GROUP TEST
STRAP
BUDGET NICAM VCR SUPERTEST
HEAD
STEREO SUPERSAVERS
INTRO
Stereo video recorders now cost only a little
more than some mono VCRs, but are the cheaper machines any good? Rick Maybury
has been trying out six of the very latest budget NICAM models to hit the shops
COPY
AIWA HV-FX1500 £350
Surprisingly this is a first for Aiwa,
they’ve had stereo hi-fi VCRs before, but until now none of them have had NICAM
sound. The real eye-opener, though, is the price and with most budget VCRs now
selling around the £400 mark Aiwa are really sticking their necks out with this
unusually well-specified machine. The FX1500 looks very similar to one of their
1994 mono machines, the HV-FX55, and they have a number of features in common.
These include the 380mm wide midi-sized
cabinet, that stacks neatly with Aiwa’s hi-fi and home cinema systems. It has a
Video Plus+ timer, DA4 heads (for improved LP and trick-play picture quality),
multi-lingual on-screen display and ‘one-touch’ playback facility. This closely
resembles the Instant Review feature developed by JVC, it’s a bit like the
winking ‘message’ light on some telephone answering machines. In this case the
illuminated button on the FX1500’s front panel tells the user that the machine
has successfully made a time-shifted recording. Pressing the button switches
the VCR back on, rewinds the tape to the beginning and starts replay, very
civilised!
The FX1500 has programme delivery control
(PDC), which automatically corrects timer settings in case of late schedule
changes or overruns. It might even get some use, now that the BBC have said
they’ll adopt the system later in the year. Auto set-up is also well worth
having, it takes all the drudgery out of tuning, setting the clock and reading
the instruction book... Just connect the VCR up to the TV, plug it in, press a
button and off it goes. It also checks the time every day, against the teletext
clock, and will make the necessary changes when the clocks go back or forwards.
A fast deck mechanism is on the feature list as well, though to be honest we
didn’t find it noticeably quicker than most of the others we’ve tested
recently.
The design is plain and understated, a few
curves here and there but nothing too radical. The front panel controls are on
the small side but they’re well spaced and easy to identify. For some reason
Aiwa have not included a pause button in the main control cluster, there’s one
the remote handset, though. Talking of which, the layout of the button box
could be better, it looks and feels a bit overcrowded, it’s not much fun in the
dark either. Everything else is more or less where you would expect to find it,
the only real gripe lies with the fluorescent display panel. It’s a single
colour design, which makes it difficult to distinguish some key functions,
particularly record and play. You need good eyesight, or a pair of binoculars
to see what’s it up to across a typical living room...
To date the picture quality on super cheap
NICAM VCRs has been disappointing but not in this case. Resolution on our test
sample just managed to top 240-lines, a whisker away from what we would expect
from a mid-range VCR costing at least £100 more. In fact the picture looks very
clean, there is some noise but it’s by no means excessive. Colours are well
defined and again, noise levels are low. Trick play performance is very stable,
though only at SP speed. Still and slomo replay of LP recordings results in a marked
increase in noise and loss of colour, though to be fair that’s not uncommon on
VCRs at the budget end of the market. The hi-fi recording system and NICAM
decoder both perform adequately well. Background noise levels are just a tad
above average though, and the automatic recording level control is a mite
choppy, but the response is generally neutral and uncoloured.
The FX1500 works well, it doesn’t set any new
performance records but AV quality is nothing to be ashamed of, and it easily
qualifies as a competent general-purpose home cinema component. The combination
of a low price and the generous assortment of up to the minute features puts
this machine well ahead of the pack. Unless you’re committed to specific
features not found on this machine, or you’re on a tight budget, and can live
without gadgets and gimmicks, then you need look no further!
DATA STREAM
Pros -- Low price, well-featured
Cons -- single-colour display panel
Features NICAM,
stereo hi-fi sound, Video Plus+, PDC, auto set-up, twin-speed deck, multi-speed
replay, audio dub, one touch playback, front AV terminal, twin SCARTs,
on-screen display, auto head cleaning
Dimensions 380 x 289 x 92mm (WDH)
Telephone:
AIWA UK Ltd, 0181-897 7000
PERFORMANCE 8
BUILD 8
VALUE FOR MONEY 10
AKAI VS-G375 £380
Way back in 1988 Akai were the first VCR
manufacturer to market a machine with a built-in Dolby Surround decoder. That
was just one in a series of firsts for
this highly innovative company; lately however, their VCRs have been, shall we
say, fairly ordinary. Sadly Akai haven’t chosen this year to make a comeback,
their VCR range now includes only one rather routine NICAM machine, the
VS-G375, though it’s worth pointing out that at only £380 it is the second
cheapest machine in this roundup.
It’s also the biggest, Akai have yet to leap
aboard on the midi bandwagon. They are holding back on some of the latest
convenience features as well, the tuner and clock both have to be set manually.
It’s not a big problem though, Akai are
masters of the VCR on-screen display, they should be, they invented the OSD way
back in 1982. Timer programming is no more difficult than most other recent machines
either as it has both Video Plus+ and PD. The one glaring omission, though, is
a second SCART connector. Twin AV sockets have become a virtually standard
fitment on NICAM VCRs. They’re a vital ingredient in any AV set-up, without the
second socket it becomes difficult, if not impossible to incorporate a
satellite receiver into the system, without compromising picture and sound
quality somewhere down the line. Akai really should know better!
However, it’s not all bad news, the G375 has
a very useful selection of trick-play functions, and then there’s Super I-HQ.
This is yet another Akai development, and one they’re justifiably proud of, it
just keeps on getting better. I-HQ, and now Super I-HQ is an advanced
tape-tuning system. Basically it optimises the VCRs recording and replay
circuitry to suit the grade of tape being used. This it determines by making a
short (30-second) test recording as soon as the system is engaged. Super I-HQ
really can make a difference to picture quality, it is most noticeable on
recordings made on higher grade tapes, but it really shows its mettle on LP
recordings. Under ideal conditions they can look almost as good as SP
recordings made on other top-end machines. That should be of interest to anyone
into heavy-duty archiving.
The rest of the features are in the useful
but humdrum category. It has index search and intro scan, blank search, a
3-step dimmer for the front panel display and something called blank skip play.
This is similar to the Rental IP facility on Mitsubishi machines. It’s meant to
make watching pre-recorded movies easier. As soon as the tape is inserted the
machine switches on, if it senses the anti-erasure
tab on the cassette is missing it automatically rewinds the tape to the
beginning -- in case the last borrower forgot -- then it fast-forwards past the
blank boring stuff at the beginning until it reaches the beginning of the
recording, whereupon it begins replay.
Recordings made on standard grade tape, with
Super I-HQ switched on, gave a resolution of over 240-lines, that’s better than
average, but the very low levels of noise in the picture made a big difference
to picture sharpness. Colours too looked unusually clean, and chroma noise,
which shows most clearly in areas of high saturation, was negligible. The hi-fi
sound system doesn’t quite manage the same level of performance, not to put too
fine a point on it the stereo soundtracks are a little bit hissy. Fortunately
it’s not enough to be a problem, and it’s offset to some degree by the crisp
treble and generally smooth sounding, almost noise-free, NICAM decoder.
It’s almost as if Akai are treading water
with this machine, maybe they’ve got something special up their sleeves for
next year? We certainly hope so because the G375 is a bit disappointing. It has nothing to do with performance,
features or price, they’re all fine; the G75 has one serious failing, and
that’s the single SCART socket, which effectively rules it out as serious home
cinema component.
DATA STREAM
Pros -- LP recording quality, price
Cons -- single SCART socket, lumpy remote
Features NICAM,
stereo hi-fi sound, Video Plus+, PDC, on-screen display, blank skip, index
search, intro scan, multi-speed replay, Super I-HQ tape tuning, display dimmer
Dimensions 425
x 276 x 90 (WDH)
Telephone: AKAI UK, 0181-897 6388
PERFORMANCE 8
BUILD 8
VALUE FOR MONEY 9
FERGUSON FV95 £400
Ferguson video recorders have been through
quite a variety of style changes in the recent years, but now it looks as
though they’ve settled on a fairly consistent theme, established for them by
top designer Philippe Starcke. His first effort was the FV88, launched last
year and it broke the mould, as far as VCR cosmetics were concerned. However,
the bold, minimalist approach has been moderated, to make it a little more
palatable for the mass-market. This strategy is clearly evident on their mono
and budget NICAM machines, though their two new top-end stereo VCRs remain
closer to the original concept. The FV95 is in the former category, it’s their
entry-level NICAM model, selling for just under £400. The fascia echoes the
sharp, angular styling of the FV88, though this time, instead of a row of tiny
transport buttons the main controls are grouped in two vertical rows, either side of the centre-loading tape
hatch and display panel. Unfortunately the keys are all identically shaped, and
the labelling (light grey on darker grey) is difficult to distinguish,
fortunately the remote control handset is reasonably easy to use.
For a budget NICAM machine it is quite well
specified. It has an auto-install system that programs the tuner and sets the
clock, a Video Plus+ timer with PDC auto correction, an unusually helpful
on-screen display, NTSC replay, variable-speed replay (slomo through to
fast-play), index search/intro scan and manual recording level control, which
is very unusual on budget hi-fi VCRs.
Variable-speed replay is another comparative rarity at this end of the
market. Friendly on-screen displays have become a Ferguson speciality and this
one has an option to call up extra help messages, that are written in plain and
easy to understand language, in short you would have to be quite determined,
and/or stupid to get into a mess with this machine.
There’s a few other features worth
mentioning. It has a child lock which isolates the front panel controls, the
machine can then only be operated from the remote handset. Pressing the play,
or play and record buttons for longer than six seconds puts the machine into
continuous play or record mode, plus it can record and playback 16:9 formatted
material. Sadly video recorders are a prime target for thieves, the FV95 is no
less nickable than any other machine, but if it is stolen, and subsequently
recovered, it can be identified with its electronic tag facility. This allows
the user to store a unique identity code in the machine’s memory; it can be a
name, simple message or postcode, which will only be revealed after inputting a
user-selected PIN.
Operationally it’s fairly easy to live with.
The layout of the remote handset could be better, the transport buttons are a
bit samey, and the channel up/down keys are in an awkward place. Full marks for
the front panel display though, it’s large, easy to read, and functions like
‘play’, ‘stop’ etc. are spelt out, rather than indicated by small or obscure symbols. The centre-mount deck
mechanism is a real screamer. Fast wind scoots along at a rate of knots, with
sound-effects to match; it takes just over 90 seconds to wind through an E-180
tape, and that’s almost a record!
The machine featured in this review was an
early evaluation sample, Ferguson cautioned us that there may be some late
changes to the software, nevertheless it performed well with resolution spot on
240-lines. Some picture noise was evident, not enough to cause concern, but in
any case it would be unfair to draw too many conclusions until we’ve had an
opportunity to check out a full production machine. Much the same applies to
the hi-fi sound tracks and NICAM decoder, they both performed well on our
review machine, background noise levels were average to good and the option of
being able to set the recording level manually gives it an edge over most other
stereo VCRs these days, and it will come in useful for making good quality
recordings of music-oriented programmes.
Suffice it to say if the production machines
work as well as the samples we’ve seen then performance will not be an issue.
Ferguson have struck a typically measured balance between features, performance
and price, and the distinctive cosmetics should help to get it noticed.
DATA STREAM
Pros -- compact, good-looking design
Cons --
difficult to distinguish front-panel controls
Features:
NICAM, stereo hi-fi sound, Video Plus+, PDC, auto-install, index search,
intro-scan, multi-speed replay, on-screen display, NTSC replay, manual
recording level control
Dimensions 384
x 303 x 90 (WDH)
Telephone:
FERGUSON LTD, 0181-344 4444
PERFORMANCE 8
BUILD 8
VALUE FOR MONEY 8
HITACHI VT-F450 £400
In the past few years Hitachi’s NICAM VCRs
have begun to figure more prominently in comparative reviews. They’re
consistent, solid performers with useful, rather than exotic features, and
they’re usually realistically priced. The VT-F450 is not about to damage their
reputation, far from it. The price puts it slap-bang in the middle of the
highly competitive budget sector, though the list of features could just as
easily have come from a more expensive mid-market machine.
The headline grabber is satellite control, in
fact it’s the only stereo VCR in the £400 price bracket to have it. Satellite
control, in case you were wondering, enables this VCR to make timed recordings
from a satellite receiver, as easily as it time-shifts programmes from
terrestrial channels. These days most satellite receivers have event timers,
but they’re generally quite crude, and often even more difficult to program
than VCR timers. The F450 works by sending out infra-red commands, that switch
the satellite receiver on at the nominated time and selects the correct
channel, before making a recording.
It works in conjunction with the machine’s
Video Plus+ timer, so all the user has to do is tap in the appropriate Plus
Code, (printed alongside programme details in newspapers and listings
magazines). The system on the F450 works with most popular satellite receivers,
but there are holes in the command library, so it’s a good idea to check before
you buy, to make sure yours is included, if you think this could be an
important feature.
So what else can it do? Controlling other
items of AV equipment is something of a speciality for this machine. The remote
handset is programmed with yet another IR command library, this time with the
basic functions of 14 different brands of TV. It has variable-speed replay,
accessed from a shuttle dial on the handset, and it should be of particular
interest to camcorder owners, for not only does it have a front-mounted AV
terminal, (to make copying and editing easier), it has both video and audio
dub, plus syncro-start as well, to simplify copying from compatible machines.
Ironically it’s missing out on a couple of
this years hot features. It has a manual set-up routine, it doesn’t have PDC
and the on-screen display has a slightly old-fashioned feel to it, no slick colour
co-ordinated menu options here. Setting the tuner and clock is usually no great
hardship, once you’ve read the instructions, though it has to be said that the
F450 is not the friendliest of machines and the tuner adjustment involves a
fair amount of messing around. The lack of PDC is no big deal, though someone
forgot to remove the PDC legend from the remote’s display panel, and whilst
we’re on the subject, there’s three buttons on the handset that do nothing at
all, most annoying...
Control layout and operation are quite
straightforward, though don’t be deceived by the apparent simplicity of the
remote, a hinged flap covers a forest of little buttons. The shuttle dial is a delight, moreover the
deck is very responsive and scooting backwards and forwards through a recording
is a doddle. Tape access is okay, it has index search and goto, but no intro
scan, unfortunately.
On screen performance is very good our test
machine resolved a full 250-lines on SP recordings. Picture noise levels were a
little below average, and colour accuracy was faultless; together this results
in a very clean-looking picture, amongst the best we’ve seen on a £400 VCR in
fact. We would like to say that the hi-fi sound system did equally well,
unfortunately we can’t. At best it’s only average, with a fair amount of
background hiss, and slightly crusty treble. Off air sound, coming through the
NICAM decoder was very crisp though, and the automatic recording level control
coped reasonably well with sudden changes in volume. If it hadn’t been for the
lacklustre sound this machine would have earned a much higher commendation,
even so it still stacks up very well against the opposition and anyone in the
market for a well-specified NICAM VCR should have high it on their shortlist,
if movie-making or satellite time-shifting are important considerations it
should be on the top!
DATA STREAM
Pros -- video performance, satellite control,
price
Cons -- clunky manual installation, no PDC
Features NICAM,
stereo hi-fi sound, Video Plus+, satellite control, audio and video dubbing,
multi-brand TV remote control, mode lock, on-screen display, rental play,
repeat play, syncro edit, front AV terminal, index search
Dimensions 380
x 320 x 95 (WDH)
Telephone: HITACHI SALES (UK) LTD, 0181-849
2000
PERFORMANCE 9
BUILD 9
VALUE FOR MONEY 8
SANYO VHR-795 £429
The VHR-795 is the follow up to the 894,
launched last year to considerable critical acclaim. The 894 was actually a
fairly ordinary NICAM video recorder with one rather special feature, and that
was DVS or digital view scan. DVS is the top feature on the 795, but it costs
£70 less than its predecessor, but what does it do, and can you live without
it?
DVS is a development of the anti-shake
systems devised by Sanyo for their personal stereos and MiniDisc players.
Basically it’s a memory circuit or ‘buffer’, that temporarily stores a few
seconds of sounds as digital data. If the mechanism is jolted, corrupting the
original sound, information is read out from the buffer is heard instead. On
the VHR-795 the sound buffer has a slightly different role. It still stores
sounds as digital data, but this time they’re used during fast replay and
picture search to provide an intelligible real-time soundtrack, irrespective of
tape speed or direction. It sounds impossible, but that’s one of the advantages
of digital processing; once something is stored as numbers it can be
manipulated in a variety of ways, including in this case turning sounds back to
front so that they come out the right way round, whilst the tape is moving
backwards, or even stationery! The soundtrack keeps up with the action on
screen by playing back short snatches of sound, each a few seconds long.
All well and good, but what’s it good for?
DVS can be used to skim through a recording at high speed, without loosing the
thread, or it can help locate a specific point on a tape. It’s at its best with
largely speech-based material, like sports programmes, and movies, in fact it’s
possible to watch a feature film in about twenty minutes, and not miss a
thing...
After that the rest of the VCRs features seem
rather restrained. It’s certainly very easy to use, with full auto
installation, though this one is slightly different. Instead of the clock being
checked against teletext time once a day, it’s corrected once a week, at 3am on
Sunday mornings, so that takes care of British Summer time adjustments. It has
Video Plus+ and PDC, audio dub is a welcome extra, and then there’s auto
replay, index search and multi-speed replay. The latter is controlled by a
shuttle ring on the remote handset, which does pretty well everything else
besides, so don’t loose it. It’s also the only way to engage the pause
function, which has been left off the front panel. Talking of which, the front
panel display is another one of those cheapo single-colour jobbies, that relies
on titchy symbols and indicators to show what the machine is up to. You have to
look quite hard, for example, to check if it’s in the record mode.
No problems in the picture department, the
795 is right down the middle with a resolution figure of 240-lines, there’s
some slight picture noise but it’s no worse than average, colours look clean
and natural. Still frame, slomo and 2x fast replay are all very steady, noise
bars on picture search are well suppressed, so the image is viewable at top
speed. The stereo hi-fi tracks sound a bit flat, treble is slightly muted, but
noise levels are low, off-air sound coming through the NICAM decoder is
pin-sharp with virtually no background hiss.
So we come to DVS. The sounds stored in the
buffer originate from the VCR’s mono linear soundtrack, which isn’t up to much
at the best of times, so by the time it’s been through the digital mangle, and
spat out the other side, it’s not what you would call hi-fi quality.
Nevertheless it is adequate for playing back speech, which remains clear and
understandable, even during fast picture search. As the tape moves faster, the
snatches get shorter, so, depending on the nature of the soundtrack, it’s not
always possible to follow what’s going on. It’s most successful at 2x fast
play, apart from the speeded up action the picture and sound appear quite
normal. In the end it’s clear that you’re paying a premium for DVS and without
it the 795 would be just another budget NICAM VCR, but it’s DVS that will sell
this machine, and we suspect that once having tried it, most users will regard
it as less of a luxury, and more of a necessity.
DATA STREAM
Pros -- DVS, AV performance
Cons -- obscure front panel display, no pause
button on front panel
Features NICAM,
stereo hi-fi sound, Video Plus+, PDC, auto-install, digital view scan (DVS),
on-screen display, audio dubbing, multi-speed replay, index search, repeat
play,
Dimensions 360
x 290 x 97 (WDH)
Telephone: SANYO UK LTD (01923) 246363
PERFORMANCE 9
BUILD 9
VALUE FOR MONEY 8
SHARP VC-M60 £400
Right now Sharp are probably better known for
their View Cam camcorder range; their VCRs have always been okay, but words
like worthy and dull spring to mind. That might be about to change and the new
VC-M60 could help to establish their credentials as contenders in the home
cinema market. It’s a midi-sized NICAM machine, with a centre-mount deck
mechanism. It looks a bit plain but it’s reasonably well featured -- for an
entry-level model -- with multi-speed
replay (including 2x fast play), auto installation, index search (but not intro
scan), plus a couple of interesting extras, which we’ll get to in a moment.
On the left side of the fascia there’s an AV
terminal, to simplify camcorder hook-ups; on the right there’s an unusual
circular transport control knob, with play, still/pause and stop/eject buttons
in the middle and a shuttle ring on the outside, this controls fast forward, rewind and multi-speed replay. The auto
installation system takes over channel tuning, date and time adjustments as
soon as the machine is connected up; once selected from the on-screen prompt
the whole process takes just a few minutes. Channels are automatically
identified and sorted but it’s easy enough to rearrange stored channels or set
the tuner manually. The clock is checked daily against teletext time signals
and it will automatically make corrections for British Summer time.
Most of the action takes place on the busy
remote handset, this can also control the channel change, volume and standby
functions of over 20 different brands of TV. The remote gives access to some of
the machines more unusual features, like ‘clean picture’ which is billed as a
picture enhancer, for reducing picture noise on old or worn tapes. Other items
of interest are instant replay, which puts the machine into reverse picture
search for pre-set intervals of 20, 40, 60 or 80 seconds, before starting
replay again. It also has repeat play, a mode lock, which freezes the last
selected function and skip search. Skip search is a sort of instant replay in
reverse, it selects fast picture search for 30, 60, 90 or 120 seconds,
depending how many times the button is pressed, and then reverts back to play
mode.
The main transport buttons on the remote are
coloured blue, they’re large and easy to find and double up as cursor controls
for the on-screen display. Other key functions, like variable speed slomo, are
not so accessible, and the layout is cluttered. Another ergonomic quibbles
concerns the front panel display, it’s a single colour type and transport
functions are shown by rather small symbols, in fact you have to look quite
closely to spot the tiny recording indicator. Access to the Video Plus+ timer
could be better too; it’s a menu option on the on-screen display, and just
getting to it involves a couple of button pushes. It also means the VCR and TV
have to be switched on in order to set the timer. The M60 has an instant timer,
and delay-start timer, which seem like a good idea, though it’s as well to keep
the instruction book to hand as it can be difficult to clear the timer mode, if
it’s selected by accident.
Resolution on our test sample was just below
250 lines, which is very respectable for a £400 VCR. Colour fidelity was good
and picture noise levels were a little below average. The clean picture
facility softens the image slightly, but it also reduces colour saturation and
on some tapes, especially those with weak colour, the picture is almost monochrome.
Still and slomo are both very steady, though the deck isn’t terribly agile, and
without reverse slomo it’s a bit of a chore trying to examine recordings in
close detail. Background hiss on the stereo soundtracks is low, though at the
expense of treble response, which tails off quite quickly. NICAM is very clean,
there’s hardly any noise and this time the response is flat. Sharp VCRs tend to
lack personality, they work well enough but set against the backdrop of a
couple of dozen similarly specified machines they simply didn’t stand out. The
M60 is still a little bland but its a definite step in the right direction and
the combination of features, and better than average performance should help to
get it noticed.
DATA STREAM
Pros -- good sound, simple to use
Cons -- cluttered handset, uninformative
front panel display
Features NICAM,
stereo hi-fi sound, Video Plus+, PDC, auto-install, picture enhancer, on-screen
display, multi-speed replay, front AV terminal, index search, instant replay,
skip search, auto repeat
Dimensions 380
x 290 x 92 mm (WDH)
Telephone: SHARP UK LTD 0161-205 2333
PERFORMANCE 8
BUILD 8
VALUE FOR MONEY 8
CONCLUSION
In the end there were only relatively small
variations in the AV capabilities of these six machines, we’re happy to report
none of them disgraced themselves, not as far as picture or sound performance
were concerned anyway. It’s also fair to say that the VCRs with the best video
performance didn’t necessarily excel at audio reproduction, and vice-versa, so
no one machine stood out, technically at least. This shifts the focus to price
and facilities and here, at last, we begin find some significant differences.
The Akai VS-G375 should, by rights have fared
much better, AV performance is good, the price is very reasonable and it has a
well thought out range of features, but we cannot ignore the fact that it has
only one SCART socket. Don’t dismiss this machine altogether though, Super I-HQ
makes a lot of sense for anyone who does a lot of LP recording. If all you’re
after is a competent NICAM VCR and space isn’t a problem, keep it in mind. It’s
very difficult to choose between the next two models. The Ferguson FV95 is a
fine machine, it’s easy to use, it works well, and it has plenty of useful
convenience features, but apart from the distinctive cosmetics it lacks extra
sparkle, nevertheless it’s still a good buy. The Sharp M60 has a more familiar feel
to it, plus a few extra bells and whistles. Both of them would make good home
cinema machines but they’re up against some stiff competition, from the likes
of the Hitachi VT-F450, which also sells for £400, and is the one to go for if
you’ve got a camcorder, or a satellite receiver in your system and do a lot of
time-shifting.
The Sanyo 795 hasn’t got the best picture, or
the cleanest sound, though both are good, however it’s digital view scan that
sets this machine apart, that and the slightly higher price, but we reckon it’s
a feature worth paying a little more for. Finally we come to the Aiwa
HV-FX1500, again it’s not the top performer, but as we’ve said the differences
are small. It’s not the best specified either, yet it has a most impressive
assortment of up to date and functional facilities, however, it’s the
extraordinarily low price that finally won us over, and puts this excellent
machine at the top of the pile.
BOX 1 -- COMPARATIVE TABLE
Make/Model ££s Timer
AV Skts AD VP/PDC SAT AI
Aiwa HV-FX1500 350 31/8 2S/L/FAV * */* *
Akai VS-G375 380 365/8 1S/L */*
Ferguson FV95 400 365/8 2S/L * *
Hitachi VT-F450 400 365/6 2S/L//FAV * * *
Sanyo VHR-795 429 365/6 2S/L * */* *
Sharp VC-M60 400 365/8 2S/LFAV */* *
Key: Timer -- days/events; AV Skts -- S =
SCART, L = line audio output, FAV = front AV terminal; AD = audio dubbing;
VP/PDC = Video Plus +/Programme Delivery Control; SAT = satellite control
timer; AI = auto installation
---end---
Ó R. Maybury 1995 0807
|
