( 5 reviews )
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Posted: Apr 9 2009
The JVC SR-MV45 is a combo SVHS/DVD-R unit, marketed by the people at JVC as a part of their "Professional" line of equipment. And while it's not a bad piece of gear, and I use it quite successfully in my work, in its design, features and execution its quite far from "pro". For instance: -it has no meters, or any indication that audio is present at the inputs; -it has no headphone jack to allow a user to monitor audio; -it has an IEEE-1394 (FireWire) port, but the port only works as an input (unlike many other JVC units, where the port is bi-directional). Thus, the unit can't be used for the primary purpose I'd like to use it for, which is to transfer VHS/SVHS videotapes into my editing system. For this, I have to use one of the video outputs routed through an A-to-D converter box. A very stupid omission. -and on the subject of inputs and outputs...the unit has a paucity of those, certainly not enough to hook it into a professional system, where you'd want outputs to connect (a) into the system, and (b) into a monitor. And one of the outputs is DVD-only, further limiting one's choice when integrating the unit into a pro edit system. Additionally, the VHS transport is not of pro quality, being very lightweight and made mostly of plastic. OK, so what are the good points? Well, the FireWire input lets me make digital DVD dubs directly from my edit system. It has front inputs (S-vid, composite and stereo audio). It has some nifty dubbing functions to let you copy tapes to DVD-R easily. And, it has a raft of on-board features to program DVD tracks and chapters...things I would never do in a million years on a DVD-R machine, because there's much easier and better ways to do that in DVD authoring programs. Thanks anyway, JVC. So in summation...this is a unit that performs as expected, if you don't expect too much as a professional. I bought it because SVHS decks of any kind are becoming a rare breed; and frankly, I was duped by the product description, which didn't really stress that the FireWire connection was INPUT ONLY (I'd owned a previous unit, the SR-VS20U, which had a bi-directional FW connection).
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Posted: Jul 14 2008
I was almost scared off by the negative reviews. Maybe they are trolls, maybe it was a sample problem. I happy I wasn't, though. I have a bunch of S-VHS and VHS tapes of stuff which I needed to transfer to DVD. I've DUB'ed about 10 VHS tapes so far. It's very convenient, 'cause it can automatically adjust the recording time to suit the tape length. Really just put in a DVD-R and a tape and push the DUBB button... The recording quality is good -- the TBC seems to do a good job of cleaning up the source if there are problems with that. If there are multiple recordings on the tape, it creates a new track for each one. After finalizing, it auto-chapters every 5 minutes. So, in summary, it seems well built, is convenient to use and does a good job.
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Posted: Mar 15 2008
The many other reviews condemning this line of products is true. I recently purchased one of these, and had to return it because it didn't work right out of the box. I returned the next one within two weeks for suddenly shutting down in the middle of recording. I returned it and got a third unit, which failed in the exact same way one day before the 30 day guarantee expired! I have also spoken with other video professionals who have been disappointed by this unit (in its various names and model numbers). There is something seriously wrong with the design of this machine, and JVC should not be selling these machines at all.
