Sony SLV-N88 VHS VCR

Pros: Quiet, fast rewind, compatible with existing Sony TV remotes
Cons: UNRELIABLE; NOT WORTH BUYING AT ANY PRICE! THE NAME "SONY" NO LONGER REPRESENTS QUALITY.

I bought a Sony SLV-N88 in June 2003 to replace an "ancient" Zenith VR3010 VCR (15 years old, still works but it's slightly temperamental). My initial feelings were that SONY is a brand that can be trusted for well designed and highly reliable products. ...

Pros: Low price but not worth it
Cons: Video quality very poor, slow response , no channel readout

I need a VCR, not for movies but to do some home movie editing and recording of TV programs. The Commercial Skip does not automatically detect commercials and skip past them. What you get is a button to press to advance the tape 30 seconds each press....

I love this VCR. I initially bought the cheapest model from Panasonic, which is the PV-V4022, cause I would just use it in my room and i figured it would be just fine to use a not-that-expensive VCR. But I was wrong, the Panasonic VCR was the WORST one i've ever used. It was so cheap-looking, and the tape-eject mechanism malfunctioned after like 4 days of using it. It is going back to where it came from. I returned it to the store, and being a big SONY fan, I checked out the VCR's from them. I saw the SLV-N55, SLV-N77, SLV-N88, and SLV-N99. Of all these, only the SLV-N88 is colored silver, to match a WEGA tv. I was so attracted to its appearance and features. And when I got home, and finally tested, I figured you really get what you pay for. This VCR, being $70 more than the Panasonic, it is ABSOLUTELY worth it, and it would stay in my room... The Remote controller is a universal one, which could control your tv/vcr, and its buttons are luminous, GLOW IN THE DARK so its a nice feature.

I bought this VCR (along with a WEGA TV) because I'm a Sony fan. However, after this I may change brands. The VCR works fine, but the remote doesn't. About half the buttons quit working. Putting in new batteries did not help. Sony's sonystyle.com website says they respond to emails within 12 hours. I've sent 3 emails in about 10 days and have received no response. Additionally, the wait time on the 1-800 line is phenomenal. Once I did actually talk to a person (Michelle) she did not know anything about VCR's. She said she would transfer me, but cut me off instead. I did not call back because I did not want to wait 15 minutes on HOLD again. If you buy this and it works great, you'll be very happy. If anything goes wrong, you'll have a difficult time getting any help with it. Sony has extremely poor customer service.