VCRs that will last forever

[dr.ido]

I was actually going through some of my old tapes last night and I was actually suprised at how good a picture VHS can do. Of course Laserdiscs (when in decent condition) and DVDs (except for those shitty cheapo DVDs made from VHS masters and then overly compressed) provide a better picture, but if like me you haven't actually watched a VHS tape for a while you may be surprised.

The other benefit of course is movies on VHS are now dirt cheap. Around here you can regularly pick up large boxes of VHS tapes (usually a mix of original and home recorded tapes) for a couple of bucks. Heh, if the tapes are old enough even the ads can be entertaining.

I usually pick up at least a couple of decent movies each week that have been left in the VCRs that come across my bench. There are usually a few DVDs stuck in players as well, but most of those aren't worth watching (those stay on the bench for testing).

Most of my VHS decks are relatively new (90s), I don't even remember the last time I saw an old tank come through. I do have a big old Umatic machine around here somewhere that I will get around to checking out one of these days.

[Telecolor 3007]

I have am 1985-86 "Panasonic" NV-630PX. I still use it (I enherited it 3 yrs ago). It can records on N.T.S.C. 3.58 too! The problem is that tuner is old (so I have to input signal from the tv, and the tv set have just 1 tuner, so the V.C.R. records what is on the tv screen) and it haves only 2 heads, so the image isn't too good. But the case is metal made (execept the front panel, which is plastic made) and it's an partial direct-drive V.C.R.
As soon as I can will repair my Betamax V.C.R. (an 1981-82 "Sony" SL-C7E, the first model with APS-Automatic Picture Search). The side I don't like about it is that the V.C.R. works only on P.A.L.
With all that the amatuer V.C.R.'s (V.H.S., S-V.H.S., Betamax, Video-2000) may not always provide a good image as such as a D.V.D. can, I love V.C.R.'s.
I'm sittin' and waiting for the moment when the Romanians will start to throu D.V.D. playres - I will love to jump on them and smash them with a sledge hammer - the V.C.R.'s will be revenge

[dr.ido]

Heh, just fix the DVD players (many have minor faults that are trivial to fix), sell them and buy more of the gear you want...

[vintagecollect]

I think I'm going to get one of my relatives one of these older VHS players. They keep fixing a 15 year old RCA VCR that's not worth it. They also don't want a DVD player since have large VHS movie collection.
Gave me a good idea.

[andy]

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[Bogframe]

I have a Fisher FVH-6600 that I bought new in 1989 that's still running like new. I've only had one problem with it over the years, and it turned out to be a little oxidation around the head that was fixed while I waited for $20. They just don't build them like that anymore!

[Andyman]

Originally Posted by THOR

Today's offerings??? Kam you kooky old man who the hell still buys VCR's??? They've gone the way of the dinosaur, the record player and tape decks.

Well, VCRs still rule for recording and erasing for time shifting. Dirt cheap and perfect for television. In fact, I have a couple piggybacked in the bedroom so I can copy rentals if I don't have time to watch them. Nothing I hate worse that renting something and having to take it back unwatched

I've snagged a few stereo ones for around $5.00 apiece, but prolly should look for one of those older ones with the little dial tuners because I've heard their technology predates Macrovision and allows for DVD dubbing.

Izzat true???

[andy]

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[bgadow]

Originally Posted by dr.ido

The other benefit of course is movies on VHS are now dirt cheap. Around here you can regularly pick up large boxes of VHS tapes (usually a mix of original and home recorded tapes) for a couple of bucks. Heh, if the tapes are old enough even the ads can be entertaining.

Recently my wife has had trouble finding shows worth watching so shes been digging out tapes I made in the late 80s/early 90s. In many cases she doesn't care for the shows I taped (old documenteries, "Our World", the Smothers Brothers, etc.) so she just fast forwards through the show & watches the commercials!

I just parted out our first VCR, an '86 Panasonic. I probably should have saved it but the power supply board had some crispy critters on it & a blown fuse. My Mom really ran that thing to death. I was looking for one to use back in the tv room; one of the ones in the pile is a Sears (Sanyo) that I bought at a flea market 10 years ago for about $10. The second time I used it the tape got destroyed. It must have been a fluke because now everything seems okay so I'll keep my fingers crossed. Its a stereo unit.

[Dave A]

Just returned from a trip to the attic to dig this beast out. I gotta stop reading these threads. Too much stuff re-appearing around here.

This was a high-end RCA VCR somewhere in the early 80's...my poor years. It is a slim-style, not a tank. I think I paid around $700 for it. About half the price of that used Chevy Malibu wagon I owned then. It has not seen a volt for over 10 years and powered right up. The only thing not working is the channel select on the remote and I cannot set the clock. When I last ran it, it had a head bearing noise that is now gone. Time will tell.

It is a SP-SLP only machine and is working like a champ. Not sure if it plays LP yet. It's claim to fame is it has an early digital frame buffer of some sort, probably field rate, that all playback goes through.

If you do a manual tracking adjustment in any mode and go too far, it mutes the video to black. Too much sync garbage for the frame buffer. It does a true digital freeze frame, pic in pic and pic move from corner to corner, and two useless DVE (their early term for this) functions...pixelated and solarization to amaze your neighbors with. About the same functions we had at the TV station I worked at then.

It has a true digital slow function with tracking adjust and speed adjust. They are perfect after using the remote tracking adjustment.

I bought it for the freeze frame and slow function. It was useful in my early 3/4" productions where I needed a freeze or slow-motion. I would loop the video through it and get my freeze on the fly. Or I would copy to VHS to get the slow. Don't look too closely at the blanking width or the digital artifacts at the top of the screen. The client never knew.

I may add it to the old VHS to DVD dubbing system I am running to clear the house of all those old tapes. It will be perfect for the problem tapes that look nasty on the current VHS decks I am using.

And to help another question, Macrovision was disabled on Beta copies because Beta inserted a new sync pulse which is where Macrovision is hidden. Not sure if early VHS did the same trick.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane and a prod to get this beast running again.

Dave A

[Celt]

I still have a 1981 Lloyds VTP (yep! a Video Tape Player!) that is a front loader, plays all three speeds, has auto-rewind and stop/eject and still has a very vivid picture and excellent audio considering it's linear mono. Funny how the linear audio went to hell in the Hi-Fi machines when they came out.

[Carmine]

Of the 80s stuff, my experience is that the cheap GoldStar ones were the most reliable.

Wow, just like Daewoo, we're gonna have to agree to disagree on that one. I'd say those VCRs are what dragged down the Gold Star name and forced them to buy the Zenith name, then progress on to "LG".

They had one of the first VCRs at $200, and what stinking heaps. I worked at K-mart in the late 80s, and could have built a fort with returned Gold-Starsky-VCR-skis. We bought my grandparents one, and the heads were shot in a year. (That's what GS factory service said). Then I stuck it in a newer box, and swapped it out due to my connections at K-mart. I know I did that at least twice, because it started to get humorous (and I never felt a moment of guilt for returning their crapola products... Grandpa barely even knew how to turn on the VCR, let alone wear out the heads.)

I bought a MagnaFunai out in Phoenix at an estate sale in 2002-ish. ($5) Used it twice, then it ate a tape. I was so angry, I ripped it in half with just my bare hands (cut them to hell too) I even posted the pics on AK!

[Chad Hauris]

I've got Beta, 3/4" U-Matic, and VHS machines and tapes but I have got real frustrated with the head clogging from tape oxide shedding...if you have video tapes that play I would get a DVD dubbing system and dub NOW because the tapes will disintegrate.

The funny thing is that old reel to reel tapes from the 50's don't do this...the tape may be more brittle but the oxide does not disintegrate.

I have found DVD's and TIVO so superior to VCR's that the only time I have used the VCR in the last two or three years was to watch the few movies I have that don't seem to be available on satellite or DVD.
I probably should set up some of my Beta VCR's again though...one year at Texas Recycles day I got about 7 early 80's Sony Beta VCR's that all have mechanical problems but should be fixable. I can use them with some relatively new Betacam tapes I have

[andy]

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[daro]

I have Panasonic's very first Hi Fi model the NV-850 which first came out in early 1984, I also have an NV-F66 which I brought brand new in late '91 & I have 2 NV-FJ630's one I brought brand new for about $320 & the other I brought from a op shop for $35.

The older dicast decks were more robust then the later decks such as the R4 which Panasonic now uses. I prefer the NV-F66 (G mech) over the newer decks any time.