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JVC's DR-MV7S VCR / DVD combo recorder promises to upscale VHS
Although we're huge fans of convergence around here -- i.e. packing as many functions as possible into a single device -- our love of feature-creep has never extended to VCR / DVD combo units which, with double the amount of mechanical parts, make them twice as likely to end up at the repair shop or in your attic. Well there must still be some consumer demand out there for these disasters waiting to happen, as manufacturers continue to crank them out, always looking for a way to differentiate their device from countless others. We haven't really seen too much innovation in this space for awhile, but now JVC has broken out a new unit called the DR-MV7S that not only does recording on both sides of the divide (including DVD+R and DVD-R), it actually promises to upscale your crappy old VHS tapes for better viewing on that HDTV set. The engineers at JVC must really be some miracle workers, because the MV7S's internal scaling chip apparently cranks those old home movies up to 720p or 1080i over an HDMI connection, allowing you to relive embarrassing moments from your past with even greater clarity. Other nice touches on this $270 wonder include MP3, WMA, and DivX support, bidirectional dubbing between DVD and VHS, and an iLink input for transferring newer, slightly-less humiliating footage from your DV camcorder. Supposedly this model is available immediately, but with such lofty and untested ambitions, we'd follow HDBeat's advice and make sure you buy one from a store with a long return period and no restocking fee.[Via HDBeat]
