It is OK.
The ugly, the good and the very good ones were from the "older" generation, like Pan 950 with amorphous heads, etc....
But because of the costs, uneducated junk-food stuffed, rapped(music) mass consumer( who would not understand and/or see the difference between top Q-ty VHS or SVHS desk and and supermarket brand !!???....), most of the new ones are cheaper compromise...
( I have searched to find my "discontinued" JVC HR-S9700 about a month, well worth!!...)
They do not do this Quality any more!
It will do the job, it is still Panasonic...