clements@bbncca.ARPA (Robert Clements) (05/31/85)
I just spent some time playing with an AKAI 603 VHS Hifi VCR.
From the ads, I think this is supposed to be at or near the top of their
line of VCRs. I think it is the pits.
Up front: I have both Beta and VHS decks. My VHS deck is an old and
simple one, just used for PCM audio recording, since I couldn't stand
it as a video deck. I have heard people say that VHS decks are getting
better, and I really wanted to be convinced that they are, due to the
apparent sales shift to VHS.
A few specific disasters with this AKAI deck:
Audio: No MTS stereo receiver, but that's true of almost all VCRs.
Presetting the channels: There are 16 preset channels, out of some
large number of broadcast and cable frequencies. The ONLY way to
associate a preset with a particular channel is to have the deck
SEARCH to the station. This takes literally MINUTES per station
for the higher numbered ones. There is NO way to say "Make preset
'B' be channel 3" without generating a signal on channel 3 and having
the deck search for it.
Not only that, but once a channel is found, it doesn't tell you what
channel number it has found. You have to look at the picture and
wait for a station break or associate the plot of the show via TV
Guide to find out what channel you are tuned to! You then key in
your decision so that you can see it later when you select the
particular preset.
Playback searching: I had hoped that newer VHS decks had more reasonable
search capabilities. No way. This thing has only one faster-than-play
search speed, forward and back. If you want to search a little faster,
you have to hit stop and rewind, whereupon you suffer 5 seconds of
tape unload and 3-4 seconds of tape load time, typical of all VHS
decks that I know of, and even then you don't get to see what you
are winding past, so you are searching in the dark.
Pause: (Called "still"). You can't go from play to still.
Hitting "still" from play is simply ignored. You get to
"still" by hitting "stop", then "play", then "still".
"Still" only works for a second or so after going into play.
If you hit "stop" and then "still", it goes into "record
pause", to allow you to get up to speed for a quick entry
into record. I.e., it threatens to record over the tape you
are trying to play a still from! Not what you want for
play-still!
Programming is done entirely on the TV screen. Without arguing the
merits of this, I'll point out that any 7-year-old writing in BASIC
could make a better human engineered menu system than this thing has.
Also, it insists on telling you, on the TV screen, about every button
you push, and timing out the legend after a few seconds. No way to
do any editting/dubbing without getting silly messages on the output.
Tape speeds: The thing is advertised as 3-speed. But it only records
in SP and SLP. LP is playback-only. Now I thought that everyone knew
that the slowest speed, Beta or VHS, is poorer quality. So you use it
only when you need to cram a tape very full. For normal use, you select
the second slowest speed, on both Beta and VHS. But this thing doesn't
let you record at the second slowest speed! Is this common in VHS?
My general conclusion is that this thing is a disaster. It has all the
old VHS disadvantages, plus a bunch of new ones.
My questions for the net:
Is there a VHS (preferably Hifi) deck with anything like Beta
cueing/editing/searching? And has anyone done a VHS deck with
reasonable human interfacing?
Sticking with my Beta stuff for now,
/Rcccem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (06/03/85)
[We will be discussing the Zenith Z9000 VHS HiFi deck here.] > I just spent some time playing with an AKAI 603 VHS Hifi VCR. > From the ads, I think this is supposed to be at or near the top of their > line of VCRs. I think it is the pits. > > Up front: I have both Beta and VHS decks. My VHS deck is an old and > simple one, just used for PCM audio recording, since I couldn't stand > it as a video deck. I have heard people say that VHS decks are getting > better, and I really wanted to be convinced that they are, due to the > apparent sales shift to VHS. > > A few specific disasters with this AKAI deck: > > Audio: No MTS stereo receiver, but that's true of almost all VCRs. The Zenith extracts the MTS signal and sends it to a jack in the back of the unit. It does not decode it. They will sell you a small $100 box to put on top of your deck to do the subcarrier demodulation and de -dBXing and provide two line level audio signals for your amp. > > Presetting the channels: There are 16 preset channels, out of some > large number of broadcast and cable frequencies. The ONLY way to > associate a preset with a particular channel is to have the deck > SEARCH to the station. This takes literally MINUTES per station > for the higher numbered ones. There is NO way to say "Make preset > 'B' be channel 3" without generating a signal on channel 3 and having > the deck search for it. > The Zenith has a 10 key pad for entering any channel number from 1 to 99 (although they claim it recieves more than 100, of which 99 is the highest I have been able to select. 1-0-0 leaves 00 on the display.) Channels can also be entered into a "channel memory" so that you can use the channel up channel down keys to scan through only known good channels. > Not only that, but once a channel is found, it doesn't tell you what > channel number it has found. You have to look at the picture and > wait for a station break or associate the plot of the show via TV > Guide to find out what channel you are tuned to! You then key in > your decision so that you can see it later when you select the > particular preset. > All channels correspond to what the TV station broadcasts on or the cable company describes depending on mode (CATV vs TV) > Playback searching: I had hoped that newer VHS decks had more reasonable > search capabilities. No way. This thing has only one faster-than-play > search speed, forward and back. If you want to search a little faster, > you have to hit stop and rewind, whereupon you suffer 5 seconds of > tape unload and 3-4 seconds of tape load time, typical of all VHS > decks that I know of, and even then you don't get to see what you > are winding past, so you are searching in the dark. I can scan forward or backward at roughly 2.5x the speed (visual estimate) or in variable speed. The granularity of the slow speed is about 4 (eg four different speeds in each forward and back ward from 1 frame every 2 secs to 1 frame every .08 seconds (2x normal)) In the middle of the range is "still". > > Pause: (Called "still"). You can't go from play to still. > Hitting "still" from play is simply ignored. You get to > "still" by hitting "stop", then "play", then "still". > "Still" only works for a second or so after going into play. > If you hit "stop" and then "still", it goes into "record > pause", to allow you to get up to speed for a quick entry > into record. I.e., it threatens to record over the tape you > are trying to play a still from! Not what you want for > play-still! > You can hit pause from anywhere and the machine stops on the next frame. > Programming is done entirely on the TV screen. Without arguing the > merits of this, I'll point out that any 7-year-old writing in BASIC > could make a better human engineered menu system than this thing has. > Also, it insists on telling you, on the TV screen, about every button > you push, and timing out the legend after a few seconds. No way to > do any editting/dubbing without getting silly messages on the output. > Programming is from the front panel with a flip down door that has controls in the door. > Tape speeds: The thing is advertised as 3-speed. But it only records > in SP and SLP. LP is playback-only. Now I thought that everyone knew > that the slowest speed, Beta or VHS, is poorer quality. So you use it > only when you need to cram a tape very full. For normal use, you select > the second slowest speed, on both Beta and VHS. But this thing doesn't > let you record at the second slowest speed! Is this common in VHS? > I believe it is. Seems some market researchers decided most people either want maximum picture quality or maximum duration. LP gives suboptimal performance on both. So they axe it. Same on the Zenith. > My general conclusion is that this thing is a disaster. It has all the > old VHS disadvantages, plus a bunch of new ones. > I agree, go out an look at the Zenith or the JVC hifi (Same deck basically since JVC makes em both) > My questions for the net: > > Is there a VHS (preferably Hifi) deck with anything like Beta > cueing/editing/searching? And has anyone done a VHS deck with > reasonable human interfacing? > Haven't used a Beta so couldn't answer this one. Besides this question requires a subjective answer. You will have to decide for yourself. --Chuck -- - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - {ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}
gnome@olivee.UUCP (Gary Traveis) (06/03/85)
> I just spent some time playing with an AKAI 603 VHS Hifi VCR. > From the ads, I think this is supposed to be at or near the top of their > line of VCRs. I think it is the pits. > Boy, that machine is a real turkey. You should forget Akai and look at the Hitachi machines. They have a line that covers the whole spectrum. Hitachi is always the best for any given price range (outside of 1" pro). Gary
reza@ihuxb.UUCP (Reza Taheri) (06/04/85)
> I just spent some time playing with an AKAI 603 VHS Hifi VCR. > From the ads, I think this is supposed to be at or near the top of their > line of VCRs. In the VCR world (unlike the audio world) Akai is somewhat of an off brand, so your experience with Akai may not apply to other brands. Actually, I don't think that Akai manufactures their VCR decks. > Presetting the channels: There are 16 preset channels, out of some > large number of broadcast and cable frequencies. The ONLY way to > associate a preset with a particular channel is to have the deck > SEARCH to the station. This takes literally MINUTES per station > for the higher numbered ones. There is NO way to say "Make preset > 'B' be channel 3" without generating a signal on channel 3 and having > the deck search for it. Yes, I agree that this is a major problem with most VCRs. Yet, there are "many" models out there that offer random access tunning. I have a GE 5014x (almost top of the line, no Hi-Fi) that has a good random-access, automatic-quartz tunning system and sells for about $500. You can tune into any channel by simply keying in the two-digit channel number. You can also program an unlimited number of channels to be skipped as you scan channels. Also note that this is a feature of the tuner of your VCR and is not really affected by the choice of recording technology. > Playback searching: I had hoped that newer VHS decks had more reasonable > search capabilities. No way. This thing has only one faster-than-play > search speed, forward and back. If you want to search a little faster, > you have to hit stop and rewind, whereupon you suffer 5 seconds of > tape unload and 3-4 seconds of tape load time, typical of all VHS > decks that I know of, and even then you don't get to see what you > are winding past, so you are searching in the dark. A $700 GE 5018X gives you multiple speed search (and Hi-Fi.) > Pause: (Called "still"). You can't go from play to still. All VHS units I have looked at (admittedly most of them were built by Matsushita, i.e. were identical) go from play to pause. > Programming is done entirely on the TV screen. Without arguing the > merits of this, I'll point out that any 7-year-old writing in BASIC > could make a better human engineered menu system than this thing has. Most GE units (and many others that are made by Matsushita) have a real nice programming keyboard. I have seen other units with different but equally good programming features. I think that this is also a feature of the tuner/timer rather than the recording technology. > Tape speeds: The thing is advertised as 3-speed. But it only records > in SP and SLP. LP is playback-only. ... You just got a bad model/brand. > Is there a VHS (preferably Hifi) deck with anything like Beta > cueing/editing/searching? And has anyone done a VHS deck with > reasonable human interfacing? Again, look at the GE 5018X. It gives you all you are asking for and is a hell of a buy at $700. *********** The question is, "ARE YOU right for Grape Nuts?" *********** H. Reza Taheri ...!ihnp4!ihuxb!reza (312)-979-7473
thompson@oberon.UUCP (mark thompson) (06/19/85)
> > I just spent some time playing with an AKAI 603 VHS Hifi VCR. > > From the ads, I think this is supposed to be at or near the top of their > > line of VCRs. > > In the VCR world (unlike the audio world) Akai is somewhat of an > off brand, so your experience with Akai may not apply to other brands. > Actually, I don't think that Akai manufactures their VCR decks. > Actually, my experience with AKAI suggests that one avoid anything of theirs that involves magnetic tape. nuff said. -mark -- mark thompson is THOMPSON@USC-ECLC.ARPA or { ihnp4 | hplabs | akgua | sdcsvax} !sdcrdcf!uscvax!oberon!thompson "Benson, Arizona, the same stars in the sky, The world seemed so much kinder when we watched them you and I..."