Just found a Sharp VHS from 1979

[Eric H]

It'd be great if you could get the picture quality of the newer decks (VHS and picture quality= Oxymoron) and the build of the older decks.

The last VHS player I bought was a Sony, probably about 10 years ago, it worked fine for years, and still does tho I don't use it anymore.

Got a Panasonic VHS/DVD recorder about 3 or 4 years ago to copy tapes with, figured I'd be lucky if it lasted a year but it's still going strong (and running nearly constantly)

I finally had to take it apart and clean both the laser and the VHS heads ( an old tape clogged the heads badly, the laser was dusty and wouldn't recognize some blank discs) but honestly, you can't imagine the number of tapes that have been run through it, and the amount of DVDs burned, both have to be in the thousands by now!

things are built lighter, simpler and cheaper now but sometimes they work great, I think it helps to stick to major brands like Sony, Panasonic, HP, Dell, & forget the bargain basement junk.

Sony's not what it was but it's still a cut above most others, Panasonic builds good quality TV's, Samsung has become a respected brand of late.