Ok, I know this isn't a DVD player but I couldnt find an appropriate VCR forum. I know there are alot of DVD players out there Philips being one of the bigger. Im getting a DVD player down the road - first I want a decent 16x9 TV as the letterboxing on my current 25" TV looks marginal but not great.

Recently I had to replace two aging VCRS and a TV. Being that I have a 3 chipper camcorder with S-Video outs I wanted to get a replacement VCR with S-Video Capabilities. I saw in a local store this Philips Model VR960BPH at a decent price of $119 for S-Video in and out S-VHS ET playback. Does anyone know of the reliability of the model? Ive scoured the internet looking for information and come up empty handed with the excpetion of two mercants which when called did not even have it. I checked Philips website and they do not even have a section for VCRS and doing a seach via model # brings up nothing at all.

Also I did find out about the warranty which Philips will replace the unit in the first 90 days free of charge and after that period up to the first year they charge $30 for a replacement unit - Does anyone ever fix these units anymore? Also I'm concerned that if these VCRS are hard to find I might be stuck getting a lesser quality unit in the event of a hardware failure.

Any information or help as to the durability of this unit would be greatly appreciated.