VCR (remember these?) w/ a great picture

Anubis--Yes I do. I remember them fondly. My younger brother had a high-end AKAI VHS Hi-Fi VCR (the one with the rosewood side panels and the LCD equipped remote) back in the late 1980's and that was my intimate introduction to high-end VCRs as far as home theater is concerned (even though I was introduced to them back in the early-to-mid 1980's (I remember the first JVCs, Mitsubishis and the first Panasonics quite fondly. I think Sony were only making Beta machines back then, they didn't introduce their first VHS machine until about 1991). I think that the VCRs that were produced during the 1980's to about the mid 1990's were the best ones ever made. My Sony SLV-R5UC is a VCR that is part of this era. My Sony SLV-R5UC is a 1991 model, and like I said in the beginning, it was their first VHS machine (after they have finally given up on the Beta format). It just happens to be S-VHS machine. It is a four head design that has a flying erase head. It is also an editing deck and like Sugarbrie's Panasonics, it has manual overrides for all functions. I can even manually adjust the audio recording levels on this deck (which was a must for me, me being an audiophile). And like my younger brother's late 80's AKAI, it also has an LCD screen on its remote control. In my opinion, it is one of the best decks Sony has ever produced (which was later followed by the current SLV-R1000). I was in love with this deck in the beginning, and it is ironic to me that almost 10 years later, I finally end up with one (well actually, I held out until I have gotten one at a great price. Hence, that's the one I got now). The deck sold has for $1,300.00 back in the early 90's. The parts and build quality are much better than the newer VCR's that are available today. It weighs 18 pounds (which is quite a lot for what is a low profile machine). But in spite of my hoopla over my newly acquired SLV-R5UC, I have other favorites as well. My other favorites are the late model high-end Panasonics (namely the AG-1960, AG-1970 and the AG-1980 (Sugarbrie, what model #'s are your Panasonics??)) and the JVC's from the mid 90's (namely, the HR-VP618 and the HR-VP840 DD...... decks that were at one time on the top of my wish list when I started assembling my home theater). If you are looking for a newer VCR now, then I think both of your choices are sensible ones. I would go ahead your choices if I were you. --Charles--

Do you have the Toshiba that will record Super VHS on standard tapes?? A friend has the high end model ($600??) and swears by it. I have a couple old Panasonic machines from the mid-late 80s. Better quality than most stuff made today. One weighs a ton and has studio quality heads. (Sold for $1000 new in 1985 dollars). It must have been a studio machine modified for comsumers. Has manual overrides for all the recording functions (level, etc.) Has edit functions also. Flying erace head. A friend read somewhere it can defeat the copy guard encoding. We tested it and it works. The second one has very similar edit functions, but not quite the same build quality, still nice picture.