Panasonic NV-FS88EE worth buying?
 

I am about to pay a visit to someone who sells the VCR in question, however I need some advice on what to look for :)

For example from the attached pictures I don't see a TBC switch or indication, unlike on the NV-FS200. Maybe I misunderstood that the NV-FS88 and NV-FS200 are almost identical or the TBC is what makes them "almost identical" :)

Any clues will be much appreciated.

Regards,
FP

FS88 has no TBC. I consider that unit worthless.

non-TBC Panasonic are not really that good, unlike non-TBC JVCs.

Sounds like this extends over the FS100 as well?

The FS88 is the same as the FS200 just without the TBC (see e.g the service manual for it.). The FS100 is a bit older.

I wouldn't say a non-TBC unit is worthless, you just need to use something external for the line-TBC function instead. Since it shares almost everything with the FS200 it could be used for replacement parts for it too.

Like chaining my two ES10s after it, one in line TBC mode and the other in frame mode? Or is this a complete herecy? I think my lack of any video related background is obvious :wink2:

Yes, the two machines are identical. the fs-88 is missing the tbc unit. Use one of the recommended dvd recorders in passthrough mode and be happy.

Not much point in chaining two of them, the second one won't do anything useful, you can't adjust the TBC on them, it's always active. Using it with one ES10 is a decent option though (just be vary of the brightness clipping issues with the ES10 and other PAL Panasonic DVRs).