one cheapened even that inexpensive accessory by building it in.

The Sony Control ports on the back (used for your home theater so you can tether all of your componants through the receiver) are now reduced to an in-port only so you can't hook up your old cable mouse should you want to. The problem here is if you have your VCR set up with the cable box on the other side of the room, or in a different part of your home theater array-as Sony says you need to do(and this is correct) you now have to reconfigure all your wiring so that your cable box sits on top of the VCR--- and you have to move it around to find the =sweet spot= because the off-center infa red emitter window has to be able to transmit signals to the sensor of your cable box. I know that the SLV-N-900 can do this, because the first mahcine I had worked. It was slow as a snail, requiring you to punch in one numeral, then wait till it was good an ready to transmit to the cable box, and only then, with one number already up, could you enter the second digit of the channel you want. Hurry up! if you are too slow about it the channel will revert to the previous one you had tuned in. Some fun. Ufortunately, the new machine would not access the cable box at all. And I tried everything including phoning for technical help.

My fiirst experience working on a VCR was in a TV station in 1965, and once home VCRs became available, I got the first one I could. Once Sony went into VHS (Remember that Sony had the Beta system originally) I bought only Sony VCRs. I always found them to be reliable, and in fact, my only reason for buying new ones has been to upgrade my system.My oldest Sony VCR is still cranking out the miles of tape plaiyed for my freind's son. The SLV-N900HF is the first defective VCR I ever got from Sony, and to get two of these must mean something about quality control. Each VCR I got from Sony had electronic improvements that made for more impressive features and better quality. This machine goes back a few, with its overall cheapness.

And the fact that I got two of these with different defects has to be like getting hit by lightning twice.

The vcr came quick and setup was easy. The best part about the sale is Amazon! As soon as the sale was made Amazon made the instruction book available to me without my asking. I was able to get the size of the vcr so I could install a shelf and run nessasary cables before the unit arrived. As soon as I opened the double box and slid the vcr into it's new home I was up and running. Amazon gave me a fair price, quick delivery and thanks to the available instruction book online I was able to save installition time. I have bought items from here before and will again.... Soon!

I GUESS THE DAYS OF STAND ALONE VCRS ARE NUMBERED, SO IM GLAD I ORDERED THIS THROUGH AMAZON, I RECIEVED IT TONIGHT, HAD IT HOOKED UP AND WORKING IN ABOUT 20 MIN. I WAS REALLY IMPRESSED BY THE PICTURE QUALITY, IT REALLY LOOKS GOOD ON MY HI DEF SONY TV
IF YOUR CONSIDERING A VCR, THIS ONE IS A GOOD BET, ITS REALLY MADE WELL FOR TODAYS STANDARDS, AND BESIDES IM SURE THE DAY IS QUICKLY APPROACHING WHEN THEY WILL STOP MAKING THESE UNITS....

I was in the market for a new vcr and got a nasty shock when I realized that Toshiba, and other manufacturers, weren't making stand-alone vcrs anymore. I particularly wanted a vcr that can program my digital cable box and since Toshiba was out of the running, Sony was the only one left (that I know of). I received it yesterday and set it up. The instruction manual isn't the greatest but it's not hard if you're used to setting up vcrs. The best feature in my opinion is the ability to program cable channels up to 999. I tested it and it worked like a charm, setting channels such as 221 and 642. All in all, it's pretty good except for a couple of things: it doesn't display the time unless it's turned off, and the "input select" button on the remote doesn't seem to work. You have to use the menu to change the input. Also, the "audio monitor" button selection (used to select mono, stereo, left, right) can only be checked when you first press the "display" button. But if you're looking for a stand-alone vcr that can program a cable box, this is it. I bought one before they disappear altogether.

I came to Amazon to shop for my next VCR and stumbled across this one.
This is the unit I just put in the waste basket after only 2 years.
I think I only watched about 50 hours of tape in the time I had this unit.
At first I thought I had a bad tape so I let it eat a second one before I figured out it was the machine.
After reading reviews of other VCRs I am wondering if anyone is building a good one any more.

This Sony Hi-Fi VCR is the best VCR I have ever bought. I have had another Panasonic VCR which wasn't too bad but it couldn't handle much vidoes. When it didn't work any more I was searching for some VCRs. I went to my local electronics store and I saw some lined up together. I saw a lot that was about $40.00 but the name brand is horrible. Sony is the best brand in electronics and this unit is no exception. I has been working for me so well. I don't really use it because I have another Sony DVD Player but when I have a VHS I use this. So I would really recommend this because it's a great buy and you won't regret it!