Early 1980s RCA SelectaVision VHS Player

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by ZenithDude88

the rest of the unit was direct drive (the capstans, the idler tires, the video drum, etc.) on all of the JVC made Zenith VCRs from the 1980s, and those VCRs were actually quite nice and quite reliable units because they were 90% direct drive (the other 10% was belt driven but those parts weren't super critical parts that needed to be direct drive).

Yep, that's right. JVC VCRs were incredibly advanced at that time that service technicians seldom saw JVCs for service during the early-90s, because the two belts lasted a long time and people were enjoying them in their homes. Toshibas were even better. Some Panasonic AG models qualify as long as it has a linear power supply. On the other hand, Hitachi was such a huge disgrace, I think, a sloppy Japanese-pride work thinking 6-7 belts meant more reliability. Japanese have always been fascinated with low-maintenance and reliability, and Hitachi failed miserably.