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REVIEW
FIVE EASY PIECES --
NICAM VCRS
GOLDSTAR R-C705i
£350
Goldstar, like their fellow
Koreans Samsung, are now a force to be reckoned with in mid-market VCRs. The
705i is a bit of a scatter-gun approach, designed to appeal in more or less
equal measure to time-shifters, movie watchers and movie-makers. Cosmetically
it’s a bit of a con, the central display panel and full-width flap create the
illusion of a mid-mount machine when in fact the deck is on the left. With the
cover closed it could easily pass for any one of a dozen top-rated Japanese or
European machines. It’s a different story with the drawbridge lowered, and the
shaped control buttons are a bit of a throwback to early eighties naff.
Camcorder-oriented features
include a front AV terminal, syncro-edit socket, audio dub and a rather natty
title generator. The rest of the spec is fairly conventional but praise where
it’s due, this is one of the very few stereo VCRs we’ve seen lately to have
independent manual recording level controls; minus points include the single
SCART socket and lack of a headphone socket.
Resolution on our sample
was a little below average, at just over 230 lines, noise levels were
satisfactory, though nothing to write home about. However, the big surprise was
the incredibly noisy still frame, or should we say, pause with picture, it
definitely wasn’t still. At first we thought it might be a fault but there is a
clear warning in the instruction book, we can’t remember when we last saw one
as bad as this! Audio quality is fairly
good, a little bass-heavy perhaps but there’s comparatively low levels of
background noise from the stereo hi-fi tracks, and the NICAM decoder is very
clean. It’s cheap, and very well specified, but against that you have to weigh
the iffy still frame and unexciting picture.
Value ***
Telephone (0753) 691888
HITACHI VT-F350 £430
Hitachi are one of those
Japanese companies that produce sensible, reliable video recorders year in year
out, then every now and again something a little bit special comes along, like
the VT-F350. It’s very compact, just 380mm wide, and the front panel is
reasonably uncluttered, with no hidden doors or flaps, what you see is what you
get. All of the main transport controls and channel buttons are grouped
together next to the display panel, below that there’s an AV terminal, with an
extra socket for syncro editing (accurately copying single scenes), with
suitably-equipped camcorders. Everything else is operated from the remote
control, and this deserves a special mention because it can also control the
volume, mute, channel change and on/standby functions of a dozen or more
different brands of TV. The handset also has a built-in clock, LCD display and
shuttle dial, for precise control of replay speed and direction, which includes
still frame and variable-speed slomo.
The 350 has a
comprehensive, menu-driven on-screen display, auto head cleaning, and something
called rental play. When activated this automatically rewinds and ejects
pre-recorded tapes after they have finished. There’s also an endless play
feature which repeatedly replays an entire tape. The 350 has got twin SCART
sockets but no separate line audio outputs, which is a little inconvenient for
AV use; it also lacks a headphone socket but that’s not unusual, and we could
do without the flashing bargraph level display, but at least it’s small and
reasonably discreet.
Our sample managed to
comfortably resolve a full 250-lines, which puts it close to the limits of the
VHS format, not bad for a machine costing less than £450. Add to that lower
than average levels of picture noise, bright, vibrant colours, rock-solid trick-play
facilities, plus crisp, clean-sounding audio system and you’ve got one very
impressive little machine.
Value ****
Telephone 081-849 2000
SAMSUNG VI-395 £380
The 395 is the Video Plus+
upgrade of the very successful VI-375 which appeared late last year and is now
about to be phased out. It’s another of Samsung’s value for money packages and
more evidence, if it were needed, that the Koreans have almost caught up with
the Japanese in terms of performance, specification and styling. The 396 is a
4-head, two speed machine and in addition to NICAM and Video Plus+ it has an
on-screen display, shuttle dial, audio dubbing and front-mounted AV sockets.
Those last three features are clearly designed to appeal to camcorder owners as
well as AV enthusiasts. There’s a good selection of trick-play options, plus
index search and intro scan tape navigation facilities.
Apart from not having a
mid-mount deck, styling is pretty well up to date and Samsung are to be
congratulated for ditching the unnecessary winking bar-graph audio level
display. This machine -- like most other budget stereo VCRs -- doesn’t have a
manual level control. One not so welcome omission is a headphone socket, a
second SCART connector would have been useful too, though it does have a set of
phono AV output sockets on the back panel. No problems with the controls or
operating system but the shuttle dial needs a centre-stop position, and the
remote handset is a bit of a lump.
On screen performance is
very good, our sample turned in a respectable resolution figure of just under
250 lines. Noise levels are low and colour fidelity average to good. Trick play
stability is good too, and it’s possible to almost entirely eliminate jitter in
slomo and still frame modes. The hi-fi soundtracks are reasonably clean, though
treble response tails off a little earlier than normal. NICAM sound is crisp
with background noise levels just a tad higher than average, otherwise, though,
a competent, well-specified
all-rounder.
Value ****
Telephone 081-391 0168
SHARP VC-H90HM £500
Three and a half years ago
Sharp hit the headlines when they became the first VCR manufacturer to market a
NICAM video recorder for less than £400. Since then they’ve churned out a
succession of worthy but somewhat dull machines. At £500 the H90 marks a break
with tradition. It’s a reasonably good looking mid-mount design with a
front-mounted AV terminal, variable-speed slomo replay, twin SCARTs, Video Plus+, programme delivery
control (PDC), NTSC replay and audio
dub. There’s a couple of unusual features too, such as repeat play, where a
designated sequence can be endlessly replayed, and AI (artificial intelligence)
picture control, which is supposed to suppress picture noise.
The front panel is a bit of
a mish-mash, the H90’s designers can’t seem to make their minds up whether it
should look simple and unthreatening, by hiding the bulk of the controls behind
a drop-down cover, or appealing to teccies, with exposed front AV sockets and
an over elaborate display panel. We’re not impressed by the pointless bargraph
level display, (there’s no manual recording level control), or the lack of a
headphone socket, and the initial set-up routines are rather long winded. The
remote handset isn’t too bad, though, and infrequently used secondary controls
are tucked away out of sight, under a hinged flap.
AV performance is another
mixed bag. Horizontal resolution on our sample came in at just under 250-lines,
which is good, but the picture is quite noisy, and in the end that had a far
more noticeable effect on picture quality. That’s in spite of the AI picture
control which does visibly sharpen the picture, but actually has less influence
than the picture ‘tone’ control. In contrast the hi-fi soundtracks and NICAM
decoder work very well indeed. Background noise levels are below average and
there’s little or no coloration on playback. An agreeable machine, picture performance
is just about okay, the only major quibble, though, is the price, which is on
the high side, especially for Sharp.
Value ***
Telephone 061-205 4255
THORN VR-204 £330
The
Thorn brand has been off the shelves for some years, now it’s re-emerged on a
Nokia built NICAM VCR, sold exclusively by Rumbelows. The VR-204 is a compact
mid-mount design with comparatively few frills, which goes some way towards
explaining the remarkably uncluttered front panel; no flaps, doors or cubby
holes, just ten clearly labelled buttons for tape transport and channel change.
Convenience features are there, if you need them, and they include jitter-free
still and slomo, index search and intro scan, plus a simple to use on-screen
display which covers the initial set-up and tuning as well as Video Plus+ and
manual timer programming.
Input
and output socketry is strictly functional just a pair of SCARTs and stereo
line-audio sockets on the back panel; a headphone socket and front AV terminal
would have earned it a few extra Brownie points but at only £330 who’s
complaining? Styling is plain and unexciting, a theme that continues through to
the remote handset, but that’s no bad thing, even your old granny could use
this one...
Thorn, sorry, Nokia haven’t
made any significant compromises where it really matters, with picture and
sound quality. The rather crude LP recording mode is of questionable value but
SP recordings look fine; horizontal resolution on our sample was just over
240-lines, good for a VCR costing less than £350. Colours were bright and
natural-looking with just a hint of noise. The stereo hi-fi system has an
automatic recording level control, which operates satisfactorily and will only
irritate hi-fi purists. The soundtracks have an average amount of background
noise, and frequency response is generally flat. It’s not going to win any
beauty contests, and gadget freaks will find it frugal fare, but if all you’re
looking for is a halfway decent stereo machine, that’s cheap and easy to use,
then you could do a lot worse than start here.
Value ****
Telephone (0734)
304000
CONCLUSIONS..
One clear winner -- the
Hitachi F350 emerges as the best all-rounder with excellent picture and sound
quality, plus a lot of very useful features. The Samsung 395 comes a very creditable
second, followed by the Thorn 204 which looks like a very good deal indeed,
particularly for anyone interested in keeping things simple. Goldstar’s 705 is
let down by poor, or should that be non-existent trick frame facilities, the
Sharp H90 looses out on price, otherwise it’s quite a respectable machine.
MAKE/MODEL ££s PIC SND F&F EOU VFM
GOLDSTAR R-C7051 350 ** **** **** **** ***
HITACHI VT-F350 430 ***** **** ***** **** ****
SAMSUNG VI-395 380 **** *** **** **** ****
SHARP VC-H90 500 *** **** **** *** ***
THORN VR-204 330 *** *** *** **** ****
---end---
1994 0707
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