Allie gets some bedroom action (LG LV 200)

Member Name:

Product:	LG LV 200
Date:	07/07/02 (1003 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great budget model

Disadvantages: Mono sound

I like a bit of action in the bedroom, especially if it involves Bruce Willis. So when we changed to Digital television and Telewest said they were going to charge us £15 a month for the extra cable box in the bedroom, I was not amused.

So there I was, no cable box, no aerial, just a sad television sitting useless in the corner and no boudoir action at all.

It was during a particularly bad bout of insomnia that I decided to take action and get my bedroom entertainment back on track. In the middle of the night I took a trip to my local Big W (they were open 24 hours a day in December), and bought a new VCR.

I walked in, found a pallet full of the cheapest video recorders they had, picked one up, paid for it, and was at home setting it up in under half an hour! The model was an LG Electronics LV200, and it cost me just £59.99.

It’s a surprisingly snazzy machine for the price, I have to say, and I have been very pleasantly surprised. It is a silver model, very attractive and not at all clunky-looking. The front is relatively free of clutter, apart from the control buttons, which are arranged in a circle off to one side of the machine, and the on/off power button. Aesthetically speaking, it is rather pleasing and minimalist looking.

It comes with a remote control and plays and records in both standard and long play modes. For an extra twenty quid I could have had a model with video plus, for ease of recording, but as I intended it purely as a second “playback” machine, and it won’t be connected to an aerial anyway, I didn’t think the extra expense was warranted.

As a budget model, however, it is remarkably feature-packed, but this is something I have come to expect from LG – they really do provide good quality electronics at excellent prices.

The box contained everything I needed to get started, including a scart lead and a battery for the remote control – tha
t’s always a plus point in my view. It’s up and running with no messing and no hunting through drawers for old batteries with just enough juice left to power up the remote.

It was a doddle to set up. It’s pretty much “plug and play” and has an automatic channel search mode, so it tunes into television stations automatically.

It has on screen display, which means you don’t have to lie on the floor on your belly squinting at the little LCD screen to see what the heck is going on.

The menu system is surprisingly easy to navigate, both for setting up and controlling the picture modes, sound, colour balance etc, and setting the timer.

This model also has automatic tracking, so it will adjust the picture accordingly, and I have found this feature works very well, even when there is tape wear. A feature called Optimum Picture Response (OPR), improves playback picture quality on older tapes by allowing you to manually soften or sharpen the image, and this is particularly useful to me because I love my collection of vintage 80s films.

There is a still picture function, the usual fast forward and rewind and scan functions and a “commercial message skip” button, which fast forwards from 30 to 180 seconds, depending on the number of times you press it. This is obviously for fast forwarding through those annoying advert breaks.

There are also the usual child locks and on screen time and date display, digital tape counter, time of tape elapsed, and, more importantly, amount of tape left (so you shouldn’t get those annoying recordings where your tape runs out five minutes before the end of the programme).

The LV200 has an instant “one touch” record feature and a seven event one month timer, which is easy to use and also uses on-screen display.

It also has “EZ Repeat”, a button which rewinds the video and replays a particular po
rtion of the tape if you select it……very useful for those all-important Mel Gibson quick butt flash moments ;O).

The video is a two head, PAL VHS model, has a scart socket, and is wide screen 16:9 compatible. It has an automatic memory power shut-off, which means it allows you to choose to switch the VCR power off automatically after it has rewound a tape or completed recording.

All the features available on the video are accessible via the remote control, including tape eject and power off, which is useful for a model you intend to use in the bedroom. The remote is very good quality and works well from all angles. Cheaper remotes tend to be directionally very limited, but this one does not suffer that problem.

It has the “video doctor” system, a self-diagnostic program that tells you when the heads need cleaning or the tape has protection tabs in place

What makes this a brilliant video for the bedroom, though, is the power off timer, and the EZ Power Off button on the remote. You can either programme the video to switch itself off after a certain time, or when a tape has finished playing and rewinding. Or by pressing just one button, you can stop your tape, rewind it, eject it and power the machine down. This is great for when you are watching a film and decide you want to drop off to sleep.

The unit only measures 360mm x 94mm x 270mm and weighs just 3.4kg. It makes an ideal second player, or would be very good for a child’s room.

The picture and sound quality are surprisingly good for such a budget model of VCR. Although it only provides mono sound, the quality is good and clear, and can be turned up quite loud without distorting. The picture is pin sharp on both home recorded and pre-recorded tapes and it handles my older videotapes very well.

The VCR comes with a year’s manufacturer’s warranty and an easy to follow manual.

Technical Stuff
:

 Power Consumption: 14 watts, or 3 watts in energy saving mode.

 Max recording time 4 hours in standard play, 8 hours in long play mode.

 Rewind time approximately 180 seconds for an E-180 tape.

 Power 200 – 240 volts – 50 Hz

 Audio/visual in/out scart sockets and standard aerial socket.

 Automatic switching between full screen 4:3 and wide screen 16:9 playback (provided scart cable is used).

I have used LG branded goods before; most notably a microwave oven and a CD-Rom drive in for my computer. I have been very impressed with the build quality, reliability and longevity of the products I have used, and this video appears to be no exception. They seem to be able to deliver good quality, nicely featured products at cheap prices.

So, now I have all the action I can handle in the bedroom – I can turn on Bruce Willis at the flick of a switch. And if I’m in the mood for a little romance, Heath Ledger is my current bedtime companion of choice! Well, at least until Mr Chuckle moves in ;O)

Thanks for the read!

Alliechuckle xx

 ajools/alliechuckle 2002

Summary: