Home > Consumer Reviews > Quasar VHQ-450 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR

I made the mistake of reading the reviews of this product after I bought it and it was en route. I got a little scared as two people gave it terrible reviews, and said that it was really loud. However, I was pleasantly surprised when everything worked great. It plays tapes nice and quiet, none of the loud noises others have complained about. For 83 bucks (including shipping) this was a gosh darn good buy.

As most of you know, Quasar is made by Panasonic. I've always been a fan of Panasonic stuff....its mechanically more reliable than any other brand. And Panasonic makes stuff thats technologically superior. Well, at first I was a little iffy about buying this VCR as "Quasar" is suppose to be a low end subsidary of Panasonic. But at its really low price, I decided to take my chance. Since I have been using it, all I can say is its simply an awesome machine at its price!! There is no annoying noise from the machine like what the past reviewers have said. And the remote works just fine, and being Universal is a plus. Well, you might as well re-badge this VCR as a "Panasonic". Its design looks identical to other lower end Panasonic VCRs, and definitely performs like one too! Even down to the remote control, its the same exact one that comes with Panasonic VCRs (with the Quasar name on it instead of course). The identical remote control is not a big deal, but I just wanted to emphasize how similiar a Quasar is to a Panasonic. If you're in the market looking for a lower end HiFi Stereo PANASONIC vcr, don't bother buying it. Get this QUASAR instead. Its practically the same thing as a real Panasonic....its quality and its features. I love Panasonic stuff, but this "Quasar" rebadging looks more like a marketing scheme to me. Oh well, it saves me more money buying a "Quasar" than buying one of their VCRs with the "Panasonic" badge. Don't let the QUASAR badge on this VCR fool you. It works just like a real PANASONIC.

It's got all the options you want: Hi-Fi stereo, SP, LP & SLP, timer, remote, indexing, search, commercial skip, the list goes on and on. At this price you'll be hard pressed to find another VCR of this quality.

Many VCR's today weigh 1 pound, have a plastic case and feel like they could crumple in your hand. Not this one. Sure, it's not as heavy as the VCR from '86 it's replacing, but it weighs in, and for those who know weight means everything in electronics, you know what I'm talking about.

Great picture and great sound. Full featured Universal Remote. Other reviews complained this unit was noisy, not mine. The only time I notice sound is during FF or RW on high speed. During playback and record it's unnoticable.

For the price, it's 5 stars!

Several years ago we'd purchased TV/VCR combo, based on our past experience with the brand name. Boy, what a mistake. Their quality had apparently gone downhill and we didn't have a clue. In fact, we were so disgusted with having the VCR part repaired every year we decided to buy a regular VCR and hook that up to the combo, instead.

This time I consulted Consumer Reports, where I discovered in a pretty recent article that Panasonic and its brand Quasar were among the top brands for not needing repairs. This specific model was rated in the article also, and I was happy to find it here on Amazon at a discount.

The VCR was easy to hook up. The instruction manual gives clear directions for many varieties of hook-ups needed (stereo, mono, cable with a box, without a box, etc.) They even give an 800-number to call for help if you need it. But installation was so easy, there was no need.

I haven't noticed any noise problem. Unless you are playing a tape at very low volume so as not to disturb someone, you would not hear it running at all. Be prepared when you rewind, though--it sounds like it's going to take off!

I am really bummed that they don't carry it, anymore!! The sylvania one is a piece of junk!!! I have two of the Quasar one and they are still working great, but I wanted to buy more; and now I can't find it.