Matsui 14 inch TV and VCR

...what it was:-
THE MATSUI 14" COMBINED TV & VIDEO

I know a lot of people go for well known names such a Sony, Sharp, Bush etc. So I suppose you are wondering who the heck is Matsui.

Dixons store group, cover Currys and Dixons. Before the two stores merged Currys own brand was Saisho and Dixons own brand was Logic. When Dixons bought Currys out they merged their own brands and thus the new name own brand ...
...room. I have bought Matsui products before and have always found them to have a good long life above average. My Matsui video is still going strong and I must have had it five years or more.

So, okay I am a bit thick when it comes to buttons on machines. More than an On and OFF button confuses me.
When I was in the store looking at TV/Video combis each and every set I looked at seemed to have lots of buttons.
My heart ... more

I really hit on a bargain for once in my life.

Shall I tell you what it was:-
THE MATSUI 14" COMBINED TV & VIDEO

I know a lot of people go for well known names such a Sony, Sharp, Bush etc. So I suppose you are wondering who the heck is Matsui.

Dixons store group, cover Currys and Dixons. Before the two stores merged Currys own brand was Saisho and Dixons own brand was Logic. When Dixons bought Currys out they merged their own brands and thus the new name own brand Matsui was invented.

This may not be a well-known brand to many people, but because it is their own brand it is very reasonably priced, it enables more people from all walks of life to own and enjoy this TV/Video combi.
Curry's Price
£169.90 Is that a bargain or what.

Now this is small enough and light enough to be easily moved from room to room. I have bought Matsui products before and have always found them to have a good long life above average. My Matsui video is still going strong and I must have had it five years or more.

So, okay I am a bit thick when it comes to buttons on machines. More than an On and OFF button confuses me.
When I was in the store looking at TV/Video combis each and every set I looked at seemed to have lots of buttons.
My heart started racing, I was thinking to myself, heck I’ll never be able to use the set with all of these buttons. My husband immediately sensed what I was thinking and said to me when we get home I will explain what each button is for.
Once he explained to me in child like terms I did finally understand them. Here goes I will try to explain what they are all for.

First we have a main power switch. And then a power ON button. Now that’s easy.
There are volume up and down buttons, and channel selection up and down buttons. Simple.
On the video part there is the usual buttons . Stop. Eject tape. Rewind. Fast forward. Instant record and Play.

There are little lights on the front of the machine that show if you are in a stand by mode. Timer recording and Record OTR.

There is also a headphone socket that accepts a jack plug 3.5mm in size. That’s great when you're in bed and you don’t want to disturb your partner with the sound.
If of course you use this set in your bedroom. I do.

Now I have explained all of the buttons, I will tell you the good news. This set has a remote control. Great no need to get out of bed to change channels.

The remote control may not work if you are more than five metres away.

One thing you must remember is if you buy this particular TV/Video is that the remote control needs batteries it uses two AAA / RO3 / MN2400 size batteries.

With the remote control you can do exactly the same operations as you can with the main set buttons, and more.
There is a mute button so you can mute the sound instantly. (Great when the phone rings )
Another button lets you see the Date/Time/ Clock (24 hour) and the channel you are on.

A menu button lets you do a number of things, such as tuning in channels. Timer recording. Setting up a pin registration code. You can even choose which language that you would like your TV on screen display to be in
And much more.

Timer recording lets you set up your video so that it will record at preset times. The built in timer is so handy if you are going away on holiday and don’t want to miss your favourite soaps. It will allow you to tape up to eight programmes in one month.

One thing to remember if you haven’t set the clock on your TV/Video you cannot use the timer record feature.
If you have a power cut always remember to set the clock right again.

I know going on holiday can be stressful if you are worried about burglars breaking in and stealing your stuff. Matsui have given our poor minds a bit of peace though. They have put a security PIN protection that you can use and no one else can operate the machine unless they know the PIN number. I know you will have lost your TV/combi but at least the burglars won’t get any pleasure out of it.

There are facilities that enable you to alter the contrast, colour and sharpness on your set.

You can also set your TV to come on and go off at different times of the day.

Another great asset to this TV is that you can press a sleep button. Good if you're like me and fall asleep half way through a film. You can set this time to switch the set off for up to two hours.

When you want to record a film you can either just press record once and it will record straight through to the end of the tape (then rewind itself) pressing it twice records for 30 minutes. Three times = 1 hour. Four times = 1 and a half hours so forth and so on, or you can set it to record at a certain time and switch off at a certain time.

If you make a mistake when you are setting up what time to record and switch of it can be rectified.

You can record in short play or long play. Long play means you can get at least two films on one tape. (Depending whether you use a two or three hour tape etc) Only use VHS tapes.

There is also a counter button feature that shows how much time has passed by since you started recording your film.
When you have recorded a film or are watching a pre-recorded film this counter button is good especially if you want to go back and see a certain part of the film again. No more searching.

One down side to this particular set is that when you are recording you will only be able to watch the channel you are recording from, because it only has a single tuner.

It may be useful to know that if you want to be able to watch and record different channels at the same time you’ll need to have a twin tuner. I am not aware whether or not Matsui do a twin tuner version.

It has a built in auto head cleaner that means you don’t have to bother cleaning the heads as it does it itself.

This particular video has two heads which is pretty much standard for the price you are paying.

Another great bonus is that this set has teletext. I am not going to go into all of that though. As teletext has a lot to offer. As a short description I shall say it is like a large newspaper, you can read the news, see what is on TV, look for holidays and more.

You can with this TV/Video connect it to another video and duplicate tapes. Obviously if you are going to duplicate tapes there may be implications with copyright laws.

You can connect it to a video camera to duplicate a tape. In some cases when you duplicate a tape the picture quality may not always be as good as the original.

You can connect it to your satellite system using a 21 pin scart lead that gives an outstanding connection for good picture and sound quality.

I have got my set connected to the main house aerial so I get an excellent picture whether I am watching TV or films I have taped. I don’t know what kind of picture you would get if you used one of those little plug in aerials. You may need to buy a booster to enhance the quality of your picture if you are going to use a TV top aerial.

The volume goes up quite loud on this TV/combi even though it is not stereo. It is certainly loud enough if you are going to use it as a bedroom TV. I only have it just over the quarter mark on the volume bar.

The TV/Video combi is quite an attractive piece of equipment. If you can call TV’s attractive, as I have said it is only small so it does not over power your room. (You know what I mean. It doesn’t hit you in the face when you walk in the room kind of thing)
It is a lovely colour silver. It is not highly shiny it is more of a muted silver sheen.

Measurements and weight

Weight 12.8 kg
Height 382 mm
Width 362 mm
Depth 370.5 mm
Tube size 14 inches

There is an excellent instruction manual that comes with this set, which goes into more technical detail but, in saying that, it is easy to follow and understand.

If you have any problems installing or operating your set there is a customer helpline number.

08709 004088

I cannot compare this Matsui TV/Video combi to any other makes or models as I have never owned one before. What I can say is I looked at other models and a lot of the ones I looked at within a similar price range such as the GRUNDIG TV/Video combi that was £10 pound cheaper, but it just looked to squarish. A lot of them were black in colour that wouldn’t go with my bedroom as my bedroom is all cream. (That’s from a woman’s point of view).

I also knew that we couldn’t afford a stereo model, so I tested the volume on quite a few different models, and I found that the higher that you turned the volume the more distorted it became on some of them. I have not had this problem with the Matsui model.

Christmas is coming and if you are stuck for a present for your kids buy them this TV/video and a couple of films, it will keep them quiet for an hour while you're preparing the Christmas dinner.

Well that’s about it, my technical knowledge is exhausted - I’m off to watch a film. :0)

 

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