Decent new SVHS Decks...can you still get them? at DVinfo.net

Mike McKay · February 2nd, 2006, 01:55 AM

I need an SVHS deck for legal stuff (for the cheap old lawyers that won't buy a dvd player I guess) but all I can find new that's listed as "professional" is this JVC SR-V101US S-VHS VCR for like $270 on B&H. Looks very consumerish and cheap, does anybody know if they work. I know VHS is long dead, but I dread buying a used one from the "old days" when they made proper pro SVHS decks, 'cause who knows what it's been through.

Doug Boze · February 2nd, 2006, 02:06 AM

All I can say is don't get one of those JVC ("the inventor of VHS", as they boast) quasi-SVHS VCRs. I had two. If they lasted a combined 3 months I'll pay your mortgage.

On a related note, would you like to have the remote, dust door and pinch roller from the last one I had...? It sort of had a rage-related disassembly...

There is, or was, a very well-respected Panasonic S-VHS deck, the AG-1980. If ever there was one most likely to succeed, that's it.

Stupid profit-oriented lawyers. Tell them to stop living in the past, like so much case-law, and advance to DVD!

Either that or, if you can't beat them, join them. My last experience with a lawyer "working" for me was long period of apparent inactivity (well, he was busy with vacations) and silence punctuated with terse notes in reply to my questions on progress. These were followed up by bills for the notes. The death of a thousand cuts. Do this to them and they'll eventually come around to DVD...

Mike McKay · February 2nd, 2006, 02:20 AM

Damn, that bad huh! Stupid lawyers! I guess I'll have to hit Ebay and see what I can find. Did you actually have the model I quoted and they lasted less than three months???

K. Forman · February 2nd, 2006, 04:59 AM

Hey Doug... I bought a JVC SVHS 2 years ago at Circuit City, off the display shelf. It still works fine. Make that check to Ameriquest... ;)

Doug Boze · February 2nd, 2006, 05:58 AM

Mike, that wasn't my model, but hey, they change designations every 60 days. My brother and I have the same JVC DVD player, but you wouldn't know it to look at them.

Keith, the Law of Averages is your patron Saint. A thousand blessings upon your dome. How you rated this is beyond the realm of conjecture (religion or politics). Keep up the payments!

My ancient Sony SLV-whatever, a demo unit from Magnolia Hi-Fi of Tacoma, Washington, some 16 years ago, still produces better pictures than I ever got with JVC's so-called "quasi-S-VHS" format. All I have to do is open it up once every five years, remove the arm assembly that sweeps the tape into the pinch roller, and lube it.

The vacuum-flourescent display is getting a bit unbalanced, but the VCR is on 24/7. Has been for most of the past decade. What a machine! Can't buy this quality at the level it once represented.

How sad.

I also wonder what became of the Sony 1/2" reel-to-reel VTR I operated in junior high. That was a dab-hand unit! I remember my buddy and I cynically and sarcastically dubbing the Reagan-Carter debate with it. If we didn't overwrite it, the NSA no doubt has it now.

Alas, he died in Guam. That means I'm for it. I'll haunt your grave, Mike!

K. Forman · February 2nd, 2006, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Boze

Keith, the Law of Averages is your patron Saint. A thousand blessings upon your dome. How you rated this is beyond the realm of conjecture (religion or politics). Keep up the payments!

He don't know me vewy well...hee hee hee! What a flimsy way to get out of paying up Doug!

Peter Ferling · February 2nd, 2006, 08:18 AM

If your buying on ebay, the Pany pro-line SVHS's are good decks. I still have and use and old AG-1970. It's out lived many Sony's not even half it's age.

I know VHS is a dead format, but I still have a library of tapes, and on occassion, have used material from them for multimedia stuff.

K. Forman · February 2nd, 2006, 08:37 AM

Just to clerify things, I have a JVC HR S3911U I bought 2 or 3 years ago. It was the absolute last SVHS deck in town, at a price I could afford- I think it got dropped to like $99 because it was the display model. I will admit it doesn't get used as much as it used to, but it still works fine.

Mike McKay · February 2nd, 2006, 12:28 PM

Thanks folks, some interesting info to consider. For the price (and hopefully a one year warranty), I might take my chances on one of these new-fangled SVHS decks.

Steve McDonald · February 2nd, 2006, 03:22 PM

Well, how fortunate for you. JVC produces a model that is tailor-made for your purposes. It's the HR-DVS3U, a dual-deck DV/S-VHS VCR. You can put a DV tape in one side and dub it internally to S-VHS. I paid $700. for mine 20 months ago and it has performed without a glitch. It does remarkably well in playing my 17-year old S-VHS tapes, for dubbing onto DV, for archiving. It faultlessly plays the DV tapes I've recorded in my Sony DV VCR and camcorder, even those on LP. It communicates with my computer and obeys its commands. JVC makes a pro model of this for about $200. more, that will play DVCAM tapes, but it doesn't record S-VHS on EP or S-VHS ET and has no tuner, as does the DVS3U.

You can probably find one of those excellent Panasonic 1980 S-VHS decks from an online dealer, but it will likely cost about $1,000. or more and wouldn't have the internal DV-dubbing capability.

Peter Ferling · February 2nd, 2006, 05:41 PM

Good point Steve. I think we paid around $6500 for the AG-1970 many years ago. Still $1000 is a bit much for SVHS, I'd rather go with the DV combo. In fact, I'm placing this into my budget, I have to dump our VHS library, and much of the betaSP masters no-longer exist. I was planning on dubbing the good stuff with the video toaster direct to cam, but this would be cheaper/easier.

Ray Boltz · February 5th, 2006, 11:37 PM

Mike,
The JVC SR-V101US S-VHS should work for you. I have one, and have never had any problems with it.
To clarify quasi-S-VHS. It isn't S-VHS. It is a VHS VCR that can read a S-VHS tape, but only output it in VHS quality. Some of the newer DVD/VHS recorders/players employ quasi-S-VHS because some people may have tapes that were recorded years ago in S-VHS, and need to copy them to DVD for safe keeping.

Bob Grant · February 6th, 2006, 06:40 AM

I've got a JVC HR-S599OAM, real S-VHS, records and plays PAL and NTSC and some SECAM as well. Worked OK for several years but not heavy use.
I think Panasonic still make a S-VHS deck for the medical fraternity, they're even tighter than the legal mob.
I think JVC also have a model with a TBC inbuilt, the local national carrier bought around 100 for their OB vans (3 or 4 per van) and mostly they're still working a few years later.

Seabrook Jones · February 8th, 2006, 10:07 PM

fry's still sells consumer svhs decks cheeeep -120-150 or get one of those JVC combo minidv/svhs ones w/firewire + the works for 800...

Randy Rogers · February 9th, 2006, 09:23 PM

I have two JVC HR-8007UM decks that I purchased new a few years ago for around $100 each. I just need them for occasional transfers from tape to tape or the occasional VHS transfer that I capture to my harddrive. They've both held up just fine and I am pleased with them. Obviously, for $100 you can't expect much - but I think they work just as well as the earlier models that cost a lot more at the time.

Having said this - your choices and availability is becoming so limited anymore (just check the shelves at your local electronics outlet!). If you don't own a reliable deck, you might want to get one now while a few models are still on the shelf - even if you don't foresee getting much use out of it in the future. It's not a bad $100 (-) investment that could really come in handy.

Randy

February 2nd, 2006, 01:55 AM	#1
Mike McKay Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Vancouver Posts: 125	Decent new SVHS Decks...can you still get them? I need an SVHS deck for legal stuff (for the cheap old lawyers that won't buy a dvd player I guess) but all I can find new that's listed as "professional" is this JVC SR-V101US S-VHS VCR for like $270 on B&H. Looks very consumerish and cheap, does anybody know if they work. I know VHS is long dead, but I dread buying a used one from the "old days" when they made proper pro SVHS decks, 'cause who knows what it's been through.

February 2nd, 2006, 02:06 AM	#2
Doug Boze Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Auburn, Washington Posts: 218	All I can say is don't get one of those JVC ("the inventor of VHS", as they boast) quasi-SVHS VCRs. I had two. If they lasted a combined 3 months I'll pay your mortgage. On a related note, would you like to have the remote, dust door and pinch roller from the last one I had...? It sort of had a rage-related disassembly... There is, or was, a very well-respected Panasonic S-VHS deck, the AG-1980. If ever there was one most likely to succeed, that's it. Stupid profit-oriented lawyers. Tell them to stop living in the past, like so much case-law, and advance to DVD! Either that or, if you can't beat them, join them. My last experience with a lawyer "working" for me was long period of apparent inactivity (well, he was busy with vacations) and silence punctuated with terse notes in reply to my questions on progress. These were followed up by bills for the notes. The death of a thousand cuts. Do this to them and they'll eventually come around to DVD... __________________ "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin, 1759

February 2nd, 2006, 04:59 AM	#4
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Hey Doug... I bought a JVC SVHS 2 years ago at Circuit City, off the display shelf. It still works fine. Make that check to Ameriquest... ;) __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

February 2nd, 2006, 05:58 AM	#5
Doug Boze Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Auburn, Washington Posts: 218	Mike, that wasn't my model, but hey, they change designations every 60 days. My brother and I have the same JVC DVD player, but you wouldn't know it to look at them. Keith, the Law of Averages is your patron Saint. A thousand blessings upon your dome. How you rated this is beyond the realm of conjecture (religion or politics). Keep up the payments! My ancient Sony SLV-whatever, a demo unit from Magnolia Hi-Fi of Tacoma, Washington, some 16 years ago, still produces better pictures than I ever got with JVC's so-called "quasi-S-VHS" format. All I have to do is open it up once every five years, remove the arm assembly that sweeps the tape into the pinch roller, and lube it. The vacuum-flourescent display is getting a bit unbalanced, but the VCR is on 24/7. Has been for most of the past decade. What a machine! Can't buy this quality at the level it once represented. How sad. I also wonder what became of the Sony 1/2" reel-to-reel VTR I operated in junior high. That was a dab-hand unit! I remember my buddy and I cynically and sarcastically dubbing the Reagan-Carter debate with it. If we didn't overwrite it, the NSA no doubt has it now. Alas, he died in Guam. That means I'm for it. I'll haunt your grave, Mike! __________________ "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin, 1759

February 2nd, 2006, 08:37 AM	#8
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Just to clerify things, I have a JVC HR S3911U I bought 2 or 3 years ago. It was the absolute last SVHS deck in town, at a price I could afford- I think it got dropped to like $99 because it was the display model. I will admit it doesn't get used as much as it used to, but it still works fine. __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

February 2nd, 2006, 02:20 AM	#3
Mike McKay Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Vancouver Posts: 125	Damn, that bad huh! Stupid lawyers! I guess I'll have to hit Ebay and see what I can find. Did you actually have the model I quoted and they lasted less than three months???

February 2nd, 2006, 08:18 AM	#7
Peter Ferling Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wyomissing, PA Posts: 1,141 Images: 57	If your buying on ebay, the Pany pro-line SVHS's are good decks. I still have and use and old AG-1970. It's out lived many Sony's not even half it's age. I know VHS is a dead format, but I still have a library of tapes, and on occassion, have used material from them for multimedia stuff.

February 2nd, 2006, 12:28 PM	#9
Mike McKay Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Vancouver Posts: 125	Thanks folks, some interesting info to consider. For the price (and hopefully a one year warranty), I might take my chances on one of these new-fangled SVHS decks.

February 2nd, 2006, 03:22 PM	#10
Steve McDonald Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 366	Well, how fortunate for you. JVC produces a model that is tailor-made for your purposes. It's the HR-DVS3U, a dual-deck DV/S-VHS VCR. You can put a DV tape in one side and dub it internally to S-VHS. I paid $700. for mine 20 months ago and it has performed without a glitch. It does remarkably well in playing my 17-year old S-VHS tapes, for dubbing onto DV, for archiving. It faultlessly plays the DV tapes I've recorded in my Sony DV VCR and camcorder, even those on LP. It communicates with my computer and obeys its commands. JVC makes a pro model of this for about $200. more, that will play DVCAM tapes, but it doesn't record S-VHS on EP or S-VHS ET and has no tuner, as does the DVS3U. You can probably find one of those excellent Panasonic 1980 S-VHS decks from an online dealer, but it will likely cost about $1,000. or more and wouldn't have the internal DV-dubbing capability. __________________ Steve McDonald

February 2nd, 2006, 05:41 PM	#11
Peter Ferling Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wyomissing, PA Posts: 1,141 Images: 57	Good point Steve. I think we paid around $6500 for the AG-1970 many years ago. Still $1000 is a bit much for SVHS, I'd rather go with the DV combo. In fact, I'm placing this into my budget, I have to dump our VHS library, and much of the betaSP masters no-longer exist. I was planning on dubbing the good stuff with the video toaster direct to cam, but this would be cheaper/easier.

February 5th, 2006, 11:37 PM	#12
Ray Boltz Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Clifton Park, NY Posts: 50	Mike, The JVC SR-V101US S-VHS should work for you. I have one, and have never had any problems with it. To clarify quasi-S-VHS. It isn't S-VHS. It is a VHS VCR that can read a S-VHS tape, but only output it in VHS quality. Some of the newer DVD/VHS recorders/players employ quasi-S-VHS because some people may have tapes that were recorded years ago in S-VHS, and need to copy them to DVD for safe keeping.

February 6th, 2006, 06:40 AM	#13
Bob Grant Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,570	I've got a JVC HR-S599OAM, real S-VHS, records and plays PAL and NTSC and some SECAM as well. Worked OK for several years but not heavy use. I think Panasonic still make a S-VHS deck for the medical fraternity, they're even tighter than the legal mob. I think JVC also have a model with a TBC inbuilt, the local national carrier bought around 100 for their OB vans (3 or 4 per van) and mostly they're still working a few years later.

February 8th, 2006, 10:07 PM	#14
Seabrook Jones New Boot Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 5	fry's still sells 'em cheeeep fry's still sells consumer svhs decks cheeeep -120-150 or get one of those JVC combo minidv/svhs ones w/firewire + the works for 800...

February 9th, 2006, 09:23 PM	#15
Randy Rogers New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea Posts: 18	I have two JVC HR-8007UM decks that I purchased new a few years ago for around $100 each. I just need them for occasional transfers from tape to tape or the occasional VHS transfer that I capture to my harddrive. They've both held up just fine and I am pleased with them. Obviously, for $100 you can't expect much - but I think they work just as well as the earlier models that cost a lot more at the time. Having said this - your choices and availability is becoming so limited anymore (just check the shelves at your local electronics outlet!). If you don't own a reliable deck, you might want to get one now while a few models are still on the shelf - even if you don't foresee getting much use out of it in the future. It's not a bad $100 (-) investment that could really come in handy. Randy