Sony slv-e820vc or slv-se60ae1

[Maris68]

Hi, if nowadays you have the option to choose between sony slv-e820vc or slv-se60ae1
Which one is preferable? My 820 the slot is not working well, but he seems to be more stable.
The 60 I bought once in a secondhandshop for 5 euros is working well, but the colors seems to be less natural and seems to be less stable. But maybe the heads just need to be cleaned. Allthough it automatically cleaned one aswell.

[orsetto]

The 820 is a somewhat better player, bu if the slot is broken on yours you will need to be very careful when using it to avoid damaging tapes. Its a good idea to take the screws out of the top cover so you can easily open the cover before ejecting each tape: with the cover open you can "help" the ejection with your fingers and carefully move any tape loop hanging out of the cassette so it doesn't snag inside the slot. Your SLV-60 may be working better mechanically, but if you don't like the picture it produces it isn't worth using unless VCRs are so scarce in Netherlands that you have no chance of replacing it with another. Sometimes we don't have a choice: we must use whatever VCR we can get that works properly, even if the picture isn't the best.

A problem with many old VCRs is the loading slot system was made with a type of plastic that decays and cracks from age, when this happens loading becomes unreliable and cannot be repaired due to lack of new spare parts. Some VCRs are more reliable, built with stronger plastic or sometimes metal parts. Since I live in USA, it is difficult to recommend VCRs for you to look for in Netherlands (the model numbers are often different in different parts of the world). But generally, full-size Panasonics (sized like your 820) are more reliable than Sony, also the Mitsubishi HS-448, 449, 748, 749 models (which look similar to your Sony 820 but much more reliable).

[Maris68]

Hi Oresetto,
I just love my 820 and indeed I do have the cover on it without screws. Today I just tried to fixe it. Nothing seem to be broken but A metal thing fell out. Now I have a great time to reassembling it again.
Will look for a ‘new’ panasonic one. And hopefully it will be an upgrade as well.
Thanks for the suggestions

[orsetto]

The loose piece that fell out may have been causing the problem, if you can successfully re-install it then maybe your 820 loader works better. Sometimes we get lucky that way: I hope so for you.

Unfortunately there isn't as much repair info on technical websites for the 820 as for other VCRs. What little I can find suggests the 820 had very troublesome mechanics that tend to break or go out of alignment: many owners complained of this ten years ago. Repair is very challenging even for professional service shops: there is a separate service manual just for the loader, and disassembly is needlessly difficult. If you really like how the Sony 820 plays your tapes, maybe you could look for another one in better functioning condition on European trading sites. Two or three 820s get listed for sale every couple months, tho you may need to import one from another nearby country. For what that would cost, you might find two good VCRs locally that play almost as nice as the 820.

[Maris68]

It was a challenge to find an service manual indeed. You say there is a special one for the loader? I haven't found that one yet. Could you send me a link? With a little help of a photo I could relocate that metal thing. But unfortunately iit didn't help. Good to hear it was a common problem with the 820. And yes this problem started 10 years ago already but apart from that it worked well and I used it intensive in those years. I rather want an upgrade than a downgrade if possible. The ones that are good are around 400-600 euros (through a special shop) On our marketplace it is always a risk but you might get lucky. And it is really difficult to tell with all those different brands and types which of the less expensive ones will be better than the 820.
Right now looking at an LG LV 4981, panasonic nv-j35eo, jvc hr-v2000ez, and sharp vc-mh 770 (all around 50 euros). But then there is the panasonic dmr es35V as well (400)