Hitachi VTUX6430A VHS VCR
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- VCR Type: VHS
- Number of Video Heads: 4
- Audio: Hi-Fi Stereo
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You can get a lot of VCR for the money here.
Pros
Dynamic Picture Enhancer, Auto Clock Set, VCRplus, Hi-Fi Stereo, Energy Star, HQ Head, SFast Rewind.
Cons
Not a popular brand name, Front A/V inputs behind a small door
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you can still find this VCR snag one up for yourself. It's packed with quality and easy on your pocketbook.
MAY 2000
It was a Saturday about four months ago I rented some movies. I sat down at the television and started to play the video. Well needless to say the picture quality was awful and there was a humming background noise. My VCR stopped functioning all together and here I was in need of a new one.
With rented video's I felt somewhat rushed to purchase a new one. Now I don't normally just go out and buy something without doing a great deal of research on the product at home. But I felt that a VCR wasn't such a device where it really much mattered what I got. Since I have been adding to my DVD collection my need for my VCR slowly decreases. So I went down to a few stores to get an idea of what was out there in the VCR market.
For the most part the salespeople want you to buy anything and all they tell you is what is on the sticker with the price. Or whatever happens to be written on the unit itself. So avoiding this I simply asked them for spec sheets on all VCR's that are Stereo Hi-Fi. I had at this time known nothing about developing technologies in the VCR industry. As my search continued I was noticing some of the higher end units had a different head and decoding technology. I was interested to find out more. I ended up getting a salesperson to demo this head technology on a Sony branded unit. I was simply amazed at the quality of playback in the Sony unit versus the lower to mid ranged units.
Besides features like VCR plus and special timers or even the dual deck units this Dynamic Picture Enhancer technology is what I wanted to have in my new purchase. I found similar units with this technology but the price was starting at $190.00 and went up from there. Since I was not needing a VCR for anything but playback and the occasional recording I didn't want to pay for all the extra features that came along with the higher end units.
Then I saw it. The Hitachi UX6430 UltraVision. The price was around $160.00 and it had this Dynamic Picture Enhancer. I wasn't certain that the technology in the Hitachi would be comparable to the Sony's so I had the salesperson Demo this for me. Going back and forth from the Sony to the Hitachi the picture looked great on both units. But with the Hitachi I save $35.00. I was immediately sold on this unit. They had one left and I snagged it. Got it home plugged it in. Found out then it had more features than I was reading about in the stores spec sheets. Automatic Clock calibration. Which doesn't sound like much but since I've had the unit my power was out twice and everyone knows when the VCR flashes 12:00 you need to reset the Clocks date/time. Which on some units is a pain. Here all you have to do is get into the menu and select automatic clock/time. Through the Cable/Antenna it reads the time and the date and sets your clock and date. All you have to do is tell it what ZONE you live in. Also the unit features 2 inputs for A/V Line 1 in the back and Line 2 in the front. Handy for use with either a Camcorder/Digital camera or a Playstation, Dreamcast or any other game station you may own. The remote is also programmable for your television volume and channels. So you can just about throw away your remote for the TV. Unless you have Picture in Picture.
I am very pleased with this unit and it's made old movies of mine look like new with that new head technology. And I got the important features for less than a higher end unit. Also with the ever growing popularity of DVD your going to see a drop in VCR prices. At least for the time being. It's my recommendation to snag one of these up while you can.
UPDATED: June 15th, 2001
I bought this VCR last year in MAY. I read the other review of this product where the person doesn't recommend this VCR because it started eating her tapes. Since I'm interested in good product quality I thought I'd come on here and update how my experience has been going. I can honestly say without a doubt this has been the best VCR I have bought. I am an avid movie buff. I use my VCR daily. In fact I use it in my bedroom. Every night I throw in a movie, set the television to sleep and fall asleep with a movie on. By morning the tape I watched has been automatically rewound, ejected and the VCR powers itself down after that process. I have yet to have had a hitch in performance and reliability. I don't doubt the other person had problems with their VCR however I do not believe it diminishes the quality of this product. In fact from reading her opinion I'm more willing to believe one of her small children stuck their hand in the VCR and bent/broke something inside. If anyone has children you all know kids do crazy things. In fact they even make a VCR product that locks the VCR so kids can't stick their hands in them. However this is my opinion. She may have had a lemon. Something in manufacturing that was a fluke. These things shouldn't keep you from purchasing a good quality product. In fact Hitachi has a low failure rating on these VCR's. Simply put solid VCR, solid price.
It was a Saturday about four months ago I rented some movies. I sat down at the television and started to play the video. Well needless to say the picture quality was awful and there was a humming background noise. My VCR stopped functioning all together and here I was in need of a new one.
With rented video's I felt somewhat rushed to purchase a new one. Now I don't normally just go out and buy something without doing a great deal of research on the product at home. But I felt that a VCR wasn't such a device where it really much mattered what I got. Since I have been adding to my DVD collection my need for my VCR slowly decreases. So I went down to a few stores to get an idea of what was out there in the VCR market.
For the most part the salespeople want you to buy anything and all they tell you is what is on the sticker with the price. Or whatever happens to be written on the unit itself. So avoiding this I simply asked them for spec sheets on all VCR's that are Stereo Hi-Fi. I had at this time known nothing about developing technologies in the VCR industry. As my search continued I was noticing some of the higher end units had a different head and decoding technology. I was interested to find out more. I ended up getting a salesperson to demo this head technology on a Sony branded unit. I was simply amazed at the quality of playback in the Sony unit versus the lower to mid ranged units.
Besides features like VCR plus and special timers or even the dual deck units this Dynamic Picture Enhancer technology is what I wanted to have in my new purchase. I found similar units with this technology but the price was starting at $190.00 and went up from there. Since I was not needing a VCR for anything but playback and the occasional recording I didn't want to pay for all the extra features that came along with the higher end units.
Then I saw it. The Hitachi UX6430 UltraVision. The price was around $160.00 and it had this Dynamic Picture Enhancer. I wasn't certain that the technology in the Hitachi would be comparable to the Sony's so I had the salesperson Demo this for me. Going back and forth from the Sony to the Hitachi the picture looked great on both units. But with the Hitachi I save $35.00. I was immediately sold on this unit. They had one left and I snagged it. Got it home plugged it in. Found out then it had more features than I was reading about in the stores spec sheets. Automatic Clock calibration. Which doesn't sound like much but since I've had the unit my power was out twice and everyone knows when the VCR flashes 12:00 you need to reset the Clocks date/time. Which on some units is a pain. Here all you have to do is get into the menu and select automatic clock/time. Through the Cable/Antenna it reads the time and the date and sets your clock and date. All you have to do is tell it what ZONE you live in. Also the unit features 2 inputs for A/V Line 1 in the back and Line 2 in the front. Handy for use with either a Camcorder/Digital camera or a Playstation, Dreamcast or any other game station you may own. The remote is also programmable for your television volume and channels. So you can just about throw away your remote for the TV. Unless you have Picture in Picture.
I am very pleased with this unit and it's made old movies of mine look like new with that new head technology. And I got the important features for less than a higher end unit. Also with the ever growing popularity of DVD your going to see a drop in VCR prices. At least for the time being. It's my recommendation to snag one of these up while you can.
UPDATED: June 15th, 2001
I bought this VCR last year in MAY. I read the other review of this product where the person doesn't recommend this VCR because it started eating her tapes. Since I'm interested in good product quality I thought I'd come on here and update how my experience has been going. I can honestly say without a doubt this has been the best VCR I have bought. I am an avid movie buff. I use my VCR daily. In fact I use it in my bedroom. Every night I throw in a movie, set the television to sleep and fall asleep with a movie on. By morning the tape I watched has been automatically rewound, ejected and the VCR powers itself down after that process. I have yet to have had a hitch in performance and reliability. I don't doubt the other person had problems with their VCR however I do not believe it diminishes the quality of this product. In fact from reading her opinion I'm more willing to believe one of her small children stuck their hand in the VCR and bent/broke something inside. If anyone has children you all know kids do crazy things. In fact they even make a VCR product that locks the VCR so kids can't stick their hands in them. However this is my opinion. She may have had a lemon. Something in manufacturing that was a fluke. These things shouldn't keep you from purchasing a good quality product. In fact Hitachi has a low failure rating on these VCR's. Simply put solid VCR, solid price.
