Cheap and Crisp, but Mono
Written: Apr 16 '02
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Pros: Simple, clean looking, cheap, crisp and clear video playback.
Cons: Sound outs are only in mono, GE has meant dubious quality in the past.
The Bottom Line: The GE VG4052 has endured well, and provided all its claimed services as advertised. Though, its cheap to take a step up, if you wish..
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| tyrc's Full Review: General Electric VG4052 VCR |
A four head VCR for under one hundred dollars? For years, that would have been laughable. But now, it seems it would take an exception to find one over one hundred dollars.
However, when I purchased the GE VG4052, under one hundred dollars was the exception to the rule. And those four heads perform much much better than my old VCR, an incredible Sharp which lasted 14 years before finally dying.
Compared to my old Sharp, the GE VG4052 seemed like a pillow versus a brick. The old VCR was built with brushed aluminum, thick 80s era LCD displays, clicking buttons and iron reinforcement. A top loading beast of old. The front loading GE seems insubstantial.
However, the GE is metal under its black paint job. Even the front panel feels metallic, though it is most likely a sturdy plastic. The buttons do give those firm clicks I thought I had lost in modern electronics, too. All in all, it looks, and feels well built. It seem Korean (where the GE VG4052 is constructed) industrial standards have improved since last time I purchased electronics originating in said country. Then again, who am I to generalize so?
Though, GE's quality in the past has turned out to be a bit dubious for me.. My first TV was a 22 inch GE televison set. It had neat features like a clock and alarm setup, so I was very happy with it. But it only took seven years for the sound to die on it. Another year, and the video went, too. I had to replace it with a Sharp TV set (which I've reviewed), though still miss the clock features to this day.
Even so, the GE VG4052, I discovered, was actually designed by Thomson Consumer Electronics, who also design many RCA VCRs and TVs. I'm not really sure of their track record, but I do hope that this ends up being a durable product.
In any case, the front panel of the GE VG4052 is sharp looking. Well polished plastic panels for the buttons, absolute darkness broken by the light amber display, and the clean but not barren look suits my entertainment center well. The clock doesn't need to be manually set, if you hook it up to the cable system. Nor does it lose its date in the case of brownouts, at least to my experience.
There are composite Video In and Out hookups. One Video In on the front, another on the back, and a composite Video Out next to it. They're joined on the back by a singular in and out for Mono Sound, and on the front by a singular in. S-Video in and out would have been nice, but I wasn't expecting that anyhow, in something that only had mono sound support.
Influencing my decision to get a mono VCR was, of course, the fact that I had a mono TV. Mind you, the cable (The Cable Cable, not any other type of Cable..) hooks in and out without any alteration if you keep the VCR off, which I tend to do unless playing a movie. It'll send in Stereo, but since it only can receive in mono, it can be a problem if you did end up getting a stereo TV, and needed to input something like a video game system through the VCR itself.
Personally, I hook the video out from my TV to my VCR, and vice versa. This is what makes me regret not waiting, and getting one in stereo, since my PC does send and receive in two channels, of course. I can only record clips in mono sound and at composite video quality, and since I use my computer as my DVD player in effect as well, it is a bit of a bother.
However, even though the video is composite, it does come out clearly over the line, anyhow. I'm happy with that much. And for what I paid for it, its picture quality has been uniformly very good, whether receiving or playing. And even though its mono, the sound quality does come through quite nicely, whether sending or receiving.
The last physical bit to talk about is, of course, the remote. The infra red signal it sends is pretty strong, and it contains all the features necessary to control either your TV or VCR, in my case. I've not set it up to do so, but I could. I've not because I elect to leave the VCR off normally. Though the signal may not be diluted by the VCR, channels come in after a long black screen delay when using it. I prefer the shorter delay my TV itself gives. In actuality, I prefer no delay whatsoever, but this is what I'm stuck with.
In addition to playback, the VCR can, of course, record as well. It seems to do so crisply, though you can still tell it was recorded on a VCR, not professionally made. Still, its more than satisfying enough to be useful. I don't use the recording feature much, however, so I might not be the best judge.
Technically, the specs are listed in the manual as 4-Head Video System w/Clear Picture Search Auto Daylight Savings Adjustment, Auto Clock Set (Subject to local availability), 8-Event/1-Year Programmable Timer, Control Central Universal Remote, VHS Index Search System, Pro-Tect Plus (Child Lock). On-Screen Real-Time Counter, Trilingual On-Screen Menus, Simplified On-Screen Programming, ShowSaver Memory Protection, Digital Auto Tracking, Auto Head Cleaner and Front Audio/Video Inputs. I've used the On-Screen Programing (Yes, its simple enough to avoid an explanation here. It should be obvious.) and video inputs, but its nice to know there's little things like Child Locks, and features which I don't need to access to have work.
As impressive as those features sound, I'm still missing out on the sound I want, and even the video ins I'd like. It's a good player, and if you need nothing more, I don't see any reason why not to purchase it unless you can find a better deal these days. It does what it claims to do, and hasn't surprised me with anything extra, which is good and bad, just as anything extra can be a good or bad thing. I should have waited just a little while longer, though, and got exactly what I wanted. Damn impulse buying..
~ Tanya Red
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 89
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Epinions.com ID:
tyrc
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Member: Tanya Red
Location: Northern New Jersey, USA
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
College aged geeky type spending way too much time online. Hi!
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