Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic PV-V4521 4-Head Hi-Fi Stereo VCR

I've owned several different Panasonic Video Cassette Recorders over the years, and I've been pleased with the quality of all of them. This unit, like all the other Panasonic VCRs I've had, includes a feature that I believe is exclusive to Panasonic units [I've never seen it on other brands], and one I like a lot: the SAP/Hi-Fi button! This feature allows you to toggle between the Hi-Fi settings and mono, without having to use the tracking buttons. I find this most useful, to check the quality of a particular tape's hi-fi soundtrack vs. the mono sound on the tape.

Another thing I like about Panasonic machines is actually the LACK of a particular feature. And that is: "Auto Tracking". (NOTE -- The technical data for this unit *does* state that "Auto Tracking" is included on this machine. However, it must be a slightly different variation of auto-tracking than other brands possess; because this unit doesn't drive me up the wall.)

I don't know about you other video-philes out there, but I can't stand the auto-tracking feature on some of today's VCR recorders! I recently purchased another brand of VCR that had auto-tracking, and found myself making a very quick return to the store for a refund! The auto-tracking is probably OK with some (or most) pre-recorded videos that you might buy. But as for my experience with tapes I've recorded myself (on different machines), the auto-tracking was extremely aggravating at best! It never would "center" the audio track properly, and I'd end up listening to the sizzle of a slightly off-center sound track on every tape! And manually adjusting the tracking didn't help either, because "auto tracking" would take over again in about 1 minute, and adjust it improperly again!! Made me shout: "Give me my Panasonic back!" So I did get another Panasonic. No funky auto-tracking. It's just not needed, especially for your homemade tapes in SLP/EP mode. Much better to manually do the tracking yourself, if needed.

So, overall, I'm very happy with Panasonic products. One fairly small complaint about this unit would be that it's too noisy during playback. The machine many times makes a groaning (or whining) type of noise. This can, at times, be quite annoying. However, it doesn't seem to do it all the time. And only on playback of tapes recorded in SP mode (EP playback is quiet, at least on my machine). And during recording mode, these noises are not evident either. Just playing back. Kind of curious. But not enough of a drawback to keep me from purchasing Panasonic machines in the future.

BTW...If you're interested, my Panasonic VCR previous to this one [which unfortunately died of old age after several years of excellent operation; no machine is going to last forever] also had this strange "groan" to it during playback. But, after several months, it just suddenly stopped making these noises altogether, for some unknown reason! Hopefully, this current unit will follow along those lines!

After checking out Panasonic's PV-V4621 4-Head Hi-Fi Stereo VCR, I decided to check out this unit and see what the differences were besides the price. This has a black chassis while the other is silver that was obvious. More importantly, the PV-V4621 comes with an Auto Head Cleaner, Jog-Shuttle Dial and has High-speed rewind. Image and sound are identical. If only image and sound were important to me I would go with this unit. However, the Auto Head Cleaner is an important feature if you do a lot of recording. The High-speed rewind is a nice feature if you are rather impatient like I tend to be. Either machine is excellent! It is just a matter of what your needs are.

Great Vcr.. Bought one from the customer reviews on amazon.. Excellent. The timer function isn't hard at all we figured it out without looking in the manual to record tv shows. We had a toshiba vcr which was lousy.. Wanted to get a real VCR that works and this one is excellent. The only problem with this vcr is the rewind function is noisy.. Besides that a good buy!..

Easy to connect and the stereo sound is great! The picture is clear, too. Slow motion and still are very, very clear. You can even record SAP if you speak Spanish and the TV show you're watching supports it. The only problem I've found is that sometimes, with older tapes, when you record a show you may get a little crackling in the sound. I suspect this is because the VCR's HI-FI sound is very sensitive. If you use a good brand of tape, like TDK and Maxell, you can limit this problem. Definately worth the money, especially for a stereo VCR.

Programming the timer record function for this model is somewhat time consuming and a little tedious. Operates very quietly in play mode but in rewind mode you could wake the neighbors! Has very good picture quality even when recorded in the SLP mode. You could spend more money and get considerably less machine for it, so all in all, a good buy with some moderate inconveniences.