Home > Consumer Reviews > Sharp VC-H965U 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR

The vcr was fine except for the fact that in the daylight you can't see the time on it because it wasn't light enough.

This is a great VCR. I have had it for a few months and I had the previous version for several years. I probably use the VCR for recording or playing something two or three times a day. It has a super fast rewind, which is fantastic (for when you are trying to make it to Blockbuster by noon).

I just wanted to write a review to say that there is a way to reset the counter, but clearly people have trouble figuring out how to do it. It is rather simple, you just make the display show the counter (by pressing the display button the the remote) and then you press the cancel button (on the remote) and it resets the counter to 00:00:00.

Another thing, I noticed when I was reading deciding which VCR to buy that a reviewer or two said something about this not having a manual and I was very concerned by this. Well, it's not true at all. This VCR DOES come with a manual, when you buy it new. I would guess that some others buy it used or from other sellers, and well, at that point, it's really their own responsibility to make sure it includes a manual. Also, when I spoke with Sharp, and if you have proof of valid purchase of the machine, they will send a new manual.

All in all, this is a truly excellent VCR, especially for the price. I have had more expensive VCRs that just have not been as dependable, they broke down much sooner, something happens with the clarity of the picture, or a problem starts to develop with the rewind or fast forward. I have had no problems with this VCR or its previous version. I would highly recommend this for anyone who is looking to save a little money, but wants a good, dependable machine.

Bought this due to positive feedback regarding playback ability. Made a mistake.

Play back on this machine is extremely poor, have old JVC machines in garage and shop that use for play back and give excellent pictures with same tapes.

Will send back and replace with JVC

In fairness, I'm not reviewing the product described here, rather the VC-H982U, which is a previous model, and the company that made and sold it. It was given to me by my daughter's husband. Unfortunately, it did not come with the operator's manual. Ordinarily, that wouldn't bother me, as I can usually finger things out, but this unit does some things that are so unusual, that one would like the book to figure it out.

I'm absolutely agast and astounded to find that Sharp DOES NOT POST THE USER'S MANUAL TO ONE SINGLE VCR ON THEIR WEBSITE ! ! !
see:
.......

That is the web page for the manuals, but it is entirely blank of documents to look at. There are other products with manuals on their respective web pages, but not VCR's. Rather, they want you to call an 800 number and BUY the information. Doing a global search on that model number comes up with "Sorry, no matches ...", so they won't even admit they ever made it, and it is only a couple of years old. What kind of support is that?

All I wanted to look up is how to zero out the tape counter. [there is no button on the front or the remote, unlike every other VCR I've seen in the last fifteen years - I'm stuck on zero being about halfway through a tape. I suppose I could run it to indicated zero, take the tape out and put into one of the other vcrs and rewind it there, but really!]. Oh, yeah, and figure out what all of these extra options are for the programming - they have multiple screens for some reason, but the info on the screen doesn't spell out what they do or why they are there, and the button usage is, well, peculiar - I haven't figured out how to get down to the next program line yet. I won't use it to program anything I really care about seeing...

To my mind, since there are so many good competitive products out there from companies that DO bother to make their documentation readily available on the web, this missing "feature" makes me disqualify Sharp from any future purchase. And that notion DOES pertain to the current product.

This machine is the worse! It works when it feels like it, but when it does it does play pretty well. All-in-all I wish I had bought something else