Looking at four VCRs - do they work?

[@TheVCRKing]

Sylvania: Funai Electrohome: Orion Citizen: Orion Toshiba: Samsung

[@dmcintosh1967]

The Sylvania one was made by funai around the 2000s to very late 90s. The electrohome ( hope I spelled that right) and the citizen were made by Orion from the 2000s. The Toshiba was made around 2003-2006 I think by of course Samsung.

[@irtbmtind89]

The Citizen and Electrohome brands were both owned by the same importer (Jutan electronics). Prior to 1999 Electrohome was owned by Mitsubishi Electric, so any pre-1999 Electrohome VCRs are rebranded Mitsubishi and are much better quality (they even had some S-VHS machines).

[@probnotstech]

You are right. Electrohome was originally a Canadian brand if you go back far enough, and they started selling rebranded Mitsubishi stuff as far back as the 1970s. I actuall have an Electrohome S-VHS machine that is a rebadged HR-U65. Jutan stuff was everywhere when I was a kid - Citizen, Candle and other cheap brands.

[@themaritimegirl]

Oh man, that Citizen was my first VCR! Mine was bought new in 2001, and had the previous-generation mechanism to yours, which was probably made in 2002 or 2003. A bit smoother and quieter-operating. It was a beast - never a problem, and still worked perfectly when I donated it to the thrift store 10 years ago.

[@probnotstech]

I'm really shocked at how reliable some of these cheap VCRs and TVs ended up being.

[@Computerman859]

I noticed the TV tuner buttons being tested on the first VCR. Based on that, I was actually hoping for the mechanism to be Panasonic based.

[@semperfi-1918]

Currently using my magnavox dvd/vcr combo. Love these old machines.

[@diegoseuret3783]

love your VCR videos!!!! Keep them coming!!!

[@WeatherSTARIII]

That part at the end was so funny! 😄

[@spatsbear]

Regarding the Sylvania audio: Try cleaning the pinch roller. Seems like when the audio starts, the tape is slightly out of alignment with the head, then it aligns itself back to where it should be, which is when it sounds nice and clear. If that doesn't work, then it is simply just down to how cheap the mechanism is on that unit hehe.

[@probnotstech]

Good idea - that VCR seemed to have the most use of the bunch so it makes sense.

[@Tdub20]

I have a Sony rdr vx560 and a Samsung vr375. They looked identical and I could never figure out who made them. The Toshiba has the exact same mechanism as the Sony and the Samsung. I would’ve never thought Sony would rebadge a Samsung, yet here we are (both of mine have a head cleaner in them, so either it was removed or they didn’t feel like installing one)

[@kailanitrindade]

Os dois do meio sairam como phillco-hitachi aqui no brasil, ja tive esses dois modelos, ambos stereo, ate um tempo atras encontrava com preco baixo, e comparado com vcrs de marcas superiores esses philco ate que eram bons

[@kailanitrindade]

A diferença é que no Brasil o display deles tem caracteres

[@Breaky717]

The clearest sign of Samsung is the appearer auto tracking indicator bottom on the screen when you start play.

[@electronicwaves]

I've seen this mechanism on later Sony VHS vcrs. So, maybe it's Samsung-Sony mechanism or Sony just bought it from Samsung?

[@Breaky717]

@@electronicwaves Sony bought mechanisms and electronics from Samsung. Probnot tested 2 of these dvd-vcr combos, that have Samsung-Toshiba dvd readers too.

[@ferricdelusions]

What Doctor show is this on the tape? 15:57-16:17 and 22:56 - 23:05 (from the BASF EP Tape) Edit: It's from a movie called "Condition: Critical"

[@tyx823]

the first vcr was made by funai because you can hear the high pitch whine of the linear audio

[@probnotstech]

A sign of quality!

[@SouthernGameNerd]

I have a Symphonic with the same mechanism in the Sylvania.

[@probnotstech]

Probably a pretty common mechanism, I just tend to avoid these as they're kinda boring to me lol

[@SouthernGameNerd]

@probnotstech the only unique thing about that mechanism is that the capstan motor loads the tape around the drum, but the loading motor does the rest.

[@SRN42069]

I actually had that last toshiba one with the fast rewind unfortunately the auto head cleaner in it completely fell apart and made an awful sound when contacting the heads which killed the hi-fi heads. So yeah remove those buggers.

[@meta460085]

I always remove the sponge, if anyone is team sponge LMK I'll send you mine

[@probnotstech]

This is the way. I ended up removing the last one for good measure.

[@speedyboishan87]

Sylvania is also a Funai Brand, Here in UK we had lots of cheap crap VCR's from Amstrad, Thompson, Daewoo, Matsui, Fidelity etc.

[@speedyboishan87]

Auto Head Cleaners once worn would either crinkle or damage your tape or will not allow you to play the tape. They were a stupid feature.

[@mireillepinzuti183]

Please can you clean the VCR's before using ? There's a lot of dirt on the top. I've purchased a VCR on eBay a few days ago and the first thing I do is to clean it properly before using. I can understand this...

[@probnotstech]

I really only clean them first if they're incredibly filthy (like "not coming in the house" filthy). Otherwise I like to test them out first, then clean them.

[@vintagelover3873]

Big fan love to watch your video dude nayan from indian one thing i notice u guys aware of electronic items u care so much for long i looked all item is such clean here in india u got lots of dust n rusty 😂

[@kingforaday8725]

Do these have any parts worth salvaging? Im thinking probably the belt.

[@1marcelfilms]

Wish i didnt throw out my funai. it was so simple and reliable. only learned after that a clean of mode switch would have fixed it

[@probnotstech]

They're still pretty common. I see them all the time for around $10 at thrift stores and buy and sell sites.

[@bobsbits5357]

hi i worded on pro betacam decks i will say the cleaner things why did they put them in on the pro you can tell you can hear it going of all the time i have alot of new old stock betacam tape for audio i love them big time yes i know about the front panels going bad on sony 2 A500P i had to use as part out of 14 only one had a panel that was coming in to parts my mate away coming over with vhs all the time i pull the heads of the video's that are not working love the sony uvw 1800 so easy to pull apart

[@joshuapowell1868]

Great video keep your mode switche clean out you will never have playing problem's at all everything proven dirty mode switches in VCR players causes problem's on playing and people don't like hereing the truth mode switches in VCR players needs a cleaning every now and then everything proven online how clean out a mode switch in a VCR player

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Sono d'accordo a rimuovere il sistema di auto pulizia testine,meglio non fidarsi.nei miei videoregistratori li ho eliminati,le testine le pulisco io

[@joshuapowell1868]

People like myself are cleaning out mode switches and fixing broken vhs tapes with Scotch tape it starts playing again with out no problem's everything proven there not hard fixing

[@tambarskelfir]

Auto head cleaners give me a strong vibe of quick, cheap and questionable engineering. Sure it looks great on a feature list, but cleaning the heads of a VCR manually is really quite easy. I don't like the idea that the heads are touched by something other than the tape, every single time a cassette is put in the VCR. That seems like unnecessary extra wear on the heads, not to mention the possibility of a catastrophic failure if the auto head cleaner has deteriorated, and a solution to a problem with isn't really a problem to begin with.

[@probnotstech]

It does seem kinda questionable, and definitely did when this feature was first introduced. But I gotta say based on my personal experience - it's held up surprisingly well (aside from the Toshiba ones). Either way, it sounds like the consensus here lines up with my usual plan - remove the whole thing!

[@joshuapowell1868]

Broken vhs movies proven there fixable with Scotch tape it starts playing again with out no problem's everything proven online how to fix one

[@NigelMontezuma]

Sylvania 6220CVA Made by Funai ...yuck Electrohome EH8013 & Citizen JVHS3987D Made by Orion Toshiba W522CG Made by Samsung, with a 4-digit LED display ...yuck

[@joshuapowell1868]

Vhs movies more free whiching in your house now days everything proven