I have this VCR which I bought new for $499.00 from an electronics store called Savemart back in 1991. It actually still works even though I don't use it anymore. This has to be literally the best VCR ever made, bar none. I had to have it serviced once after I spilled a coke on top of it and it corroded a small part of the circuit board. I almost cried when I did that! This is the only electronic piece of equipment I will never get rid of!
That's a nice VCR. It would be a fun one to play with. Back in like 86, I used my paper route money and bought a 4 head stereo GE vcr from an "authorized dealer". Never saw that model anywhere else...it was a tank. Awesome remote, great picture quality. Had a headphone jack, it was so cool. I would only put the best tapes in it. I liked these Fuji's that came in a grey case that opened and snapped shut. Those Matsushita machines from the 80's were really tight.
What a great VCR. Drawer loading machines were even rare back in the day, and are super-rare now. I still have 3 JVC VHS VCRs and 1 Sony. Also have 10 sealed blank Fuji Super VHS 180 min tapes in library boxes. These can of course, be used in normal VHS machines (like mine) but with downgraded resolution.
Wow, I actually owned this VCR. still in my closet somewhere. I had to stop using it when something went wrong with it & it started to damage the lower edge of the tape. Also, the S-Video input jack was on the front behind the Left cover. For some odd reason, it did not have it on the back.
I still have my 771 w/remote and the Owner's Manual. One of the great features was High Speed Rew and FF claiming under 3 min. What is interesting is that this thing really spins up super fast and when it nears the end, it slows down since hitting the tape end at this speed would destroy the cartridge. I swear they claimed it used Fuzzy Logic but I couldn't find it in the manual. This and my Mitsu U82 were the basis of my SVHS "operation." It also had an INDEX function on the remote: You can FF index to the next start of a record session. I wish I could find a schematic and service manual: While mine works just fine, if I try FF or REW while playing, the tape momentarily loses tension and the tape get's permanently scratched. My first thought is the electronic back tension needs increased but I need those documents to proceed. Belts may be the culprit but everything else worked just fine. Of course that was over 20 years ago (!) LOL I hope to get into it in the next year and can only imagine what else has "timed out." NOTE: Also have a Laserdisc player too and the 40000 JVC D-VHS (had the 30k which I got rid of which is probably more desirable since it appeared not to have 5C on it. The 40k does and won't record stuff the 30k would. Anyone remember the Vidcraft The Play Right? LOL I sitll have mine and always bragged that Beta was impervious to Macrovision. Then Sony made more Beta machines and the US Congress passed US Code requiring all modern VCR's have to have circuitry that "succumbs" to Macrovision - a sad day for Beta... Apologies! I digress....
@@S500- Thanks, I really miss the days of videotape. I confess I operate on a PC and type fast with no effort so my replies can become long - I can't imagine doing that on a phone. I still have my JVC JX-S900(J) AV Selector with S-video inputs which has 8 inputs/outputs for 8 VCRs. When you select one to view on TV, it automatically sends the output of that VCR to all the others for dubbing if you desire. It also had Dual Mode with separate 4 channel systems - you could run 2 dubbing sessions at the same time. When I got the DVHS decks, they use Toslink and Firewire so were totally incompatible. JVC came out with a newer AV Selector, but it handled DVHS as an isolated matrix - no intermingling with other VCR's.
I just answered a question you asked in one of your previous videos. In the video titled 'This VCR can freeze your TV' at about 10 minutes in you asked what HP Select is. This is unique to Toshiba machines. It has to do with the playback and picture sharpness. In the 90s I used to have different video recorder machines at different times from Sony to JVC and Ferguson Videostar. I never had a Toshiba. Every one of them were just as noisy because of the motors spinning for the various parts to work. The constant whirr of the head drum spinning was so loud I was able to ignore it. Eventually the noise became intolerable so I got rid of them. As technology advanced I got into DVDs. My best machine was a Sony RDR-HXD 870; it was one of the first digital machines that had an analogue tuner with digital. The DVD was quieter as was the hard drive. The noisiest part was the cooling fan. Now I watch all my stuff using my Desktop PC which has a solid state hard drive. The only moving part in this machine is the cooling fan which is so quiet I can hardly hear it.
I love your videos. We grew up with Toshiba VCRs.. Never knew this one existed... Nice! Of course my parents would never had paid that much for one like this... haha!
I'd like to see some information on that sweet vintage TV. One can't really judge well over a camera mic, but seems to deliver powerful bassy audio, too!
Sony had a Betamax machine, the SL-HF950, that had its whole mechanism mounted in a motorised drawer. I myself had a SABA (rebadged JVC) that also had a drawer that could accept regular cassettes and VHS-C ones without the need of an adapter.
hi sir, great video, that was the old days back then, I do miss them a bit. you know about this still try to adjust the tension belt that might work. Thanks
When you pause it at 16:09 I think what we see here is the previous recording showing as being still on the tape (a cartoon). While in pause mode, this VCR tries to adjust the picture and it's picks up both the recent and previous recording.
If you have a bad pause on a 4 head machine, you have a failed / clogged head. It uses different heads for the paused picture. You can also tell this on picture search, you should see ripples in the picture during search and not noise bars.
If you haven't figured out the tray loader not going all the way in without help, I'd suggest cleaning the gear mechanism that guides it in. There could be some gunk or dirt causing it to stop moving.
That tray is like some DAT recorders. Bad idea. Also I’m guessing that the record level was automatic. I remember a lot of hifi machines with peak meters but manual record level.
I service and restore consumer-grade S-VHS VCRs for over 17 years, and I declare Toshiba built the longest-lasting S-VHS VCRs on Earth. Period. Don't look at any other brand, you're done shopping. The only common problem in the Toshibas are belts, that's all (don't panic, that's great news), and loading motor (before SV-771 model existed). Toshiba was the only S-VHS VCR maker without any common electronic problems reported. They always play pictures perfectly because Toshiba's video process board is all-digital circuitry with minimum number of capacitors used. Toshiba did not put in any single surface-mount capacitor. The other brands always have multiple electronic problems, not just belts alone. That includes Panasonic and Sony not in my recommended list. Sorry, but JVC S-VHS VCRs have way more problems than Toshiba (at least 5 times more I calculate).
I just pulled mine out of the closet while watching this video. The machine powers on but needs TLC from an experienced enthusiasts. I am willing to sell it for super cheap to one of your subscribers or viewers. Or I will list it on ebay in 7 days.
16:07 It appears that due to the camera's shutter speed / frame rate mismatch, a secondary picture is showing in the still (a cartoon of some kind is revealed along with the ASPCA ad). My guess is that the image that is revealed appears to be a previous recording that was underneath the new ASPCA recording that taped over it, and the erase head is either dirty or worn, and thus remnants of the previous recording remain, possibly resulting in a dirty/snowy still image. Either that, or perhaps the erase head isn't playing nice with the tape formulation of the Digital S tape.
Indeed. The transition between the images looks interesting and unusual. I guess to the naked eye it would appear almost as two images superimposed over each other, since one image is interlaced with the other. Assuming this is a 4-head VCR, that could also indicate that one or more of the playback heads is faulty or dirty, resulting in a noisy pause. Perhaps using a normal tape would narrow that down.
sorry I didn't get it.. are you switching channels from the TV or is all that recorded on the tape itself?? like if the tape had multiple layers?? I saw you changing channels and pausing them... what was that ???
If it's unclear to you whether it's direct tuner signal or a recording, that's saying a lot about this VCR's quality. Yet, it should have been clear to you when he pauses the tape, since still image is quite bad (maybe not originally so, but because some parts are badly worn).
Toshiba is a traditional old Japanese corporation brand that has always aimed for being a Honda-type kind of best reliability throughout history since the 1950s. Panasonic (or Toyota) is usually #1 most-reliable, then Toshiba (or Honda) is #2 most-reliable. Or, the vice versa..., depending on certain product. Often, Toshiba can be #1 most-reliable. Then Sanyo, JVC, Sharp, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sony, and NEC (ranked in-order) to some degree, according to the 70-year median average reliability (all electronic & appliance products sold since 1950s) published by Consumer Reports magazine.
@07:47 lol! There's a typo in the French version of the warning telling you to be careful for your fingers... "(...) vos doigts _dana_ ce tiroir." "Dana" should have been *"dans".*
Well, it depends on the particular manufacturer and model, even those days. And sure enough, in the '80's the contrary was often the case in lowish range models, and remotes did not always include all of the machine's functions.
I have a SV-771 Toshiba Diomage Stereo Video Cassette Recorder. I watched your presentation on You Tube and I am betting that it is the belts that are giving me trouble in regard to the front loading system not working any more. Where does one get new ones?
I have a VCR that is from the 80's, when in mode fast forward or rewind mode the audio is speedup every quietly. How i know it you half to crank up the TV at a volume to hear it
Couldn't any VCR record audio from another source if it were recorded using composite cables? The first similcast tv show that I can remember growing up was the Motown 25 show with Michael Jackson. We had a Betamax then, but we didn't bother to record it.
...unnecessary extra step that forces you to drop the tape vertically in the drawer. All the drawer does is do what you would do on any front-loader. I would call it a gimmick.
Pretty silly to use a super machine like this without seeing the benefits of the S-VHS tapes and the S-VHS cable you get much higher quality I had a JVC one I think that S-VHS uses 400 lines like a DVD player wheeas he standard VHS uses only 250 therefore the higher quality. Looks a fine machine anyway.
the changed belt is to long! change it to a smaller one. The mechanism can't suck in the Tape with the correct Force. Then came the Timeout and the Tape will be Eject again. Change the belt to a new shorter belt and clean the wheels. i never see a worst Picture like this from a Video recorder. The Problem with the Red-Noise is a 80s Problem on VHS Video machines. Still Picture means that the 2nd LP Heads are not open (clean) or defect. The 2nd Heads are needed to have a Undisturbed good Picture during Still (Pause). The reason why the Video recorder need the LP Heads for a not Noise Picture is that during SP-Play alle Tracks that written and read from the Tape are curved this is correct during the Tape is moving with the SP Speed but if the Tape is Still in Pause the Head A & B are reading the Track not at the same curve as the moving Tape so the read a little bit between the Tracks from Head A and B so between the Tracks are no Videoinformation on the Tape. The Heads are reading the Noise and this is what you can see on the Screen. With the 2nd Heads for LP they will switched to this Heads during Still and can read the Videoinformation because this Heads have a other mechanical high and can read the Videoinformation from the Tape. There is now a clear Still Picture. I think the LP Heads are dirty - clean it and the Still will work. Defect is also the Pinch roller you can see this on the black little Tape Parts the are inside the Cassette Load. This Recorder will destroy all Tapes during Playing therefor the Still don't work too. You must change the Pinch roller.
one or more play heads needs a clean, bits of old tape running over it over the years has built-up stopped reading the tape, or one or more have failed, it a high end machine, so its going have four or six heads, it can get by with two just playing, just like a regular cheaper VCR's, terrible -)
