Sony BPC TV/VCR Combo
 

okay.. I need input/opinion.
I picked up a 1997 Sony 20" TV/VCR combo unit for 2.00.
It has a fantastic picture, I like the "looks" of the set, and the vcr works.
The problem? Intermittant sound. It's got to have a bad solder joint.
Here is where I need your input....
Do I take it into a repair place and pay the 54.00 bench charge, (since my soldering skills suck, and I never work on anything this "new) or take it to the dumpster?
I'm not a huge fan of Sony quality in this era of set, and I don't need it. If it were ONLY a 20" set I wouldn't hesitate to throw it out, but the "hoarder" in me likes those VCR/Combo units. :scratch2:

if you like it, why not try your hand at soldering. Could be something minor, like cold pins on the sound or tuner ic's.
I personally wouldn't trust a shop to not rip me off. on something like this.

I repaired a fairly new Sony a couple of years ago that had intermittent sound. I found bad soldering on the audio output IC, and a capacitor close by that was swollen and discolored. Resoldered, and replace the capacitor, and it was fine. Still runnng for my mom, and believe me, if it was not right, I'd have heard about it by now!!:nono::sigh:

Could be as simple as a bad connection or contact at the earphone jack.

'Tis true. It could be anything. Needs to be investigated..

...

I've worked on a few real Sony TV-VCRs, hard to miss with the Trinitron tube and Sony VCR mechanism, and the weight! Aiwa sold at least one that was made by Sony with the Trinitron tube in it. Sony had an interest in Aiwa finally bailed them out then 5-6 years later the name Aiwa went belly-up. A friend has a Sony 8mm tape TV-VCR combo.

Back then I purchased a 27" Sony *Trinitron* from Crutchfield. It's audio was intermittant too. You had to slap the side of the set for it to come back on. I peeked inside to see if it was anything obvious and that's when I saw the GoldStar label on the CRT. :gigglemad
I contacted Crutchfield and demanded they pick the damn thing up and for a FULL refund to be issued to me.
Hell, I'd been just as well off buying any brand from Wally World.

...

I still haven't decided what I will do.
From some of the posts I've seen, sounds like others have experianced Sony's "intermittant" quality as well.
Here is my beef with them:
1) Kinda rare around here, but the 70's era sets seems pretty good. I have a 1975 17" Trinitron, and it's fantastic. However.. that 26" tube they put in the consoles of the late 70's... blah!
2) I have yet to see an 80's era Sony with a good picture tube. They must not have held up well over the years.. plus they had flyback problems in that decade
3) The 90's... from what I've seen now, not that bad, but plagued with solder joint issues, and by the late 90's....you didn't know if you were getting a "real" trinitron tube. In my opinion.. if it doesn't have the Aperture Grille, and ONE gun.. it's not a trinitron, which made them special. Also.. as "Celt" found out...paying all that money for a Sony and having anything BUT a real Sony tube in it was pretty shoddy.
4) The Wega series were plagued with power supply problems out of the box.

With all that being said.... I STILL like this set. It does have a "real" Trintron tube in it, and it is a Sony VCR. I think for a 20" it's probably "real" Sony. I' don't think any manufacturer of the 13" combos ever made their own. They are mostly Funai or goldstar.

Yeah, I felt like I had been conned.
I pretty much knew it wasn't a real Trinitron before I even opened it up, because the mask was just the standard red/green/blue dots. Hell, it was made in Mexico probably in the GoldStar/LG factory. It was like I had unknowingly purchased a *white van* TV set.

Speaking of FONY...look at this blast from the past... http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=13754