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VCR's: Repair or just toss out and replace?

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One of my VCR's sort of squeaks when it is playing or recording. I am wondering if anyone would repair a VCR (3 years old, super VHS Mitsubishi) or just dispose of it and get a new one.
I made a poor choice I think 2 years ago when I had my $300 Sony VCR overhauled, costing almost $200. I vowed at that time to just throw away VCR's and buy new. Recently when the overhauled Sony started squeaking, and I attempted to silicone the capstan it started eating tapes and I am not going to overhaul it again.
I thought of repairing both, but I think it would be better to just buy new ones. I would again get two different brands so remote functions don't cross over. Incidentally, I did not find a difference with Super VHS on SuperVHS tape (Mitsubishi) versus standard tape with standard VHS (Sony). This was a test when I simultaneously recorded off terrestrial transmissions. So I will just get two new regular VHS tapes in the future. I record off Satellite and terrestrial stations. (Soprano's, Survivor 2, and Frasier. Occasionally Star Trek Voyager.)
Thanks for your input
Samir

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Depends on the cost John C. - Aussie 19:55:58 04/03/01 (0)
I agree that DVDs are far superior in quality but disagree that VCRs should be discarded. We use ours a lot for time shifting/zapping ads, abandoning programs which looked good and were not etc - great time saver & allows one to organise the evening entertainment to suit the mood.
However I had a bad experience with a Mitsubishi VHS recorder and it never gave acceptable sound. Maybe the S-VHS model is better but we have settled on Nationasl/Panasonic/Technics. We find the S-VHS recorders give better results even on ordinary tape and, like you, do a lot of recording off (digital) satellite. The quality is usually a function of the broadcast quality with BBC tapings coming across the best both visually and aurally. We do not archive movies but have a number of excellent tapes of ballet, concerts & operas which we dabble in from time to time.
So, bottom line from here would be to check out prices but probably best to replace the unit with a known good brand. They are very complex copmponents and there is a lot to go wrong as well as to wear out.
John
Re: VCR's:toss out and replace... Elizabeth 09:03:55 04/03/01 (1)
The days of fixing expensive (read:$600 and up) VCR's are over. Buy the cheap one and toss it as soon as it screws up. The cheap ones do well enough and no-one uses VCRs to keep archival copies anymore anyway. I tossed my VHS tape collection because: I no longer wanted all those stupid movies I 'thought' I wanted... and kept for 6 to 8 years and never looked at!!!! and because the $600 VCR I have is partially dead... and why repair old tech... I use it just to get the cable digital music channels to my 2-channel sys so my pet bird has something to listen to when I'm at work.
- Re: VCR's:toss out and replace... BIRD???? wheezer 16:56:42 04/05/01 (0)
  What kind of bird do you have????
  Mitch
Just get a DVD player. VCR's are old hat. Blasphemer 12:39:20 04/02/01 (2)
nt
- How do you record "Law & Order" on a DVD player? (nt) Audio Fan 10:06:14 04/03/01 (1)
  You need DVD and a VCR.
  - You use Tivo! One 03:46:15 04/16/01 (0)
    VCR's suck! i have a dvd and a tivo and have never looked back at my vcr. good riddance.
    
    -1
Re: VCR's: Repair or just toss out and replace? db 10:11:33 04/02/01 (0)
If the squeek dosn't effect the record and play quality, can you live with it? A better lube for a capstain bearing is oil. You must be carefull in applying, not to contaminate any other area's including the capstain itself, only the base with the bushing. Try to track down the squeek, it might be in an idler,tape guide, or the balancer (flutter filter) on the transport, that is a wheel that turns with the tape, or it could be the hardening and glaseing of the rubber (pinch roller), or idlers. Unplug the unit and use a solution of mild dish soap and water, with some Q-tips, this will clean and soften the rubber, let dry before use. S-video has 400 lines of resolution, if you record in the s-video mode, the picture should be easily seen to be of higher quality, as compared to vhs. But, if you are happy with vhs, it is cheaper.
hope this helps a little.
--db
- Old A/V Guy

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