[waltchan]

Update for 2025:

No major change to all the VCR reliability rankings here with units made before 1993.

For modern VCRs made in the 2000s era, the fastest new growing problem are the ones manufactured by Samsung for various brands, which has an increasing rate of power supply failure lately now. This is due to Samsung's lack of auto power off and eject feature after rewinding a tape from the end. The power supply is left on indefinitely 24/7 non-stop for many years with high heat and capacitors drying up faster, and then the power supply section on main board turns into black or burnt color easily after a few years from use. Most people usually forget to turn off the VCR after using one time.

Another is tape carriage gear breakage found in 2000-2004 Panasonic-made VCRs with the elevated pinch-roller design, causing no eject with a tape stuck inside. Because of this ongoing problem lately, this automatically makes Toshiba VCRs manufactured by Orion more reliable than Panasonic now. I'm not surprised at all.

Finally, bad belts are still most-common in Funai-made VCRs. A slipping loading belt will cause no tape insert or eject. Belts never last for over 10 years trouble-free easily, requires changing as soon as possible. Idler is a sometimes problem too that will leave tape dangling and chewing up upon ejecting.