JVC SR-VD400US gone and VCR question

[robjv1]

Well it appears that some people took the advice of recent posters on here, as B&H now lists the SR-VD400US as "Unavailable" instead of "in-stock". I was looking to pick one up as a backup for my JVC SRV101US, but I guess I will have to find it used or hopefully B&H will get it back in stock.

Also, I have heard a lot of posters talk about getting a Quasar or Sharp VCR as a backup to the JVC SVHS VCRs and I was curious if I should look for any particular model? I would imagine that getting one of these run of the mill VCRs in decent shape is hard, as they were probably people's family machines and have had that their tape transports have had their share of exposure to peanut butter and jelly sandwhichs! On the other hand, I already have a new Sony run of the mill VCR that seems to have a pretty good tracking range, but I feel like maybe I could do a little better. Some tapes it seems you just can't find the range no matter what.

[orsetto]

As I have replied before to many others, if you can't find a JVC then look for a Mitsubishi HS-HD2000U DVHS recorder. In my extensive use and testing these perform as well or better than any JVC 7000 or 9000 series SVHS or the JVC DVHS models. And they have an arguably gentler and more reliable tape transport mechanism. You should still be able to find some dealers selling these brand new for less than $400 or they occasionally pop up on the second hand market for less than $200 in mint condition. These are very recent machines that tend to have seen very little use so they are a good risk used as opposed to some others you might find (they sold for $700 originally and were only bought by the "carriage trade" who already had the matching expensive Mitsu HDTV set.)

For a backup VCR, I use a Quasar VHQ960 HiFi vcr circa 1999-2000 model year. This was made by Panasonic but is a cut above the average Panny in playback quality. People give them away- they are dirt cheap. I forget which Sharp model I also used to use, but pretty much any Sharp with the HiFi stereo feature should be a decent backup player. You would use this kind of deck on occasions when the fancier JVC or Mitsubishi can't handle certain tapes (once in a while their superior video processing overdoes it and backfires, causing a conflict.)

[lordsmurf]

Those stores should be giving us commission.

[robjv1]

No kidding Lordsmurf, who else is buying $400 VCRs at this point?

I'll be on the lookout for that Mitsubishi, although I haven't seen it less then $500 retail online recently. Anybody know a retailer selling it closer to the $400 mark?

Will look for that model of Quasar, thanks again for the specifics!

I'll eventually start looking for a backup DVD recorder too, although my JVC DR-M100 has performed like a champ for two years plus now, I will be sad the day it stops working and hopefully it will be serviceable at that point.

Robbie

[NightFire]

If you trust eBay somebody is selling the Mit for $399 new.

[adondeeres]

If anyone is still looking for these VCRs, you might want to try Simply-Remote, which is where I purchased mine. Google the name and call the seller as he should still have more in stock.