VCR opinions sought

[unixronin]

This move has been something of an eventful one for us in terms of turnover of electronic equipment.  We've had to replace our DVD player and receiver, both of which failed in North Carolina in an apparent murder-suicide; we've replaced our TV with a HD-capable LCD flat-screen, since paying $400 for another replacement front screen for a 12-year-old, non-HD-ready back-projection TV just didn't seem like a sensible plan; and now it turns out my 16-year-old Pioneer PD-M530 CD changer has failed.  (I tried to repair it yesterday, but after solving the mechanical issues, it appears there's logic-board issues as well, and I'm not solving those without a full set of service manuals and a logic analyzer.)

We most likely won't be replacing the CD changer, because with 36GB of MP3s on minbar, and with the ability to play single CDs in either our DVD player or our LD player, I think we can do without it.  However, we still have a lot of stuff on VHS tape, and we are going to want to look for a VCR, since our existing Sony VCR is now connected to the small TV in the kids' playroom.

So ... is there a particular VCR that any of you would currently recommend for the best possible image quality (short of insane prices)?  And if so, why that specific VCR?  I've been pleased with the Sony we have, and the SLV-N900 looks like a decent unit, but I'm not much inclined to buy Sony right now after Sony's recent shenanigans with putting rootkits on audio CDs (a fiasco from which, by all accounts, Sony has learned little, if anything).

---

Update:

This JVC SVHS-HiFi 6-head¹ model looks like it might be a pretty good choice, actually.  Amazon.com has them in stock for $82 with free shipping, and it'll record in SVHS mode on regular VHS tapes.

[1]  Four video heads, two audio heads

Comments

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

You're dependent on what you want actually showing up, though. Right now, there's no VCRs at all on the local Freecycle, and no VCRs of interest on NH Craigslist. (There's a Go-Video dual-deck for $125, for example, but that $125 will buy me a brand new top-of-the-line Sony VCR.)

There is a potentially-interesting Yamaha CDC-91 5-CD carousel changer for $35 ... but it dates from 1992, and it's huge compared to the Pioneer it'd be replacing.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

(Actually ... $125 will buy the Sony SLVN900 and leave almost $30 change in my pocket.)

[robbat2.livejournal.com]

yeah that's more of a problem for smaller places.