lionel@orphan.DEC (Steve Lionel) (10/01/84)
A recent note asked for reports of inexpensive, yet full-featured VCRs. I recently purchased for my parents a Sony SL-HFR30 for $475. This little marvel has: Front loading (what doesn't, nowadays) 6 event, 7 day timer Quick timer (sometimes called One Touch Record) 105 channel cable-ready, 14 presets BetaScan, forward and reverse (high-speed visible search) BetaSkipScan (switch from rewind/ff to play, instantly - neat!) Remote control with direct access to 14 presets (plus usual up/down) Ability to set displayed channel number separately from preset number and actual channel number. For example, if channel 9 comes in on cable channel 25, I can have it still say 9 on the display. The display also includes the preset number. Electronic tuning (no little knobs to twiddle, but not frequency synthesis Battery backup (for clock and channel presets, anyway) Automatically turns power on when cassette is inserted Electronic counter/clock Many other "ease-of-use" features too numerous to mention Plus, the best feature of all... Beta Hi-Fi Ready - just add Sony's HFP-100 adapter (about $150) and have all the glory of Beta Hi-Fi! A review of the SL-HFR30 gave it very high marks for its video quality. While it certainly isn't up to an SL-2700, it's a very nice starter unit. Most of the features of the SL-HFR30 plus Hi-Fi adapter can be found in the SL-HF300 VCR, about $650, I think. Steve Lionel ARPA: lionel%orphan.DEC@decwrl.ARPA UUCP: decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-orphan!lionel MCI: Steve Lionel (177-0623)