Today I bought a new VCR/DVD player...

...and put the old one back in place.

A couple of days ago, when I put a new tape into the old VCR it started to make squeaky noises and turned itself off. I couldn't eject the tape... I turned it on... squeaky noises... off.... Time to get a new one I thought. What's the point of having it fixed, or opening it myself, it's over 14 years old.

Now my big WANT, the new digital camera, has to wait. Off I went to Futureshop, looked at the units, did a bit of searching last night, comparing features and such, went back today and bought a Samsung VCR/DVD combination, went home, installed it... Nothing. Configuration on that machine is entirely done through an on-screen menu, and nothing came on screen. I troubelshot, plugging it in directly to the wall cable, and yes, it got the automatic time setup which the unit takes from a TV station... this one was in the East,it was the wrong time, to change the time I needed that menu on the screen... no menu, no playback, dud.

Frustrated I thought there's nothing to loose, I'll open the old VCR and see what's what... and fixed it... The new tape had a label sheet stuck to it, when I got it out and the tape out, fixed!

So, the new machine goes back, I'll buy my digicam instead and the old one stays... :-) I am happy.