Panasonic PV-VS4820 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR

The clock is set automatically and updated after you shut down the VCR. You can also activate a time-stamp feature that automatically stamps the beginning of new recordings with the starting date and time, ending time, and channel being recorded. It also allows you to insert a title up to 18 characters long. For easy access to 34 different channels, you can assign an ID up to 4 characters long.

There are a few things about it that I really don't like.

1) As other reviewers have mentioned, it's very loud.
Rewinding a tape sounds like an airplane preparing for takeoff.

2) When programming the VCR for manual recording, you cannot
enter the channels numerically (by pressing the number keys).
Instead, you must cursor down from the channel to which the VCR
is currently set. It's very annoying if the VCR is on channel
49, and you want to record channel 2.

3) The remote control and user interface really is confusing
and inconsistent. VCR UI design seems to have gotten much
worse over the past few years.

4) However, the worst thing about it is that after it finishes
recording, the VCR display still says it is set to record
additional programs. When you set the VCR to record, the
display says TIMER in big letters, indicating that the timer
is set to record programs. When the VCR is not set to record,
the display shows a clock. After the VCR finishes recording,
the display _should_ default to the clock (this is how other
VCRs work.) Unfortunately, the display still says TIMER, which
is awfully confusing. If you turn the VCR on and off again
after it has finished recording, the TIMER indicator disappears
and is replaced by the clock.

I just couldn't believe anybody would design a VCR this way on
purpose, so I called customer service about this (twice), and
emailed once. The first representative insisted that I was
wrong, and that the VCR didn't work that way. The second told
me that it was supposed to work that way, and that I didn't
need a display indicator at all because "after all, YOU were
the one who programmed the VCR in the first place!" I didn't
receive any response to my email.

On the positive side, the rewind really is very fast. I haven't
actually used the commercial advance feature, but it seems like
quite a useful feature.

I can't say I have noticed the improved picture quality either,
but I haven't been looking for it. I have noticed that tapes
I record on this VCR don't play on other VCRs, and this might
be the reason. (There may be a way to turn this feature off,
but I haven't found it yet.)

If I had it to do over again, I would not buy this VCR (or any
other Panasonic VCR, most likely). I always liked the Sony VCRs
I had in the past, so I would probably start looking there.


Confusion over Model Numbers?   September 3, 2001
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Panasonic lists this an an S-VHS VCR for $100 more (retail) than it is listed here. Other sites also agree with Panasonic's site. I suggest someone review the details. Here is Panasonic's link:
http://www.prodcat.panasonic.com/shop/templates/rect_template.asp?ModelId=8845&show_all=false&product_exists=True&active=1&ModelNo=PV-VS4820


Very Impressed   July 7, 2001
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I was leary of ordering this over the net but was very happy with it. The commercial advance is the coolest feature. It automaticly fast forwrds over the commercials without touching it. I needed a VCR with an S video hookup and this one worked well for the price. I am verry happy with the overall performance. The remote [is not good] but I don't use it much anyway.


[Original Review] Good, but not great. [2nd Review] Avoid!   April 8, 2001
[Original Review] Why can't anyone make a decent VCR anymore? This was my second (and final) try to replace an older RCA that worked great and lasted forever. I found the Panasonic PV-VS4820 to be a mixed bag. The plusses are that it rewinds and fast-forwards very fast, and that it has good picture and sound, even in SLP mode. The minuses are that the motor is VERY loud, it is very expensive for what you get, and it has the worst-designed remote control I have ever seen. I am keeping it, but only because I am tired of shopping for a decent VCR.

[Second review, just over a year later] Well, the VCR just stopped producing any sound output and stopped playing tapes, after less than a year and a half. I also own a Panasonic DVD player, with which I am pretty pleased, but this VCR is awful.