I was desperate when I ordered this item. VHS is apparently on its way out, but there are still a few brands that market good ones for not too outrageous prices...some, in fact, were TOO cheap....making me immediately suspicious. After a rather looong search for a decent model, I finally settled on Sony, since: 1) It was one of the few still in the feature-laden mid-price range and 2) the other manufacturers were either more expensive for the same features and manufacturing quality or so cheap and tacky looking as to be put offs.

I was not diappointed! This Sony VCR has hi-fi stereo sound, a jog-shuttle dial, (something you used to get only on VERY expensive units once), front A-V RCA inputs, a VERY fast rewind, slo-mo, commercial skip, VCR+plus and has its own programmable remote! You can't beat that with a stick for this price range.

Here's to falling electronics prices!!

Disappointed (Rating: 2.00)
Review : When my six and a half year old JVC gave out, after working perfectly for all those years, I started shopping for a new VCR. After comparison shopping I decided on the Sony SLVN900.

After 96 days of only occasional use it stopped working-would not play or record and ate two brand new tapes. Finding no solutions on the Sony web site I called Sony. Their idea to reset the unit did not work so I called back and they agreed to do an exchange, for a refurbished unit, for $30. I now have $150 plus tax invested in a refurbished unit. Hopefully, this refurbished VCR is in like new condition inside but who knows. I have only had this second unit four days so the verdict is still out.

The auto clock and channel preset did not work on the first one and does not work on the second one. With the fast rewind it is nearly impossible to stop the tape where I want it. Usually several tries are needed.

On the remote the number keys only work when setting the timer. Otherwise, you have to scroll through all the channels. These keys only work with a Sony TV, not with any other brand. Keys on the remote are bit small and harder to use than other brands.

Sony reps on the phone were great to deal with. But, with this experience I will not buy another Sony product.

Deffective (Rating: 1.00)
Review : As all other Sony products I have recently purchased, this VCR was found to be deffective. Remote control would not function properly. Returned to Amazon.com for refund.

Unacceptably poor Control S support (Rating: 1.00)
Review : When I bought it about 7 years ago, I wanted a home theater setup that my wife, kids, babysitters, parents, et cetera could all use. I wanted it to be as simple to use as a standard VCR+TV rig... preferably simpler. I bought an all-Sony stack, and it worked pretty well: putting a prerecorded tape into the VCR would power up the VCR and start it playing, and the VCR would use Control S to command the receiver to power on and select the VCR input. I had an RCA TV, so you did have to turn the TV on independently, but that's all: insert the tape, turn the TV on. CD and cassette tape were similar; insert a CD and the receiver would select the CD input.

My old Sony SLV-790HF started to flake out, so I went to get a new VCR. Sony, of course, so it would work with the system. Well, my first unhappy surprise was finding that relatively few Sony components support Control S these days. It doesn't seem like they have a replacement... they just don't support anything like that any more. Only the top of the line SLV-N900 has Control S. OK, it's only a few extra bucks, so I bought one.

I plugged it in, popped a tape in, the tape began to play... but the receiver didn't switch to the VCR input. Seems the SLV-N900 doesn't support the automatic switching that was the reason for buying this unit, and the reason for staying with Sony at all. Telephone and online support confirm this. Unacceptable. Back to the store it went.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I can limp along with my old SLV-790HF, or maybe I can find a used older model. Maybe I'll just switch the whole stack over to JVC and Compu Link.

I'm just astounded that Sony doesn't understand that this kind of feature is the kind of thing that locks people into your brand and keeps them coming back.

Excellent VCR, very good picture quality (Rating: 5.00)
Review : This is about as good of a VHS VCR you will find. If you want better quality and more features, look SVHS. But if you want a solid, old school VHS player/recorder, this is an excellent choice. The jog-dial recording system is a BREEZE: your 80 year old grandmother could program this VCR. Its also got excellent picture quality on both commercial recordings and my old personal recordings, and content recorded on the SLV-N900 is also very good for VHS. I love the commercial advance feature, which I relied upon until I got Tivo, and also the high-speed rewind and fast forward features. But hey, its a VCR. Not exactly cutting edge tech, now is it. If you must get one, I recommend this one. Sony seems to be one of the only companies that still delivers a quality VHS VCR, despite their early fumbles with rival Betamax!