HOME ENTERTAINMENT : Some Tips to Help Santa Deliver the Right VCR

VCRs are one of the most popular Christmas gifts. If you’re going out shopping for a machine in the VHS format, here are some guidelines.

There are two basic types of record/playback machines--one with two heads and mono sound and one with four heads and stereo sound. The price separation is based partly on this distinction.

Prices have dropped again this year. Finding a basic two-headed VCR for $150-$175 isn’t unusual anymore. You can also find stereo VCRs discounted as low as $250, though most are in the $300-$400 range.

The No. 1 thing to remember when you’re VCR shopping is that spending more money doesn’t mean getting a better picture. The difference between a $200 VCR and a $350 VCR isn’t the quality of the picture but the quality of the sound--mono vs. stereo.

The extra heads on the four-headed machine mean crisper special effects, like freeze-frame and fast-forward. Those extra heads will cost about $50. You can find four-headed mono machines, but most four-headed VCRs are also stereo units.

The more money you pay the more features you get--like more extensive programming capabilities. But if you’re buying a stereo VCR, remember that features on the $400-$500 machine are extraneous for most people but handy for those who do a lot of editing.

The low-end VCRs are better than they were a few years ago because features that were once limited to high-end machines have become fairly standard, like on-screen programming and digital tracking (automatic adjustments for visual noise and off-center pictures). Many inexpensive VCRs also have self-cleaning heads, a handy feature for those who rent a lot of tapes.

If you want the best, there’s the S-VHS format. Most of these machines are in the $550 to $1,000 range and can go as high as $2,000. But you need a high-resolution TV and a high-resolution source, like an expensive camcorder, to make it worthwhile. Don’t buy one of these machines thinking that it will make the basic VHS tape look better, because it won’t.

If the VCR is a surprise gift, make sure you find out something about the audio system of the recipient. For those who just need a new VCR, it’s wise to wait until the post-Christmas sales, the best time to buy a VCR. At last year’s sales, prudent shoppers could find VCRs for as low as $130.

Which brand to buy?

After consulting with salesmen and repairmen, most said that in stereo models, Mitsubishi and Sony were the best. In the two-headed VCR market, RCA, Panasonic and GE were most often recommended. Best buys: in stereo, GE’s VG4210 ($300) and in mono, GE’s VG4029 ($250).

Bobbitt Video

In the adult video market, “John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut” (Leisure Time Communications, $50) is a phenomenon. Retailers report that this hard-core porn movie is renting and selling better than any title in many years and should continue to be a hit for years to come.

The lure, of course, is Bobbitt, whose sex organ was cut off by his wife and then surgically reattached. This was such a celebrated incident that even those who wouldn’t normally look at hard-core porn are renting the Bobbitt tape to satisfy their curiosity about his post-surgical condition.

There’s not much of a story in this one--just a crude re-enactment of the maiming and sex sequences with eight women, which demonstrate that the surgery was a success.

Music Videos

Three music videos are just out that are shoo-ins to make the Top 5 of the Billboard music video sales chart in the next few weeks:

The best of the three and one of the best of the year is Nirvana’s “Live! Tonite! Sold Out!,” an 83-minute video featuring wacky home videos and 15 songs, including “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Among the sequences, which were shot around the world, is footage of a Dallas show ruined by a riot. For fans, this video is much better than that comparatively tame “MTV Unplugged” show. This tape captures the band, led by the late Kurt Cobain, at its raw, ragged, unpredictable best. From Geffen, at $25.

Though not as riveting as the Nirvana video, the Eagles’ “Hell Freezes Over” should thoroughly delight fans of the pop-rock band that reunited early this year after splitting up 14 years ago. This 99-minute video is mostly the concert that was shown on MTV, beefed up with interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and two bonus tunes, “Help Me Through the Night” and “The Heart of the Matter.” From Geffen at $25.

Janet Jackson’s “janet.” is incredibly slick--but that’s what we’ve come to expect from her. This 70-minute video includes footage from rehearsals and video shoots as well as videos of songs from her “janet.” album. It aims to be intimate but it misses the mark. Still, true Jackson fans will undoubtedly find it very entertaining. From Virgin, at $20.

Upcoming: “Swing, Swing, Swing” (MGM/UA, $15), a 122-minute compilation of big-band numbers filmed in the 1930s, out Wednesday. . . . Also just out, “Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994,” a first-rate, 80-minute career retrospective, with clips of his greatest hits, plus several new numbers. From PolyGram, at $20. . . . No. 1 on the Billboard music chart, Barbra Streisand’s “The Concert” (SMW, $25).

Special Interest

Last April, the Pope hosted a concert at the Vatican that was both a Holocaust memorial and a salute to the state of Israel. A 90-minute video, “The Papal Concert to Commemorate the Holocaust,” features the show--Gilbert Levine conducting the London Philharmonic--as well as footage of the preparation. A stirring, moving video, from Rhino, at $20.

Babies do get a kick out of looking at other babies, which is the premise of the video “Babymugs,” a 25-minute compilation of footage of smiling babies. You’re supposed to watch it with your baby--and then watch your baby smile at those babies. It’s sort of a video toy for tots ranging from 3 months to about 2 years old. From Three Friends Productions, $15; (800) 772-MUGS.

“Lucky Vanous: The Ultimate Fat-Burning Workout” promises to be a hot fitness tape when it comes out Dec. 21 at $15. Vanous is the bare-chested construction worker who’s oogled by several women in those Diet Coke ads. CBS is betting women will want to see more of Vanous, who’s become something of a celebrity.