km@emory.UUCP (Ken Mandelberg) (10/24/84)
My 6 year old VHS machine finally broke down, so
I went shopping for a replacement. If I stay with
VHS, I want HIFI. I also record almost everything
using the timer, so the programming features are
important to me.
The first machine I looked at was the new RCA VKT700
in the dimensia series. It has 5 heads, VHS-HIFI, and
on screen programming. The demo tape looked ok,
but it was recorded in 2 hour mode. However, when I
did some test recording at 4 and 6 hours speeds, I
was surprised at the poor quality. The 6 hour speed
looked very bad. The 4 hour speed was somewhat better
but the special effects work badly at that speed
(including visual fast scan).
I am used to using 4 hour mode (the slowest speed
on my old machine) for time shift. The quality of
these recordings was not as good as the original
if you do a real A/B test, but good enough to confuse
with the original from memory. The 6 hour recording
on the new RCA could not be confused with the
original, no matter how bad your memory is.
I hate to give up the on screen programming, but I
guess I should look at the other top of the line
recorders. Any comments on the competition would
be appreciated. In particular, are any of the 6 hour
recordings any better? Perhaps a reasonable choice
is the Panasonic Tech 4 line (like the 1730), where
the special effects in 4 hour mode should be better.
By the way, I think the plus of on screen programming
for the RCA is basically that it is remote. I am
amazed at how little intelligence they have built
into the programming system itself. Given that they
have gone to the menu interface, another K of rom
and ram could have added a lot of nice features.
How much trouble would it be to:
1) Allow the user to enter a description field on each
program, so he could remember what it is when
the programming is summarized.
2) Allow more than 8 programs to be stored, with a
facility to activate and deactivate entries without
reentering them.
3) Provide a "weekday only" frequency.
4) Allow the user to define a mapping between channel
names and numbers, so the user didn't have to rememeber
the 60+ channel numbers on a fancy cable system.
Ken Mandelberg
Emory University
Dept of Math and CS
Atlanta, Ga 30322
{akgua,sb1,gatech}!emory!km USENET
km@emory CSNET
km.emory@csnet-relay ARPANETcem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (10/29/84)
I just purchased the Zenith top of the line VHS HiFi system, and am
quite impressed. The mechinisim is made by JVC and value added at Zenith
and somehow the finished product is better than the JVC equivalent. Still
It only records in SP or EP (2 or 6Hr) but plays all of the speeds, and in
SP the effects are like watching a film editor machine. No bars, No fuzz,
and No distortion. In EP there are some patches of static but still better
than the closest top of the line non HiFi machine. My only complaint is
that it only comes with the Zenith Wonder TV remote control. While if
I had a zenith TV (not as nice as the 'ol Trinitron) it would be nice,
since I don't I end up with several non functional and needless buttons.
Why don't we force manufactures to develop the Infrared Remote Control
Standard and give up the multiple remote game? Anyway, I highly recommend
it and when you get it from Nationwide in Fla ($815) it is not to much
more than a regular one from <fill in local stereo/video disounter here>.
--Chuck
--
-- Chuck - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - -
{ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my
{proper,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my
{ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}
ARPAnet : "hplabs!intelca!cem"@Berkeleymlf@teddy.UUCP (Matt L. Fichtenbaum) (10/30/84)
> My 6 year old VHS machine finally broke down, so > I went shopping for a replacement. If I stay with > VHS, I want HIFI. I also record almost everything > using the timer, so the programming features are > important to me. > > The first machine I looked at was the new RCA VKT700 > in the dimensia series. It has 5 heads, VHS-HIFI, and > on screen programming. The demo tape looked ok, > but it was recorded in 2 hour mode. However, when I > did some test recording at 4 and 6 hours speeds, I > was surprised at the poor quality. The 6 hour speed > looked very bad. The 4 hour speed was somewhat better > but the special effects work badly at that speed > (including visual fast scan). > > I am used to using 4 hour mode (the slowest speed > on my old machine) for time shift. The quality of > these recordings was not as good as the original > if you do a real A/B test, but good enough to confuse > with the original from memory. The 6 hour recording > on the new RCA could not be confused with the > original, no matter how bad your memory is. > > I hate to give up the on screen programming, but I > guess I should look at the other top of the line > recorders. Any comments on the competition would > be appreciated. In particular, are any of the 6 hour > recordings any better? Perhaps a reasonable choice > is the Panasonic Tech 4 line (like the 1730), where > the special effects in 4 hour mode should be better. > I have a one-week-old RCA VKP950 (portable VHS VCR with VHS hi-fi sound). It is too new to determine how it will hold up, of course, but the picture quality on slow (SLP or 6-hour) speed is very good. It too has on-screen program- ming from the remote, which is neat except that it requires that you turn the TV on to program the recorder. For completeness, I'll mention that it's back at the dealer at the moment to correct an after-it's-warmed-up problem with the channel memory. But that's clearly a problem with the particular unit and not with the design. Matt Fichtenbaum
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) (11/01/84)
I just purchased the Zenith top of the line VHS HiFi system, and am
quite impressed. The mechinisim is made by JVC and value added at Zenith
and somehow the finished product is better than the JVC equivalent. Still
It only records in SP or EP (2 or 6Hr) but plays all of the speeds, and in
SP the effects are like watching a film editor machine. No bars, No fuzz,
and No distortion. In EP there are some patches of static but still better
than the closest top of the line non HiFi machine.
.........
--Chuck
I'm not sure what kind of noise your talking about, but my deck (a JVC)
is completeley solid in EP unless the tracking is mis-adjusted. I can't
tell it from SP, no bars, fuzz, etc.. and little in slow or still. I have
found that in EP tracking may need re-adjustment from tape to tape, even
if the tape has been recorded on the same deck. However I've never had
any problem adjusting it to produce a rock-stable picture.
Keith Doyle
{ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd