Maximum Bang for the Bucks!
Written: Nov 24 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good quality, low price
Cons: lacks S-Video
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| jimNtexas's Full Review: Sony SLV-N50 VHS VCR |
I needed a moderately priced stereo VCR to replace an old mono unit. I really wanted front input jacks because I often dub from camcorders and because it would simplify using a Playstation for my kid. I wanted good quality, but since I have DVD I wasn't going to pay for ultimate fidelity in a VCR.
After a Saturday morning spent visiting several department stores and stereo shops I quickly identified the Sony SLV-N50 as meeting my requirements perfectly.
When I installed this VCR I ran into the one flaw, a flaw shared by many current consumer electronic units: TINY RAISED BLACK LETTERS ON A BLACK BOX!!! How hard would it be to label the various sockets on the back of the unit in white , reasonable sized type?? I had to have the manual to see which sockets were which. For the record, the front of the box has the "Line 2" inputs for video, left and right audio channels.
The back has these sockets:
Line 1 RCA jacks for video and stereo audio channels
Line out RCA jacks for video and stereo audio channels
VHF/UHF "in" antenna connector
VHF/UHF "out" antenna connector
Note that this unit does not support S-Video.
The full specifications for this unit are at http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer/ss5/home/homevideo/vhshifivideocassetterecorder/slv-n50_specs.shtml , so I won't repeat them all here.
The remote is small but easily usable. It is preprogrammed for most TVs also. The unit supports an "auto timeset" function. As near as I can tell there are in the world some TV stations that send the time and date coded in the vertical retrace interval. This VCR will detect these time signals and set the clock. I was skeptical about this feature, but it does seem that this unit always knows the correct time, so it seems this feature works in my area.
The VCR will maintain the correct time for up to an hour if the power goes out. The time/counter display is large and bright and is easily read across a room.
The unit has 4 heads, so it plays slow motion without noise bars. It has something called "commercial pass", but it's not documented in the manual and I'm not sure what it does. Operation is very straight forward, and the front panel inputs are indespensable in my book.
Picture and sound qualities are excellent, very much superior to the old mono unit I used to use.
For $125 this unit is a good basic stereo VCR. In the age of DVD who needs more?
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jimNtexas
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Member: Jim Howard
Location: Austin, Tx
Reviews written: 51
Trusted by: 26 members
About Me:
I've been a geek longer than word "geek" has been around.
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