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Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help!
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Subject: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Duckboots Date: 21 Jan 02 - 03:35 PM I think this is the first time I've actually started a thread on Mudcat in the almost four years it's been in our home. I always thought that if I needed help from the community it would be more along the lines of "Help, the banjo in the basement is driving me nuts"! or "Do Mudcat men do their share of the cat litter cleaning?" It isn't though. We've finally junked our old VCR because Rick claims that the 'pause' function doesn't work anymore and he needs it for his students. For myself, all I wan't is something that will record a couple of my favourite programs while he's teaching downstairs. We bought one (an Electrohome) yesterday for about 100 dollars Canadian, and it seems to work all right, but Rick is complaining that the fast forward and reverse are not up to snuff, AND that the pause function gives a very bad still picture. We're packing it up, and thinking of going for a bit higher quality. So my question is: WILL a better one be better in those areas? What makes for a good VCR? If we go for about 200 dollars Canadian are we likely to get much of an improvement? Any suggestions? Thank you Mudcatters. Although I rarely post, I read the good stuff every day. The Enron thread has been fascinating Duckboots (Heather Fielding)
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Steve Latimer Date: 21 Jan 02 - 04:04 PM Hi Heather, I would think that the one you bought is a two head machine, I think if you make sure that you get a four head one that the features that Rick needs will be much better. I think that you can get a 4 head one for about $200. Steve |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: catspaw49 Date: 21 Jan 02 - 04:20 PM Hi Heather......Steve's right and around here there are 4 head machines going for as little as $80.00 US. I don't think you should have any trouble locating one fairly inexpensively, especially since DVD has started taking over the market, the price of the VCR's has really dropped. We got a really nice DVD/VCR combination unit that was less than $250. We put the VCR in the other room for the kids after I fixed it. This involved cleaning it and removing 1 marble, 2 pencils, a broken toothbrush, and a small toy truck. Not surprisingly, it had quit working but even more amazingly, it MUST have worked with SOME of that stuff in it. I don't know which one "broke the camel's back" but the new one is off limits to Tristan!! Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 21 Jan 02 - 04:49 PM Ahaah! Good idea Duckboots, Mudcatters know their electronic products! Actually it IS a four head, but still seems like a piece of shit to me. The pause function jumps all over the place. The still pictures aren't clear at all, and I DO need those when I want to show somebody a hand position from a video. Cheers Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Desdemona Date: 21 Jan 02 - 04:54 PM If you needed help because you were stuck in quicksand, or needed a killer recipe for chicken tetrazzini, or the source of a Shakespeare quotation, I could help you.....but alas, machines & I have not historically been close! That said, I know that VCRs here (in the States) are increasingly cheap, cheap, cheap, as everyone's replacing them with DVD players; shouldn't break the bank to get one with all the bells & whistles, if you were so inclined. Good luck! |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Bill D Date: 21 Jan 02 - 05:08 PM the better VCRs do have systems which make the pause and slow-motion functions cleaner...(I have a couple of old, but high-end Sonys (yes...one IS Beta) which are very good...) only way to be 'sure' is to get them to test it in the store...take a test tape and try it...(since DVDs and such, I suspect that they just are not trying to market high-end VCRs these days...) |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Jeri Date: 21 Jan 02 - 05:17 PM I believe if the tracking is off, it can make mess up the paused picture. |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: M.Ted Date: 21 Jan 02 - 05:33 PM I purchased a VCR yesterday, at Target, at 4-head Memorex(Phillips guts) for all of $64--the rewind and pause are good, but not as good as the Sonys I bought a few weeks back for $89 --I recommend going in with a tape and stuffing it into the display models and trying the rewind and pause til you find one that makes you happy-- I have been known to open boxes in the store and plug them in in order to try them--if you don't feel confortable doing this, just ask one of the sales associates to do it--they always will-- You might also consider one of those little 9 inch models with the built in VCR, they were actually designed for use to be used with instructional videos--good ones cost about $160-240 (saw one the other day that had a DC power connection)
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Bill D Date: 21 Jan 02 - 05:54 PM Jeri is quite right...it IS important to see if there is a 'tracking' dial/slider which can do fine tuning on the details...but it needs to have the ability to begin with. (And remember, when a VCR is set on 'pause', it is continuously 'reading' one area on a tape, and can cause excessive wear if you pause it in one place a lot...which is why most machines have a timer built in to un-pause after a certain time...20-30 seconds?) |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: DougR Date: 21 Jan 02 - 06:24 PM M. Ted: what a logical approach! Super! DougR |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Desdemona Date: 21 Jan 02 - 07:30 PM I'm remembering my undergraduate days (early/mid 80s) when my film-geek chum was the first person I ever knew to have a VCR (BETA!!!), which set him back something like $600! Times sure have changed.....! |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Dave Swan Date: 21 Jan 02 - 09:23 PM 'boots, Sounds like good advice so far, given my moderate knowledge of what makes for a good VCR. If you can get a DVD as well, so much the better. If the prices are better in the States, Mick and I will smuggle one into Toronto on another 14 hour turnaround. Cheers, Dave |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: sophocleese Date: 21 Jan 02 - 10:35 PM I'm reading this thread avidly as I administered the coup de grace to our VCR Saturday night. There really is no saving it and now I'm looking for a new one. What experiences have mudcatters had with DVD/VCR machines? |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 22 Jan 02 - 12:15 AM Tried the thing again tonight and it seems that the remote doesn't always do the same things each time. The fast forward and reverse are definitely not consistant. Thanks for the info. This a great help. Rck |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Justa Picker Date: 22 Jan 02 - 12:27 AM You need something with a "flying erase head" - more than you want to spend. $300-$450. |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Peter T. Date: 22 Jan 02 - 09:26 AM I bought a Panasonic VCR at Future Shop in TO for my mother about three weeks ago for about 180$ -- it seems to have most of what one would want. I haven't tried the pause function -- I will give it a try tonight. yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 22 Jan 02 - 11:37 AM A "flying Erase Head"??!! Whatever...this one's goin' back to the store. I used to think that Sony automatically meant better quality, but have been told by a lot of people that only 'high priced' Sony is really better....so the Sony VCR that I've been looking at for 125 Canadian, may not be any different than the 100 buck Electrohome. I know everything's goin' DVD, but all of my music tapes are VHS and I don't see replacing them in my lifetime. Cheers Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: catspaw49 Date: 22 Jan 02 - 03:16 PM Look into a combination unit Rick. I really enjoy ours and the DVD's are capable of so much more. Having both in one unit gives you a ton of fun features too and the VCR side is excellent on this one. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 22 Jan 02 - 08:05 PM Maybe I will Spaw. I'm SOOO friggin' frustrated right now. I took the Electrohome back, got a slightly more expensive RCA...and the damn "Pause" function SUCKS! The bottom of the picture is very scrambled. Tracking doesn't do anything to fix it. The "Universal remote" appears not to work for the TV part, so once again, we have to use two remotes. So now THIS one goes back. I'll go to a store that sells SONY, I guess and try one of them, but the problem is that the store I bought these at, will take things back, no questions asked. I HATE this crap! Technophobe |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Jeri Date: 22 Jan 02 - 09:01 PM If you're having this much of a problem, M.Ted's take-it-out-of-the-box suggestion sounds pretty good. Not buying it is a whole lot less complicated than bringing it back! |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 23 Jan 02 - 12:18 AM Tomorrow Jeri. I learn slow. Cheers Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 23 Jan 02 - 11:23 PM Bravo! Success! We are triumphant! I followed some great Mudcat advice today and first: Took back the cheap RCA to Zellers (equivalent of K-Mart...need I say more?). Two returns in two days, but I don't think they care very much, hell the salesman didn't even SMILE at my attempts at humour. Went to GIGANTIC electronics mega-emporium (Future Shop). Took Catspaw's advice and went for JVC. Didn't take Justa Picker's advice and ask for the "Flying Wallendas feature". Took Ted's advice and DEMANDED that they unbox it and let me play my Merle Travis video in order to test the clarity of the "still" button. Collapsed like a cheap accordion when the salesman said "Oh I've got a JVC..the single frame is excellent...better than the Sanyo, or Panasonic...'bout the same as the Sony. I think you'll be pretty pleased with it. Besides, if you don't, just bring in back and we'll keep giving you VCRs til you like one. Went home. Unboxed it. Set the thing in front of the TV. Unfolded the massive set of instructions. Pointed Heather towards it and disappeared to make her lunch. Didn't hear any "Bollocks" or Glaswegian swear words coming from basement, so ventured downstairs. It worked. Great single frame. Reasonably easy to use...except that we have to punch in all these "TV Guide codes" to pre-record stuff...but that doesn't look too hard, so herself will now be able to tape Coronation St. and Judging Amy while I try to earn our meagre living by spreading the Gospel of proper F chords. Thank you Mudcat. Once again you've come through. And Cornbread recipes? My mind is boggled! Cheers Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Jim Dixon Date: 23 Jan 02 - 11:23 PM I make it a rule to never buy any electronics gear or appliance without first reading "Consumer Reports." Unfortunately, you need to be a subscriber to access their reports online (www.consumerreports.org), but the magazine is available in any public library. I see they have a page called "VCR's sold in Canada." Is there a difference between American and Canadian VCR's? I know there's a difference between US and Britain. Cassettes recorded in Britain will not play on an American VCR, nor vice versa. |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 24 Jan 02 - 12:15 AM No difference in Can/USA tapes Jim....but it ticks me off that the Brit ones are different. Heather's sister (Mudcatter McKnees) could be sending some wonderful TV music programs over from Glasgow, and we could send her those advance "Star Trek and Buffy" things she loves so dearly....but it simply costs too much to do the conversion each time. Cheers Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: allie kiwi Date: 24 Jan 02 - 04:31 AM As for the difference between the UK (PAL) and USA (NTSC) vcr systems, it is possible down here to get PAL vcrs that have 'NTSC playback' on them. They wont record off TV in the other system (too confusing to explain here), but they do mean I get to have advance tapes of Roswell from Canada (*drool* - Jason Behr's chest), and can buy video cassettes from amazon.com . Those are worth looking into. But don't know if the dual system ones are available in the US/Canada. However one of those would mean Heather's sister could watch all the Buffy etc she liked if you cared to send it to her in Glasgow. Allie |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 24 Jan 02 - 11:14 AM Personally I'm not a big "Buffy" fan, but Heather's sister sent me a tape from a show called "Acoustic Routes" that had both a tribute to the Corries, and Bert Jansch doing a folk club tour (hosted by Billy Connoly) that I absolutely LOVED. I lent the tape, never got it back and would KILL to have it again. VCR still working on day 2! Cheers Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Steve Latimer Date: 24 Jan 02 - 12:14 PM Allie Kiwi, Is that playback feature commonplace on VCR's over there. I have a tape that I wanted to send to my dad in Ireland, but I was going to get it converted first. Do you think there is a chance that I won't have to do this? |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: catspaw49 Date: 24 Jan 02 - 12:23 PM Cogratulations Rick! Two days and still operative. Our latest one is still working after 6 weeks and Tristan has learned not to get within 10 feet of the thing. After removing the marble, pencils, and other bits including some stuff that may have been food at some point, from our old one, I plugged it into the other TV and by golly, it's working again!!! Like Tris, I wonder why it wouldn't play that PBJ sandwich? I mean I see the peanut butter commercials on the tube.....How else would they get there? Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: allie kiwi Date: 24 Jan 02 - 07:23 PM Steve that feature is very very common. Especially on newer vcrs. Our one that is 7 years old has it, but it was a top of the line model. Now even the cheaper ones have it. We got a second vcr so we could dub things last year - it was $190 and had that feature. That equals about $100 US (or less). Considering I costed getting ONE tape converted as $70, it was well worth the purchase for us. Get your Dad to look at the front of his vcr - if it says 'NTSC playback' or similar, you are set. Allie |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Steve Latimer Date: 24 Jan 02 - 09:49 PM Allie Kiwi, Thank you, I'll ask him to check. Steve |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: SINSULL Date: 24 Jan 02 - 10:06 PM Spaw - Tell Tris that if a tape gets stuck, DO NOT put your hand in and try to pry it loose! I had to call a neighbor to get me out. And then had to take the tape inside the VCR to return it to Blockbuster. The clerk didn't blink an eye, got the tape out, and credited my account for a defective tape. He didn't notice the pencil. I have a small TV with the VCR built in. My second - the last one lasted for years before my son took it for his apartment. |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Marion Date: 27 Mar 02 - 11:56 PM Rick has just given me their old VCR. So thank you, Fieldings! I will dust it and plug it in and feed it copies of Hillary and Jackie, and Tous Les Matins Du Monde. Everyone else, now you have to talk Rick into thinking that he needs a new CD player, and minidisc recorder, and amp, so I'll have all the toys I want. Marion |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: GUEST,AA Date: 28 Mar 02 - 12:06 AM Its not worth it. Move forward to DVD. By being on the MC you have already proven yourself techno-literate. |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: Rick Fielding Date: 28 Mar 02 - 11:46 AM Guest AA, maybe you can afford to convert hundreds of video cassettes to DVD.....I sure can't! Besides I only hang on to Computer (and Mudcat) literacy by my fingernails! P.S. Marion, want my old Victrola? Cheers Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: DougR Date: 28 Mar 02 - 10:47 PM Want my old smoker Rick? DougR |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: E.T. Date: 29 Mar 02 - 12:07 AM Rick is that the one that plays '78's? Cause I just picked up some Benny Goodman '78's among other records (for a DIME) at a rummage sale. Just kiddin', my Dad kept his old clunker because around here, these things keep turning up. Heck, I found some old "record-your-own" blank records. Not that I know how the they used to record them????? Anybody? I'm a little curious. I believe at one time they had booths to record records just like they now have photograph booths at malls. Elaine. |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: DougR Date: 29 Mar 02 - 06:57 PM Elaine, my brother had a recorder in the late 40's that cut records. I think he even has some of my old records singing CW (probably) songs on some of them. The unit looked very much like a reel to reel tape recorder, except that it had a cutting arm much like a phonograph record player. I don't think many of these units were made for the home market because reel to reel tape came out soon after and took over the market. DougR |
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Subject: RE: Help: VCRs. Duckboots needs help! From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 30 Mar 02 - 01:51 PM There comes a time when we all must embrace new technology. I have a crankup Edison, standards, 4 track, 8 track, reel to reel, cassette, 8mm, 16mm, vcr, and dvd (beta - no.)
All are viable mediums made even better when transfered to the newer technology. Clarity, pops, hissing,are eliminated to say nothing of "wear and tear" on the vinyl, and ease of accessabily.
Don't get me wrong, it is nostalgic FUN to crank-up and play a single sided Maple Leaf Rag or pop-in a Beach Boys 8-track, but CD is here to stay. DVD is the same.
Sincerely, |
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