Quote:
Originally Posted by Trance88
The oldest VCR I ever owned was a 1984 JVC HR-7100U top loader. I had it for about 3 months back in 2005. During the time I had it, I only got it to work once. The belts were getting really bad and for some reason, playback wouldn't engage, except for the one freak time I did get it to play.
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Perhaps it was
because the belts were going bad that the VCR wouldn't go into playback mode, and the problem became progressively worse as time went on and one or more belts finally wore through, stretched, or snapped. Newer VCRs (such as my own Panasonic PV-4022, bought new in 2002 and still going strong, though I don't use it much since getting a DVD player) have mostly gear drives and few belts, except for one thick belt that links the motor to the drive mechanism.
The gear-drive VCRs are good performers, but can be very noisy. My Panny VCR makes a loud screeching noise when in rewind mode (has done this since it was new), but otherwise it works amazingly well for being 10 years old. The only use it gets anymore is occasional viewing of my old VHS videos and (rarely) time-shifting programs. I'd use it more often for the latter, but its tuner doesn't receive digital subchannels (most of my favorite old shows, '70s crime dramas mostly such as Kojak, Cannon, Rockford Files, et al., are on MeTV and Antenna TV) and I don't want a cable box on the VCR. I have Time Warner Cable expanded basic service, connected more or less directly to the TV; I say "more or less" because the cable line from the wall connects to my RF modulator for the DVD (now Blu-ray), then to the VCR, and
then to the TV's antenna socket. No cable box. It's a complicated hookup, to be sure, but hey, it works. No cable box also means I hardly ever need to call the cable company for service, either. Makes for a nice, trouble-free setup.
