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

• Four-head VCR with hi-fi VHS audio playback
• Commercial skip; one-month/eight-event recording timer
• VCR Plus+ programming and built-in cable box/DIRECTV receiver control
• Composite-video (RCA jack) and coaxial input/output; Control S input
• Measures 16.9 x 3.8 x 11.5 inches (W x H x D)

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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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!