Completely lost with a VCR playback problem.

[DiegoWolfwood]

My VCR is a DVD/VCR combo, a Go Video DV2150. The DVD player has never worked and I never needed it anyway. Anyway, the problem. It used to play VHS tapes perfectly fine, no problems at all. After a period of time where I had not used it, I hooked it back into my TV to watch a video and it suddenly will not show movies anymore. The DVD menu screen shows up on my TV, meaning that all the connections are perfectly fine. When I switch to VCR mode it shows a blue screen as well as text saying "Play" or "Stop" depending on what I'm doing, and the playtime. This text disappears about a second after I hit play and is replaced by a black screen with "Video 2" in the corner. All I get is a black screen, no video and no sound. I have tried multiple tapes as well. What could be the cause of this?

[hech54]

Combo units are notorious CRAP. It's probably just dead.

[DiegoWolfwood]

How strange, the thing worked perfectly fine with no troubles last time I used it. I didn't even so much as move it from its place when I tried it again recently to find that it doesn't work at all now. Usually VCRS seem to deteriorate slowly....

[sanlyn]

Combo units are notorious CRAP. It's probably just dead.

Probably?
http://www.amazon.com/GoVideo-DV2150-Progressive-Player-4-Head/product-reviews/B0009JG...owViewpoints=0

[mike20021969]

Combo units are notorious CRAP. It's probably just dead.

Probably?
http://www.amazon.com/GoVideo-DV2150-Progressive-Player-4-Head/product-reviews/B0009JG...owViewpoints=0

Maybe he can swap it with Jeanne B as her VCR part still works (well, it could be broke now though as her review of the item was from 2006).

GoVideo+$50 price tag - sounds cheap and nasty for a combo unit.

[DiegoWolfwood]

Hehe yes, I am aware it's a cheap piece of crap as the DVD player on mien has never worked, but I don't see any reviews mentioning that the VHS player doesn't work, which is all I care about.

[Hoser Rob]

If the dvd player never worked why would I expect the vcr part to work very well? The dvd player part is usually the good part of those combos.

It's dead. Unfortunately it's not worth paying what it'd cost to have somebody try to fix it. Buy another one.

[DiegoWolfwood]

Because the VCR part worked perfectly fine for quite a long time, and after a brief hiatus it suddenly just didn't. I suppose I'll have to buy a new one if that's all there is to it. I was hoping for a fix, ah well.

[orsetto]

Around the time cheap combo players were introduced, build quality went out the window. The "gee it worked great for four years and as recently as last week, but today gears are spewing out the tape slot" syndrome is pretty common. The unit has finally broken down, thats all, and as others have suggested these are not worth repairing.

If you don't need the DVD player, just buy a good used VCR (there are no good new ones anymore). People practically give away VCRs: ask around to your friends and family, nearly everyone has a 4 head hifi Panasonic sitting idle in their basement or bedroom. Look at Craigs List Ads, garage sales, thrift shops or even eBay. A good Panasonic, Mitsubishi or Sharp mfr'd in the late '90s will last 20 more years under normal (non-child) use. Shouldn't cost you more than $25, likely much less, unless you buy from eBay where shipping costs are often as much as the VCR. Avoid most used Sonys and JVCs, these were a little more fragile and tend to age badly. And of course avoid another GoVideo like the plague.

[DiegoWolfwood]

Around the time cheap combo players were introduced, build quality went out the window. The "gee it worked great for four years and as recently as last week, but today gears are spewing out the tape slot" syndrome is pretty common. The unit has finally broken down, thats all, and as others have suggested these are not worth repairing.

If you don't need the DVD player, just buy a good used VCR (there are no good new ones anymore). People practically give away VCRs: ask around to your friends and family, nearly everyone has a 4 head hifi Panasonic sitting idle in their basement or bedroom. Look at Craigs List Ads, garage sales, thrift shops or even eBay. A good Panasonic, Mitsubishi or Sharp mfr'd in the late '90s will last 20 more years under normal (non-child) use. Shouldn't cost you more than $25, likely much less, unless you buy from eBay where shipping costs are often as much as the VCR. Avoid most used Sonys and JVCs, these were a little more fragile and tend to age badly. And of course avoid another GoVideo like the plague.

Thanks for your advice, I really wasn't sure what brands were good ones to aim for. I will look into a new one and toss this POS into the junk heap xD

[mike20021969]

nearly everyone has a 4 head hifi Panasonic sitting idle in their... bedroom.

I have a Panasonic HD630 - it's awesome and I'm not parting with it

[jimdagys]

There is a certain well known chain thrift shop. When the shelf allotted for vcrs is already full, any new arrivals go straight to the thrift shop dumpster. You can't beat free.

[DiegoWolfwood]

I got a new one that works pretty well from a yard sale, Panasonic PV-9450 4 head hifi

[Hoser Rob]

Nice. I'm pretty sure all those 'new' combo vcr's you get now are reconditioned old ones. A decent older one from a yard sale is probably a better deal.

[lordsmurf]

Even when new or "good", the combo VHS decks are still crap.

This is what you should be using: VCR Buying Guide (S-VHS, D-VHS, Professional) for best video capturing

... if you care about quality.

[DiegoWolfwood]

Well damn.....and now this one I just got is suddenly doing weird things. When I hit "play" it sounds like it's fast forwarding, and the screen is blue......if I rewind or fast forward, the picture shows up.....but it's as if it won't play normally no matter what I do. Any help?

*EDIT*

Well, it seems to work sometimes....when it wants to. I am not sure why the problem occurs, or why it decide to randomly NOT occur.