Best VCR to clean up old VHS camcorder tapes?

[dubarry]

Hello! I've looked around at the huge mountain of posts on here about VHS, S-VHS, TBCs, and many other important acronyms, and I am amazed at the amount of knowledge on this forum, but I feel pretty overwhelmed by it.

I have several old VHS camcorder tapes from the late 80s to mid 90s that I would like to digitize into DV format. What VCR should I buy to get the best results with VHS camcorder tapes?

[PuzZLeR]

Smurfy's got an excellent thread on the subject:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/286055-VCR-buying-guide-%28S-VHS-D-VHS-Professional%29

From my experience, and some common hearsay on this Forum, older beat up tapes are well-handled by the Panasonic AG-1980P. JVC has the edge with commercial, or nicer newer tapes. The Mitsubishi HS-HD2000U D-VHS is also very good for pretty much anything.

Buying used? Buy a Panny - better built. JVC used is much more riskier. But JVC seems more available and more inexpensive new.