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From: Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid>
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: S-VHS cassette recorders
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2025 13:24:22 -0700
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On 1/5/2025 12:28 PM, bitrex wrote:
> CD players are probably right up there for Rube Goldberg complexity, people who 
> knew what they're doing probably repaired them regularly back in the day but 
> I've never had much luck if the unit has a serious fault, and the service 
> manuals I've seen tend to be pretty unhelpful.

CD players are relatively trivial, compared to VCRs.  There is NO
"media handling" other than hoping the user installs the medium
on the spindle correctly.

By contrast, a VCR has to extract the tape from the cassette (after
opening the access door and unlocking the reels) and pull it around the
rotating head assembly.  Then, has to ensure the alignment of the
head tracks the magnetic slices laid down on the medium, in real time.

As well as having to ensure the *mechanism* is operating at the right
"rate of speed" to ensure the video signal complies with that expected
downstream.

> A lot of the parts for vintage CD players are unobtanium now particularly the 
> laser diode which seems to be a common fault, in a few decades I expect there 
> will be almost none in working condition. like the Chevy Vega.

If you resign yourself to using drives intended for use with computers
(even having audio output capability), you can rescue as many as you can
carry!

> I see why people miss vinyl sometimes but I can't imagine anyone will really 
> miss the CD, a real stopgap technology.

The CD was a huge step up from vinyl.  No fussing with tracking, warped
media, dust and other contaminants, etc.  Play it the Nth time and it's
just as faithful to the source as the first!

*Mini* CDs were a complete waste of time.

<https://blogscanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/dvd_rewinder_gr.jpg>