VCRs that will last forever

[Jeffhs]

My first VCR, bought new in 1984, was a Panasonic-built GE. It worked very well the six years I had it, but the heads finally wore out. However, the rest of the deck was in very good shape. Should have had it repaired, as I paid some $400 for it.

BTW, I saw another listing for a Magnavox (Philips?) VCR on the same page as the GE we're discussing. I had a Maggie VCR almost exactly like that one in the early 1990s. Like my GE unit, the Magnavox lasted just about five years before the heads wore out. The rest of the deck was probably still in excellent condition. My Magnavox deck was one of those VCRs that was ready to play out of the box (almost), as all one had to do was connect the antenna/cable, connect it to the TV, plug it in, and the machine would do its own setup--channel mapping, clock set; then it would be ready to go.

By the 1990s almost all VCRs were plug-and-play, with no setup of any kind required (except, of course, for the hookup to the TV and the signal source, be it cable or OTA antenna). Today's VHS/DVD players are probably even simpler yet to connect, as they do not have RF tuners, only needing a connection to the TV's A/V jacks or an RF modulator, the latter for older sets without such jacks. However, the darn things (not unlike VCRs by the '90s, until they went out of production) are made with cheap plastic parts and will not last much longer than the warranty period. I recently read in a post on FixYa.com that stated even today's DVD players won't last very long; specifically, Memorex-branded players have a cheap capacitor that swells and splits open after about nine months, a year at the outside. The reason? The firms that make these DVD players make them to sell cheaply, so they cannot use quality parts in them. (I had a CyberHome DVD player that lasted three years, then stopped reading discs; I swear, it was built more solidly than the player I bought last year to replace it.) I'm concerned about this (the possibility of premature failure), as I bought a Memorex DVD player for about $40 from Big Lots last summer. It works well at the moment, but I'm not looking forward to having to replace the machine this year.

Who actually manufactures Memorex-branded DVD players? Memorex itself was originally an audio-tape manufacturing firm, eventually, as technology evolved, branching out to video tape and compact discs--not to mention blank DVDs.

I seriously doubt, however, that Memorex was ever directly involved in the manufacture of DVD players; as a matter of fact, I think their DVD players are rebadged machines (like everything else these days) made by Orion or some other offshore manufacturer.

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Who actually manufactures Memorex-branded DVD players? Memorex itself was originally an audio-tape manufacturing firm, eventually, as technology evolved, branching out to video tape and compact discs--not to mention blank DVDs.

I seriously doubt, however, that Memorex was ever directly involved in the manufacture of DVD players; as a matter of fact, I think their DVD players are rebadged machines (like everything else these days) made by Orion or some other offshore manufacturer.

Memorex DVD players are made by Changhong in China while the DVD/VCR combos are made by Orion.

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by jfrog1983

I've got a new search, and that's for a Hitachi 4 head Hi-Fi stereo with the reliable 6 belt chassis.

Is that the 3+2 Hi-Fi Hitachi VT-1700A on eBay right now? I used to own one, but I donated to Goodwill after I received my 5+2 Hi-Fi as a replacement.

[jfrog1983]

I have a beat up 3+2 Hi-Fi, I could grab that one on ebay since it's most likely in better condition, has a remote, and is a different model than the one I have, and yes I am looking for one of the 7 head units.

[markdi]

so is there such a beast as a 8 head vcr ?

who made a 7 head ?

[ChrisW6ATV]

I don't know about an 8-head VCR, but the first VCR on the market with crystal-clear freeze-frame and variable slow motion (also clear, in an era when every other VCR's freeze-frame had a big snow line through the picture) was a Sony SL-5800 with... two video heads!

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by markdi

so is there such a beast as a 8 head vcr ?

who made a 7 head ?

Yes, there is such thing as a 8-head Hi-Fi VCR. Only Sharp made them in 1993 under models VC-H96U and VC-H98U.

Hitachi made a 7-head.

[jfrog1983]

Well I bid on that Hitachi 3+2 head and won it, however an oversight of mine, it's in Canada so the shipping is more $$$.

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by jfrog1983

Well I bid on that Hitachi 3+2 head and won it, however an oversight of mine, it's in Canada so the shipping is more $$$.

That explains the high shipping cost. Something I am in the habit of doing now is first checking the shipping details before I get excited about anything on eBay these days. Many seem to be making up for listing and other costs by jacking up shipping costs.

The 3rd head is used only in still-slow mode. They repeat the same field twice in those modes to give a decent noise free still picture. Similar to what Sony was doing in the SL-5800 I believe.

[jfrog1983]

What happened with that VCR is I did email the seller about the shipping after I won it, explained my mistake about the shipping since it's international, and then paid the seller for the VCR. Problem is, he relisted it on ebay and I didn't know that till AFTER I sent the money, he was trying to do me a favor.

I would really like to find their 7 head unit...

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by jfrog1983

I would really like to find their 7 head unit...

Too bad for you as I luckily found another one, which is Hitachi VT-87A (I am not allowed to tell you which Hitachi VCR model has 7-head in it as it will raise the bid price, and I already spent many years figuring out each manufacturer's top of the line model from certain year).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=270356510798

Despite that, I am having a problem and don't know if it's coming from the video head or bad caps at video board. SP and LP playback are fine with perfect picture quality and Hi-Fi sound, but EP playback only plays black and white with snow and distortion with picture rolling, and there are invisible purple and green bars at the bottom of the screen. FF and REW search do the same thing, except in pause mode where the picture is fully restored (see attached photos). If the playback is at the darker scene, picture stops rolling. Is the problem coming from the video board, video head (I hope not), or power supply? It reads the right speed with clear Hi-Fi audio, so why can't video work?

Otherwise, I am enjoying its SP picture quality and Hi-Fi audio quality and it's a nice rare model to own (mines is #355 from production for one year).

[whoaru99]

My 1988 Panasonic...because I never use it anymore.

[wilkes85]

I have this 1989 Electrohome 2 head VCR that my mom bought when new. It's been in daily use since 1989, up until recently when my mom decided that she'd rather have a Samsung VCR/DVD combo. The samsung is garbage in comparrison. But anyway, this VCR was usually recording all day (with the then state of the art, space age timer feature, which is why this VCR litterally cost a fortune back then), and playing all evening. MANY, MANY rented movies have been played on it. It's seen 20 years of hard use, but the thing still works perfectly good! I got it in my room now. The distinct sound of it rewinding a tape just takes me right back to when I was a kid in the '90s. The only problem it has now is that it won't FF unless it's in play, and it sometimes doesn't play EP tapes properly (switches from SP to LP to EP over and over again).
But after all it's been through, this old rig has the right to screw up every once and a while.

We had a matching Electrohome TV with it, but the TV, which also seen constant daily use for 20 years, broke down recently. Too bad, that TV was like a member of the family lol

And anyone ever remember when the tracking would screw up, and you'd fix it by playing a good tape for a minute or so?

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by wilkes85

I have this 1989 Electrohome 2 head VCR ... The only problem it has now is that it won't FF unless it's in play, and it sometimes doesn't play EP tapes properly (switches from SP to LP to EP over and over again).

I am not familiar with that brand. Do you know who manufactured it?

As far as the EP-LP business, that's likely either the tape is skewing down from the Control Track (CTL) head probably because the pinch roller is worn out, or the CTL head is dirty, or the tape itself is wrinkled along the bottom edge from where the CTL track is recorded on the tape, caused by the tape skewing down against the edge of one of the tape guides. Needs a tune-up!

[wilkes85]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

I am not familiar with that brand. Do you know who manufactured it?

As far as the EP-LP business, that's likely either the tape is skewing down from the Control Track (CTL) head probably because the pinch roller is worn out, or the CTL head is dirty, or the tape itself is wrinkled along the bottom edge from where the CTL track is recorded on the tape, caused by the tape skewing down against the edge of one of the tape guides. Needs a tune-up!

Electrohome is (well, was) a Canadian electronics manufacturer. Mitsubishi bought it out in 1984.

And I think I'm gonna open this thing up and give it a good cleaning at least. It's never needed servicing, and has never been opened up in 20 years. it's about time lol