Re: Should Old VCR's Be Fixed? IT DEPENDS
Team Goon
little of nothing & sell them on eBay for decent prices. I got 4 of the
Sonys with the jog/shuttle (the older ones that were made well). They ALL
went for over $150 each on eBay. not bad for $8 each & lubricating that
sticky tape guide.
"Beloved Leader" <Kim_J...@volcanomail.com> wrote in message
news:26a0f230.03121...@posting.google.com...
> The VCR seems to be at the end of its product cycle. I saw this thread
> at sci.electronics.repair, and I am posting the link here for
> reference. One guy laments that he has them stacked in piles eight
> feet high and can't give away repaired ones.
>
>
http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&threadm=6S_Db.14089%24IF6.622642%40ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26group%3Dsci.electronics.repair
>
> or
> http://tinyurl.com/zoqo
>
> First steam locomotives. Now VCR's. What's next?
Ray L. Volts
"Team Goon" <team...@ilovespam.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ge6dnZGyReS...@comcast.com...
DVD's days are numbered. Wait and see how fast the DVD format fades from
public consciousness once the new standard hits the market in full force.
Check this out:
Eugen T
Woohoo! The wavelength of the blue laser is shorter, so you can burn more.
"Ray L. Volts" <rayl...@SPAMRIDhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cf5sd1$d...@library2.airnews.net...
James Sweet
> little of nothing & sell them on eBay for decent prices. I got 4 of the
> Sonys with the jog/shuttle (the older ones that were made well). They ALL
> went for over $150 each on eBay. not bad for $8 each & lubricating that
> sticky tape guide.
>
Sonys are going for $150 each?? I have 3 of them that I've picked up that
only needed basic repairs, never thought they'd fetch more than $25-$30
these days.
James Sweet
"Ray L. Volts" <rayl...@SPAMRIDhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cf5sd1$d...@library2.airnews.net...
>
It'll take a long time for DVD to disapear, even once the blu-ray machines
catch on, they'll likely be backward compatible with existing DVD's which
have quite a market hold. For the average consumer there's no advantage.
LASERandDVDfan
>catch on, they'll likely be backward compatible with existing DVD's which
>have quite a market hold. For the average consumer there's no advantage.
Blu-Ray is incompatible with DVD.
HD-DVD, however, is fully backwards compatible with DVD.
The studios are backing Blu-Ray, while Microsoft is backing HD-DVD.
This is leading to a very big format war like VHS and Betamax, but the victor
over all this chaos is probably going to be regular DVD since it has gained
such huge and widespread acceptance by consumers and the industry as a whole.
DVD is technologically obsolete, but it's like the CD: still way too useful
with too many benefits and having such widespread acceptance with a strong
foothold that it's not likely to be replaced anytime soon. This is regardless
of what comes to try and replace it, unless its superiority is as huge as "VHS
versus DVD" to the consumer.
MiniDisc couldn't replace CD, DVD Audio isn't replacing CD, and SACD isn't
replacing CD. To the minds of the consumer, the CD is more than good enough in
almost every imaginable aspect that replacing it with something that isn't
immediately noticeable as superior isn't justified. So, what makes the
industry think that consumers will leap over to Blu-Ray or HD-DVD with wide
open arms and wide open wallets as many people seem to be perfectly happy with
DVD Video in a manner very much like CD?
Besides, consumers don't like spending more money on this. - Reinhart
Chaos Master
<ge6dnZGyReS...@comcast.com>, at group sci.electronics.repair, on the
date of Sun, 8 Aug 2004 07:28:03 -0400:
> It depends on the VCRs.. I find high end machines at thrift stores for
> little of nothing & sell them on eBay for decent prices. I got 4 of the
> Sonys with the jog/shuttle (the older ones that were made well). They ALL
> went for over $150 each on eBay. not bad for $8 each & lubricating that
> sticky tape guide.
I have an old (1990) Sharp VCR. After replacing the "mode switch" (I don't know
the exact name for this in English), it works as new. Better than most modern
VCR's, IMHO.
[]s
--
Chaos Master®, posting from Brazil. REPLY TO GROUP!
MSN: wizard_of_yendor[@]hotmail[.]com http://marreka.no-ip.com
"The modern stereotypes are Yamaha, Sony, Aiwa, Pioneer, Technics..."
~
macrovision and you can backup your store bought movies.
In article <MPG.1b822a321...@news.individual.net>, Chaos
Ray L. Volts
much the little battery-powered macro scrubbers cost.
"~" <~@1.2> wrote in message news:100820040253507765%~@1.2...
Ray L. Volts
1GB on their hard drive. I also believe most people will appreciate the
ability to cram 10 times the amount of data on a single Blu-ray disc vs. a
DVD disc.
"Eugen T" <vip...@nomorespam.com> wrote in message
news:LXxRc.5916$Mq1.2...@news20.bellglobal.com...
Ray L. Volts
"LASERandDVDfan" <laseran...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040809021717...@mb-m02.aol.com...
The iPods, et al, are selling like hotcakes. They are stealing the show,
giving the CD format a run for its money bigtime. Apparently, loads of
consumers have deemed the little mp3 players to be immediately noticeable as
superior, at least in one very important way: convenience. Who wants to
haul around a bunch of CD's when they can hold their entire collection in
the palm of their hand, w/o having to swap media a single time to get
instant access to any track?
Some may argue that those same people probably kept their CD collections at
home. Talk to iPod users. You'll find many of them ditched most of their
CD's to make room for something else once they ported them over to their
computers and/or iPods. Space-saving and convenience features are very
attractive selling points. Most people nowadays don't seem to care much
about CD playback on a stand-alone unit attached to a receiver/amp. It's
the mp3 age, and most of these folks use their hard drives and/or iPods to
house their music collection. And no, they aren't all college kids.
Some may argue that mp3 only retains about 90% of the original CD
information. It doesn't seem to matter, except perhaps to the minority --
professional audio engineers or musicians, or those who like to think they
have a "golden ear". But then, the golden ear types also tend to argue the
superiority of tube amps and vinyl for everyday listening purposes.
At any rate, convenience is an important enough issue that it's helping
defeat CD's in the minds of a huge number of consumers, a number which is
steadily increasing.
Some people with CD collections may hang onto them a while longer, but sales
of new CD's are steadily declining. But that's in no small way due to the
increasing availability of single-track purchases online.
Greatly enhanced video quality and storage capacity of Blu-ray (or whatever
becomes the standard) will give DVD a run for its money, too. I don't know
anyone who wouldn't love to be able to cram 10 times the amount of data on a
Blu-ray disc vs. a DVD disc. More, smaller, faster, better. You all know
you've upgraded your hardware over the years, and not just because Mr. Gates
said you had to. ;)
Obviously, years after Blu-ray, something else will come along to render it
obsolete as well. Such is progress..
Hell, I remember reading at least 8 years ago about some lab work involving
such media as holographic cubes (shades of HAL 9000) and animal protein
molecules. And they worked! Ahh, the holy grail of mass storage -- no
mechanical parts. Last I heard, they were getting down to the 55
terabyte/cm2 level way back then! Too bad it takes so damn long to bring
THAT kind of stuff to market.
Ray L. Volts
"Ray L. Volts" <rayl...@SPAMRIDhotmail.com> wrote in message
>
<after much ranting about iPods and some major snippage>...
> Greatly enhanced video quality and storage capacity of Blu-ray (or
whatever
> becomes the standard) will give DVD a run for its money, too.
So, what does all this have to do with the business of repair? For one
thing, it means more reliable products are out there and on the way, which
equals fewer jobs on your service benches.
Sure, there will be a few hardcore magneto-philes out there, but not enough
to keep you profitable, especially when the only place they can obtain tape
is thru obscure mail order providers -- as has happened with Beta. Even
Wal-Mart has seen fit to cease stocking high grade TDK, which I used to buy
in abundance, and has seriously reduced its inventory of blanks in general.
My last visit to Target revealed they are stocking NO high grade VHS tapes
whatsoever, when a few short years ago they had numerous brands. Noticed
the VHS sections of your favorite video rental store shrinking, too?
Sure, even the new Blu-ray devices will need minor repairs occasionally.
That may help you stay in biz, good luck.
Plasma's tendency to prematurely die may help you stay in biz. But I
believe plasma is just a momentary trend, destined to die out after the
awestricken masses eager to keep up with (or ahead of) the Jones' realize
that plasma's "super thin, hang-on-the-wall HDTV" superiority is
overshadowed by its pitfalls.
The real enemy to servicers will be such displays as OLED -- low current,
lightweight, inexpensive and highly reliable. Yes, I'm aware of the current
probs getting OLED into a larger screen area, it was just an example of
next-gen display tech which will kill plasma. The increasingly
uncooperative attitude of manufacturers won't be a lot of help, either.
I speak not of the immediate future. But I also don't mean 50 years from
now. Servicers who intend to do this kind of work for another 15-20 years
should be worried. Of course, the more who go out of biz, the less
competition in your neighborhood, so that may help you a little.. for a
while.
Joe Bramblett, KD5NRH
> Isn't that the point? I doubt few pc users wish they could still only
> store 1GB on their hard drive. I also believe most people will
> appreciate the ability to cram 10 times the amount of data on a single
> Blu-ray disc vs. a DVD disc.
It would be nice for HDD backups, but as it stands now, almost all of the
non-backup CDs I burn end up with 5-50MB on them, so unless the Blu-ray
recorder also burns relatively cheap CDRs, I'll still need my CDR drive.
Has anyone started a betting pool on how long it will take the Windows
install disc to expand to fill a double-layer Blu-ray disc?
Of course, it would be nice to take all the various driver and software
installers for all the hardware on this computer, along with the OS
installer and all the patches for everything, and burn them all to a single
disc, but that won't be a nice enough feature to offset any cost over $200
for the drive. As it stands, I can probably stuff it all on a DVDR if I
pare it down to get rid of the product demos, the copy of Acrobat Reader
that darn near everything include, and other stuff I don't need...and get a
DVD burner.
Chaos Master
sci.electronics.repair, on the date of Tue, 10 Aug 2004 02:53:50 -0400:
[to repair old VCR's].
Please don't top-post!
> may be worth it especially since old enough vcrs dont respond to
> macrovision and you can backup your store bought movies.
Exactly. I don't watch lots of movies (mainly do recordings from TV) so a new
VCR is no need for me.
[]s
--
Chaos Master®, posting from Brazil. REPLY TO GROUP!
MSN: wizard_of_yendor[@]hotmail[.]com http://marreka.no-ip.com
Powered by chaos. Chaos. CHAOS. ©|-|405.
James Sweet
"Joe Bramblett, KD5NRH" <kd5...@yahoo.spam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9541C8E78DA1...@38.144.126.102...
As it is, very little software is even on DVD's, gonna be a while before yet
a newer standard takes over there too.
Mikey
That's usually the VERY old pre-1980 VCRs that ignore macrovision.
Unlike later models from the mid-80's on up these machines are well
built intricate machines that may need many hours to perform a simple
repair. My VCR shop would get $300-$400 for a mechanical repair on one
of these $1500 machines back when they were new.
A child could stick a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich in the tape door
and we could fix it if the customer was willing to pay for our time.
Even changing a rubber belt or tire required removal of several layers
of mechanical parts held on by metal e-clips and various size screws and
springs.
Back then it took a very steady hand and careful work to repair some
problems.
Newer VCRs, if they are worth looking into have some of the following
problems for example...
Some Daewoo VCRs needed an Idler assembly changed within a year because
the thin plastic would warp from heat causing it to stick.
Several different brands have problems with tape-end sensors not working
because of inferior design - requiring a mod kit with new IR emitter and
sensors.
And some other models simply have many cheap plastic parts that break
even when the machine is NOT abused.
b
> macrovision and you can backup your store bought movies.
True. In my experience, SAMSUNG SX-1230 or 1260 is immune. Also my
Hifi Panasonic nv-h70 suffered only slight macrovision interference
To get back to the original post question, I say that Yes, repair is
worth it if you have a bit of know-how yourself, and can get parts.
Since 99 percent of faults are caused by things like rubber belts and
rollers or bad capacitors in the power supply etc etc, then repair is
usually relatively cheap (the time involved varies depending on design
of the machine).
Hifi stereo machines of the early 90s are usually especially nice
machines to find, unless the heads are worn :-(
However, for many people a shop repair is probably not worth the
outlay nowadays. This means that in any city there is a load of junked
vcrs which have only small/ minor problems. I think this is very
wasteful and has grave environmantal consequences which will haunt us
in years to come. That said, I cant complain. I make a comfortable sum
each month reparing and selling on scrapped vcrs, mostly to friends
and acquaintances. I suppose that,in so doing, I also do my bit for
recycling ;-)
Glad to see others are doing the same and saving good equipment from
the landfill. B
L...@notmine.com
Be a real hero and donate some of that stuff to schools or hospitals or
even just real poor folks.
LB
Team Goon
The models like SLV-595HF , the SVHS equivalent and similar.
If theyre SUPER nice & have the jog/shuttle remote, yes.
I've seen the remotes (RMT-V121C) ALONE go for over $50!
"James Sweet" <james...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:hhARc.7502$BO....@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
Team Goon
"Chaos Master" <chaos....@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b838b663...@news.individual.net...
Chaos Master
> Another stupid old troll has to rear it's ugly head.
Huh?
--
Chaos Master®, posting from Brazil. REPLY TO GROUP!
"People told me I can't dress like a fairy.
I say, I'm in a rock band and I can do what the hell I want!"
-- Amy Lee
Note: please don't give me TinyURL addresses.
Team Goon
Top posting is the deault.
"Chaos Master" <falle...@mailinator.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1ba18c31a...@news.individual.net...
> In an ADM3A terminal, Team Goon typed:
> > Another stupid old troll has to rear it's ugly head.
>
> Huh?
>
>
> --
> Chaos MasterŽ, posting from Brazil. REPLY TO GROUP!
NSM
| The idiot who was whining about top posting.
| Top posting is the deault.
It's not loved except by the blind who have to listen to pages of crap to
get to the new stuff.
N
Chaos Master
sci.electronics.repair on Fri, 29 Oct 2004 13:49:25 -0400 under article
<S9mdnefjEZZ...@comcast.com>:
> The idiot who was whining about top posting.
> Top posting is the deault.
A: Top posting.
Q: What is the most irritating thing on Usenet?
[]s
--
Chaos Master®, posting from Brazil.
"People told me I can't dress like a fairy.
I say, I'm in a rock band and I can do what the hell I want!"
-- Amy Lee
http://marreka.no-ip.com | http://tinyurl.com/46vru | http://renan182.no-ip.org
Mark D. Zacharias
"Chaos Master" <spamme...@spam.com.INVALID> wrote in message
news:MPG.1bed03944...@fallen.inc...
I've Googled the subject and although there's obviously differences of
opinion, there's reasons for top-posting, reasons for bottom posting, and
reasons for inserting replies. For this reason, I'm doing all three,
depending mainly on whether it's an ongoing thread, a simple one-time reply,
or responding to several questions contained in one post. Sometimes if some
self-appointed sheriff makes a big deal about it I'll top-post just to piss
them off.
Mark Z.
Franc Zabkar
<team...@ilovespam.comcast.net> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>Top posting is the deault.
Care to explain?
- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 's' from my address when replying by email.
Cartlon Shew
The only time I can think of that pot-toasting is acceptable is if
you're replying to the subject.
>Mark Z.
>
Mark D. Zacharias
"Cartlon Shew" <cas...@lapazylaplacer.com> wrote in message
news:6ea141ttpkd0aj29m...@4ax.com...
I've noticed that on the technical newsgroups, people are lots more tolerant
of this. In fact, I'd been happily top-posting for YEARS with never a single
complaint til recently. Understandably, my habits were formed this way.
Posting to one or 2 other groups got some really stupid, hateful shit
directed at me. Suddenly everyone was the sheriff of some little one-horse
town. I'll bottom post if necessary to keep these assholes off my case, but
they should really get a life.
Mark Z.
Leonard Caillouet
are more flexible and open minded. I bottom post when it is appropriate or
when the majority on a group are BP snobs.
Now cross posting to groups you don't read and failing to appropriately trim
posts is inconsiderate IMO.
Leonard
Wayne Tiffany
Top posting, in my opinion, is better if the person reading has been
following the thread. You are up-to-date, you click on the message, you
read the new tuff, and don't have to scroll forever to see where to start
reading. Now, I know that <snip> is used to reduce the length of the
messages, and also sometimes the best way to reply is by interspersing your
answers with the existing text, but for me, those are the exceptions.
Bottom posting is better for the person that wants to start at the top of
the thread and read a week's worth of conversation.
Either way, (not considering the exceptions) top posting is still more work
for the poster, as they have to scroll, rather than just typing at the top.
For those of us that are in the NG every day, it saves time, and for those
that are donating their time to help others, that swings the pendulum that
direction.
So, for me, top wins, both as the poster & reader, but that's just my
opinion. :-)
WT
"Leonard Caillouet" <n...@no.com> wrote in message
news:E4d0e.70848$SF.28787@lakeread08...
pertnoy
about 7 belts, replace all the belts, clean the heads, tape guides etc, and
idler tire. one with all those replaced properly will probably last 20
years, might just need another head cleaning later, but the RCA, Hitachi 7
or 8 belt vcr`s from the 80`s, are likely the best vcr`s ever made.)
"Cartlon Shew" <cas...@lapazylaplacer.com> wrote in message
news:6ea141ttpkd0aj29m...@4ax.com...
Mark D. Zacharias
Mark Z.
"Wayne Tiffany" <wayne.tiff...@asi.com> wrote in message
news:3ad983F...@individual.net...
Jumpster Jiver
pertnoy wrote:
> If someone really needs a quality vcr, get an old RCA, Hitachi (think has
> about 7 belts, replace all the belts, clean the heads, tape guides etc, and
> idler tire. one with all those replaced properly will probably last 20
> years, might just need another head cleaning later, but the RCA, Hitachi 7
> or 8 belt vcr`s from the 80`s, are likely the best vcr`s ever made.)
>
I agree. I took care of one of those for a family member for about 15
years by simply replacing the belts every two to three years and regular
cleaning and lubrication.
Ken G.
an answer to the question . If the whole darn first topic is included at
the top where i have to keep scrolling to read the next post i soon give
up and quit reading .
Old vcr`s will be worth fixing till no one wants to pay for it anymore
NSM
"Jumpster Jiver" <m...@here.there> wrote in message
news:4241D511...@here.there...
> I agree. I took care of one of those for a family member for about 15
> years by simply replacing the belts every two to three years and regular
> cleaning and lubrication.
Where can one find GOOD info on how to lube and with what?
N
NSM
voices. But trimming is essential.
N
"Leonard Caillouet" <n...@no.com> wrote in message
news:E4d0e.70848$SF.28787@lakeread08...
> Screw them and don't let it bother you. People on sci.electronics.repair
> are more flexible and open minded. I bottom post when it is appropriate
or
> when the majority on a group are BP snobs...
Kim_J...@volcanomail.com
you're replying to the subject."
Allow me to express my support for pot-toasting. Got a light?
Steven
news:1111685125....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> "The only time I can think of that pot-toasting is acceptable is if
> you're replying to the subject."
>
> Allow me to express my support for pot-toasting. Got a light?
They used to toast Luckies. I can't see how that could hurt?
Steven
confused but I'd try to recover...
"Ken G." <good...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:10094-424...@storefull-3254.bay.webtv.net...
Of course you have answered the question with your typical uncanny wisdom.
Thanks, Ken
Kim_J...@volcanomail.com
Was that before Lucky Strike green went to war?