Found this "capehart" in the alley today

[RobtWB]

... I do not recall ANY vcr ever manufactured on American soil ...

look into the history of the vtr / vcr ...

see who invented and had the patent rights

and a huge number of the "cheap offshore" machines are still damn fine machines ... decades after their original build date

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by RobtWB

... I do not recall ANY vcr ever manufactured on American soil

and a huge number of the "cheap offshore" machines are still damn fine machines ... decades after their original build date

Cartrivision?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartrivision

And I agree about the overuse of the "cheap offshore" label. I bought my first Sony TV in 1972 and never looked back.

jr

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Cartrivision?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartrivision

And I agree about the overuse of the "cheap offshore" label. I bought my first Sony TV in 1972 and never looked back.

jr

The first RCA VCR's were Panasonic. Then they outsourced to Samsung. I don't remember if they rebadged Hitachi's, like GE did.
I have a few later RCA's, assembled in Mexico. Not sure if they're Daewoo's or Samsungs. They seem to work fairly well.
Those newer RCA's were a lot better than the Funai offerings of the time.

[Jeffhs]

How about flat screen TVs that quit after two years or after the warranty expires? These are also made offshore by obscure Chinese, etc. manufacturers, and are very cheap in stores. I have seen FP TVs priced as low as $99 (which are almost impossible to repair when they go bad, and to find service data on them is even worse) in ad fliers in my newspaper. If those aren't "cheap offshore" products, I don't know what are. Just because a TV has the "RCA" block-letter logo, the lightning-bolt Z for Zenith, etc. on the display bezel (for example) does not necessarily mean it is a quality television, meant to last years or decades like the original RCAs, Zeniths and other TVs made by these manufacturers back in the day.

The store brands are even worse. Insignia TVs, for example, have a very poor reliability record; many people have had nothing but trouble with these sets, as I have read online on the company's website (Insignia is actually a house brand for televisions, A/V gear, etc. sold by Best Buy) and have switched to other brands when their Insignia TV quit. I may do that myself if or when my own Insignia 19" TV quits; who knows when that might be?

I wish I had known about Insignia's problems (other than low volume) before I bought my set; if I had, I would have bought a better make such as Vizio, Samsung or the like right off the bat. Other than its poor reliability record, my Insignia TV has served me well so far and I like it, but knowing it may konk out before (or soon after) the warranty expires doesn't settle well with me. If it fails within what is left of its warranty, I may have it repaired, but if it quits when the set is out of warranty, out it will go and I'll get a better make -- as mentioned, Samsung, Vizio, or any other make with a better reputation than Insignia FPs have had.

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Cartrivision?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartrivision

And I agree about the overuse of the "cheap offshore" label. I bought my first Sony TV in 1972 and never looked back.

jr

In 1972 Sony was the exact opposite of cheap offshore junk, they were probably the pinnacle of quality up until the late 80's or so when they had to start cutting corners to compete with real offshore junk.
The build quality of their early stuff is astounding.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by lnx64

I really can't wait to see the insides of this TV.

I'll get to it later this week. I'm really swamped at work lately. Plus my new 630TS is very distracting