Home > Consumer Reviews > JVC HRJ692U 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR , Black

The video quality was very good.

That said, there are plenty of reasons I returned this model.

1) This VCR is much bigger than it looks. I liked my previous JVC model so well that when it finally broke, I bought this one to replace it. However, when I unpacked it and went to put it in the entertainment shelf, it wouldn't fit!!! It is one of the widest VCR's I've seen.

2) You MUST use the remote to do scheduled recordings. Their is no menu button on this VCR. In fact, there are not even any channel buttons (though the channel functions are available as secondary functions of other unrelated buttons). Personally this was the deal breaker for me. We lose our remote so often, and record things by timer very frequently, so not being able to schedule a recording from the console is unacceptable.

3) The ITR record button does not display the incremental time.
My previous model would display 30, 1:00, 1:30, etc each time I pressed the record button to tell me how long it would record. This model you have to keep track of those times in your head as you repeatedly push the button, becuase it doesn't dipslay anything.

4) The FF/REW is slow. I did manage to get it to fast-forward in two speeds, but neither was impressive. On a positive note, this VCR does a great job of easing into and out of FF/REW modes for protection of your tapes.

I could go on, but you get the idea. For some reason, JVC decided to "dumb down" this VCR. And, from what I can see, it is the most frequently seen JVC model being sold in stores these days.

I do not recommend it.

I decided for the holidays to get a new VCR and because I have video game equipment and a DVD player I thought this would be the perfect fit. Let me just say this IT WASN'T! The size didn't bother me. However, what bothers me is that unlike my Sony that I replaced with this JVC it only has one line that plays DVD/Video games instead of the 2 my other VCR had.

My main problem is the programing aspect, you have to hit too many buttons in order to just set the thing and guess what you have to remember to hit the TIMER button in order for it to record the program you just took the time to set. So if you forget you are just out of luck.

THIS SHOULD STRICTLY be sold as a Video player, the rest of the thing is such a pain it made me want to scream. I normally am the one person everyone calls for the VCR program/hook up/etc and this VCR left me wishing I'd spent the money on books instead of a VCR.

I'll repeat so you know THIS IS THE WORST WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY I have ever bought and I've bought some stupid stuff in my time.

This was a gift, and I didn't look at reviews before it was purchased. All the bad scores are right. The color keeps flashing on and off regardless of what kind of tape is being played. The display shows the channel whenever it is turned on, which is quite irritating when you have it hooked to a cable box. You see the "3" on one screen and the cable box channel on its screen. Give me back my old RCA!

1. To record you have to hit play and record like the very old VCRs. It didn't explain this in great detail in the user manual.

2. Finding out to setup AUX was also a pain.

3. Programming the VCR to record a show is ridiculously hard. Instead of selecting start time and entering in the numbers on the remote you basically have to scroll to the correct time. Also after I succesfully completed the programing I didn't realize I had to hit the timer option and my show did not record. Come on JVC, most VCRs you just finish the programing and then once you close the menu the timer is automatically on.

Conclusion: After two days of owning this product I returned it to my place of purchase. It felt like I was in a time warp and this was a VCR from the 80s. I was just suprised it wasn't a Betamax!

I purchased this VCR as a replacement of another JVC VCR which stopped working after the blackout last summer. This VCR only comes with a 90day labor/parts warranty - in the past VCRs came with one year for parts. I rarely use this VCR and yesterday it recorded sound but no picture. I took out the instruction sheet and it said to use a VCR head cleaner if this happens and so I did - the VCR still does not work. I have purchased many JVC products in the past but this is by far the worst product they have made in my opinion. The remote control is hard to get used to for programming recordings. I don't know what JVC was thinking when they manufactured this product - I guess they figured that no one was buying stand alone VCRs anymore so it didn't matter. I am now looking for another VCR after having thrown away $70. + tax on a piece of garbage.