The first Laserdisc Player

[MIPS]

From what I am being told, the 7820 due to its commercial/industrial background was used extensively for disc QA, however because its build quality (and presumably price) was far higher than the VH-8000, there was a period of time where batches were failing int he field doe to the two players being the same spec, but the 7820 being better able to handle manufacturing defects.

Shortly after that, the 7820s started coming in for repairs sometimes by the pallet-load! We set up a clean room just to rebuild the laser optical assemblies.

I've heard this before as well that you are lucky to find a 7820 today that works. In each case though no reason is given for why the better built system is somehow the least reliable over time. While these units were typically seeing use 8 hours a day and five days a week in most instances for kiosks and I would not be surprised to find that the lasers are all worn out the only other thing I can factor is a serious need for preventative maintenance.