(MONEY Magazine) – If you're one of the 13 million americans shopping for a VCR this year, listen up. After canvassing technical experts, Money learned that the smart buy is smack in the middle of the price scale -- a VHS VCR that costs $300 to $400. Here's why:

Bargain models priced under $300 -- which accounted for $2 billion of the $3 billion spent for VCRs in the U.S. last year -- are rarely worth the deal. Many have only two so-called video heads, when four are really needed for crisp images. And inexpensive machines that do have four heads tend to be stripped-down models without such desirable features as stereo sound. The cheapos, says Gerry McCann, an electronics technician from Metairie, La., are "only for people who don't give a hoot about quality and convenience."

At the high end, VCRs in the $500 -- plus range are probably too much of a good thing. If, like most consumers, you want a VCR to tape TV shows and play rental movies, then the high-priced models provide options you'll never use -- like a flying erase head that lets you patch two video frames together with less picture distortion. "Many expensive models have five video heads that are really just for folks who do heavy editing," says McCann.

Alternatively, pricey S-VHS and Hi8 designs costing $600 to $1,500 do have better picture quality than other VCRs. That's because they deliver up to 500 lines of resolution per screen (the lines that reproduce fine details of TV images), compared with 250 lines for top VHS VCRs. But broadcast television is transmitted at 330 lines per screen, and most sets can display only 300.

The smart solution, then, is to aim for the value sweet spot-between $300 and $400-where VHS price and quality converge. You'll get all the fancy gizmos you want without paying for features you won't use. Other buying tips:

-- Select a model with four heads. We'll spare you the technical details. But suffice it to say that four heads are better than two. Not only is picture fidelity improved, especially in slow-motion and freeze-frame modes, but "four-head models for over $300 come with lots of useful standard features," says Lance Braithwaite, technical editor at Video Magazine. For example, JVC's HR-A61U ($380) has extended power backup that will store clock and timer data in cases of electrical failure.

-- Insist on stereo sound. Units without stereo capability record along a tape's thin outer edge, which often turns the sound "muddy." Stereo or so-called hi-fi VCRs lay down audio tracks across the width of the tape, under the video signals, producing CD-quality sound (assuming you have a stereo TV). To record and play back high fidelity, a VCR must have two separate audio heads-usually not counted when salespeople talk about the video two- and four-head features. Make sure your four-head model actually has four video heads as well as two audio heads for stereo capability.

-- Shop for special features. "Prices have fallen 11% in five years," says Braithwaite. "And the options are 20 times better." So you can get features on a $300 to $400 model that used to be found only on more expensive machines-like the $500 Sony SLV-780HF (above). Among the options: jog-shuttle control, which moves the tape at a variety of speeds from frame-by-frame to fast-forward; go-to feature, which quickly finds a stretch of blank tape to begin new recording; and VCR Plus, the failproof way to tape a program. All you do is key in a short code that you'll find printed next to the show in TV guide listings. When it was first available in 1992, VCR Plus could be found only on models costing $600 or more. Now you can reap its benefits on GE's VG4239 ($380). --Amanda Walmac