I'M GOING TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT MY VCR IS THE SANYO 700, NOT THE 710. BUT I BELIEVE IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA, INSTEAD OF HAVING NO REVIEWS AT ALL:
The Sanyo 700 Vcr is one of electronics best kept secrets. The good looking 4 head Vcr with 19 Micronized heads plays, and records beautifully all tapes weather new or old, slow speeds or fast speeds. The video is excellent, on sp, ep or slp recorded tapes.
The ep (slow speed), gets 6 taped hours on a t-120, 8hrs on a 160. The unit records in 2 speeds, sp and ep. (and that's all you need)
It has self cleaning heads anduniversal remote which also runs my Sony Trinitron TV.
The sound is very clear and excellent due to it's hi-fi component. You can actually see the tape counter on screen if you depress the ck counter button. And unlike many vcr's like my sharp, it leaves the counter on screen while you're fast forwarding or rewinding so you don't have to guess where you are. The exception is when you're fast forwarding or rewinding when the movie is on screen. Then the counter disappears, but you don't get those vertical lines across the screen like you get with cheaper vcr's when you perform that operation.
The machine has auto-tracking to adjust the picture for you, but it also has manual tracking if you want to play with it further- again, something most vcr's don't have - both tracking systems.
It plays tapes recorded from other vcr's perfectly. And it works great on dubbing.
Now on the flip side, as of 2010, Sanyo, no longer provides any customer support for vcr's like panasonic and sharpe still do - even old ones. But I don't think you'll need it, because everything is very clear and simple in the manual.
There's no menu button on the Sanyo 700 panel as there is on my sharpe h982u vcr, (which I also reviewed on this website). That means if the remote breaks you cannot access the internal menu system, set up, channell search, timer record, clock settings. This is about the biggest drawback I see. But if that happens, wallah, you get another remote!
The remote is slow to program the timer record. When setting the time for the record, you can only move the minutes hand and not the hour hand. You can program for up to one year ahead of time.Of course if you just press the record button on the remote to record what's on screen, that takes 1 second.
The rewind and fast forward speed (when just rewinding tape for example without viewing the picture) is slow compared to other vcr's I've had. However, in light of how many vcr's eat up tapes and how many tapes have snapped, I believe that Sanyo purposely reduced the speed for tape safety reasons to prevent the destruction of the tape. It would take a few minutes to rewind a tape though.
Sanyo makes the 700 and 800 series vcr's. The 800's are the cheaper ones and I don't recommend them - too many problems. The 700's are better. The model # 710 sanyo retailed for $229.00. This 700 Sanyo vcr looks and acts more like the 710. It does not look like the 800's. I'm telling you this because I don't know what the original cost of this machine was, I got it as a gift, brand new in the box.
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MY BUYING ADVICE ON VCRS.
In my own buying experience, Panasonic and Toshiba's have held well for 10 years of use. Sharp makes one with a super sharp picture function which plays older vcr tapes better. Some people rave about Sony, but some reviews on the web say some models are better than others and reliability / durability have been the main problems. The off brands are usually not good - stick to major brands.
Look for vcrs that have hi-fi sound, not mono sound, with or without self cleaning heads, can record and play in at least 2 speeds, (fast and slow) sp/slp or sp/ep, has a remote,manual and are new or not too old, or old but lightly used. The older ones are built better.
These stand alone vcrs play much better and hold up much longer than the vcr drives in the dvd/vcr combos. They are not that difficult to hook up to a cable box,digital converter box and are still the cheapest way to record shows. Vcr tapes are 99 cents now. And can hold 6 to 8 hours of recordings.
I personally have two vcr's, (one sanyo, one sharp) one sony dvd player, all connected and hooked up to a digital converter box and a Sony Trinitron Tube TV. And all work perfectly. if you have any other questions about vcr's, buying, operations or connections, please , email me at abcsoaps@cs.com.
Final Note:
Vcr's play okay on the newer digital tv's, but play much better on an old analog tv that was designed for it. Of course if you're a dvd person all of this is null and void for ya. But remember when Dvd's are scratched or get finger prints on them, they malfunction too.
Good luck.
Sanyo 710 VCR
Recommended:
Yes, but for a much lower price.
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Sanyo VWM-710 Hi-Fi 4 Head Hi-Fi Stereo VCR Video Cassette Recorder with TV Guardian Feature (NO MANUAL INCLUDED, BRAND NEW VCR & REMOTE ONLY)Product Description: TVG Technology: Foul language Filtering Technology. Auto Head Cleaner. Front A/V Inputs. 19 Micron Head H-Fi
Buy cheap Sanyo VWM-710 Hi-Fi 4 Head Hi-Fi Stereo VCR Video Cassette Recorder with TV Guardian Feature (NO MANUAL INCLUDED, BRAND NEW VCR & REMOTE ONLY) now
I bought this unit simply to record to tape from CD, since I still have a tape player in my work truck. Once I figured out the control keys from the skimpy 'Instruction Manual' I actually was able to record a cassette. Unfortunately, when I play it back, the sound is distorted, with hiss, wobbly sound, and what sounds like old AM radio static. Songs with drums on track two (voice on track one) sound like tick-tack noises. Also, there is no semblance of bass/treble, just a mushy mix. I have recorded lots of cassettes on a Sony boombox that I had for 10 years (cost $99), but the SC-712 is not even close in recorded sound quality.
