She cannot "Feed" this VCR
Written: Dec 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Everything. Child safe, great features
Cons: Need to have RCA plugs in TV
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| althaea's Full Review: Sony SLV-KS1 VHS VCR |
For me, this is a dream come true. My daughter loves to push buttons (and not just because she is two and "testing" every boundary). She likes to climb as well, which means that she can make her way to the top of the television to get to the VCR.
I know she wants a movie (or moomie as she calls it) and I know she wants to do it herself. She is exploring and testing her own limits as well as Mama's. So when I saw this VCR advertised in a local circular for $99, I decided to go for it (and a small TV).
The Scenario
My blessed daughter decides she wants to watch a movie. Simple enough, or is it? She then proceeds to pick out the movie she wants. However, this movie has not been rewound, to Mommy's horror. After some attempt on my part to persuade her to change her mind, she wins.
The Worst Part
She wants it NOW! So I have to try and appease her as she screams for her moomie while it rewinds in the VCR. (We do not have cable hooked up.) She stares at the snow on the screen, points to the VCR with a pathetic frown, tears roll down her face and she looks as if she is going to throw herself on the floor in a massive tantrum.
Of course, this really only lasts about a minute and a half, but it feels like a lifetime and a half. Those are moments I like to avoid as sometimes they can escalate to a point where she doe not even know what she wanted in the first place and nothing appeases her.
The Solution
Sony has come up with it. As the tape is rewinding or fast forwarding, an animation plays on the screen. Although this animation is very basic and not very imaginative, it works. It looks like a video game, complete with Atari-like sound (remember Atari), with a bunny on a skateboard jumping over lego-looking blocks. There are other animals as well including an elephant, a duck and a dog. When you are fast forwarding, they move forward, when you are rewinding, they move backwards.
Other Cool Features
You can set the VCR to automatically rewind and play the tape again up to five times.
The door locks so she cannot "feed" the VCR. The eject button will not work when the lock is on. In order to lock it, you have to push in a button and at the same time slide the lock over. It seems that she will not be able to achieve this, but we shall see how long it takes.
The VCR will turn off automatically after no buttons have been pushed and the tape has been stopped for five minutes.
A Feature that may be a Hassle
The VCR only hooks up to televisions with RCA plugs. As we had a small budget to buy this gift for her, we ended up with a TV that had RCA jacks in the front so the wires stick out. However, I tucked them under the TV and threaded them to the back. She hasn't noticed them yet. (We have a plan for when she does.)
This also means that this VCR will not work with older TV's.
The End
So far, she has climbed up onto her dresser to play with the buttons. She was not able to open the lock, which means she could not take the tape out and pull it apart (another recent experiment). She did push the buttons, but all that happened was that she got entertained by the animation that comes up, and she was satisfied. She climbed back down to watch her "moomie."
I have had no real complaints either. It was very easy to set up and the instructions where clear. It is a four head VCR which holds up better to a lot of play time than a two head VCR. We bought this one out of the box. Someone bought it, realized they didn't have the RCA plugs and returned it brand new. We ended up paying 49.98 for the unit. We also bought this with a two-year replacement guarantee ($25 extra), which means no fixing, just send it back and they send you a check and you buy a new one. So, in total we payed a little over $75.
I had also seen another VCR like this one made by Samsung. The prices where the same and most of the features where the same. The only thing I was not clear on was if they had the continuous play option.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
althaea
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Location: Orange County, NY
Reviews written: 125
Trusted by: 62 members
About Me:
Musician, Poet, Mother, and Wife, I remain teachable and willing.
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