My VCR is dead! - Thinking about JVC HR-S3800U

[A_BIT]

Now I am without a functional VCR and need to get one ASAP.

Is this SVHS unit worth looking at??

JVC HR-S3800U


Thanks!

[wkulecz]

There was an older HR-Sx5000U series that had lot of compliants about the transport "eating tapes" and warrenty return not really fixing it.

Soon after I saw an HR-Sx600U series followed by the "new" HR-Sx800U series.

I don't know what this all really means, but
a deck that eats tapes is IMHO worse than no deck at all, so I'd look into this issue carefully.

I'd like to know what you find out. I'm in the market for an SVHS VCR and since there is not a lot of selection, I've waited on these JVCs because of the above mentioned issue, and can't quite bring myself to spend what the Panasonics cost right now.

--wally.

[A_BIT]

Hi Wally,

According to a friend that installs high end video gear for wealthy people the current "cats meow" is the Mitsubishi HS-U795. But I don't have the $ for that beast. So I'm looking for a decent cheap unit. From searching the forum I see that many posters like the JVC units. I hope someone who knows about the HR-S3800U will offer their advice.

-Anthony

[This_Idiot]

Wealthy not.

JVC Yup. I made the bold decision to buy a New Year sale clearout from a well known UK outlet of the JVC HR-J635 (PAL) which cost about 50% more than a "consumer" VHS deck because it has jog/shuttle etc. and was still half the price of the Panasonic I alwys wanted but could never afford. This is the one time that I regret turning down the extended warranty (I never take them out of principle because the store will take more from the policy than the mark-up on the goods, and have a number of consumer items that tell me that they aren't usually necessary). In the case of the JVC, I made mistake. Damned thing is less than 2 years old, and the rewind started playing up after 13 months (just out of standard UK warranty). Had the "uprate kit" fitted when it crapped out first time. Second time round it chewed tapes on slow rewind/shuttle, cost me £7 for a replacement part, and £50 because the machine needed a full strip-down to fit the part. Quality is still great, but tape transport sucks. This is only a VHS deck, not S-video, but I can't see that the transport will be much better.

Ergo : Buyer beware !

[A_BIT]

TI,

You have me scared now. I was all hot to go over & pick one up for only US $179.99! Doc had said many good things about JVCs so I was hoping this might be a good unit.

I agree about the warrantees especially on low cost equipment.

7 years ago when I purchased a 32" Sony Trinitron I paid $250 for a 5 year extended warranty and the dang tuner coughed up twice during the 5 years! One month out of warranty and the audio portion of the tuner pooped out, but all the RCA & S-Video jacks work great so I use a crapped out Sony VCR that eats tapes on eject as the tuner for the TV!

I dunno, I might check out the JVC anyway since there's a 30 day return. We'll see...

Too bad the Mitsubishi is so expensive.

-Anthony

P.S. What is an "uprate kit?"


[This message has been edited by A_BIT (edited 17 October 2000).]

[Dr Mordrid]

Yup, had great luck with my JVC's. One is a HR-9600U while the other is an HR-4800U. My VHS deck is a JVC DD740U with 19u heads. All of 'em have behaved impeccably.

The "dream deck" is a JVC DVS1U DV/SVHS dualie.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 17 October 2000).]

[wkulecz]

I've had good luck with my JVC HR-VP647U 19u head VHS deck too.

Its the bottom of the line SVHS decks that are in question.

[Whatchamacallit]

I have had bad experience with JVC. 2 months ago I was in the market for a VCR and purchased a 3600U. I took it home and noticed really bad horizontal bleeding. I tried many tapes, ones I owned and rented, and they all had the problem. I took it back to the store and they tried it out on their TVs and tapes and they had the same problem. We tried the 9600U player and saw the same horizontal bleeding. The problem existed with the coax, composite, and s-video cables between the VCR and TV. They then hooked up a top of the line Sony VCR and there was no bleeding at all. They hooked up a more affordable Sony SLV-N50 and it still had the horizontal bleeding but was far better than the JVC VCRs and it was cheaper too.

[Chris B]

You might wanna check out http://www.audioreview.com

They have reviews of basically anything, from ordinary people, who have tried the products. I use it quite a lot myself.

[A_BIT]

Well, I decided to buy the thing ($180.00)and give it a try. It is light and plasticy but not as much as some others I saw. I played back my copy of Appollo 13 & was pleased with the Video quality and the Audio was especially good. The frequency response and dynamic range seemed much better than my former Hi-Fi deck. I was pleasantly surprised that the thing set it's own clock via the local cable service.

In one outdoor scene where the rocket is slowly motoring to the launch pad I noticed a faint white "halo" effect about a few mm to the left of the people. I don't know if this is a problem with the VCR or a production artifact on the tape, but I am going to investigate further. Could this be the bleeding Whatchamacallit is talking about? There are some Soften/Sharpen settings in the menu that might take care of this.

Thanks to Wally & Chris' posts I paid $40 for a 4 year extended warranty that includes unlimited cleanings and full cost reimbursement if the unit can't be fixed. The warranty is said to be extendable beyond the 4 years but I don't know how much they are going to want for it. With a wife and 3 small children & this being our only VCR I figure $40 bucks is cheap even for just cleanings not to mention some peace of mind.

Since it is SVHS (a first for me!) I plan to make SVHS copies of movies made on the Marvel & Pyro for showing family and friends.

Doc, I agree about your dream VCR, that is a drooler for sure!

Chris B, I read the reviews on your link & agree with what is posted although I have not tried (and probobly wont try) the SVHS on standard VHS feature so I'm not worried how well that works.

Thanks to all for helping me make a decision I feel good about!

-Anthony

[This_Idiot]

Hi Anthony,

$40 makes good business sense, and is an affordable sum. In my case, I bought for about £240 (UKP) and they wanted £80 for a 3 year warranty. At this price I was prepared to take a chance and discard the deck if necessary (I still had 12 months warranty under UK consumer law).

Although I'm not happy with the transport, I have to say that the picture quality is damned excellent !

[mynx]

A_BIT: There is a lever in your sony vcr that sticks. The grease hardens up. It is easy to fix. It's near the rubber pinch roller. Put a drop of penatrating oil on it and work it back and forth.

I don't own any JVC products.

[Dr Mordrid]

For best results also look for SVHS tapes. The standard VHS fare are really not up to the task of editing.

Dr. Mordrid

[A_BIT]

mynx,

You are dead on about the sticky lever! Unfortunately I tried lubing it about 6 years ago and still stuck. I decided not to fix it 6 years ago when I was handed an estimate of something like $200 (cough).

Maybe I didn't put the oil in the right place. Should I have oiled at the base of the lever or at the top???

Dr. M,

Any recommendations for SVHS tape?

[This message has been edited by A_BIT (edited 18 October 2000).]

[Dr Mordrid]

Maxell ST31, ST62, ST126 & ST182 BQ SVHS tapes work quite well for me. Also the Fuji SVHS Pro 120's are also effective.

The ST182's run about $115 USD for a case of 10. The Fuji's run about half that.

Dr. Mordrid