I had one when I was a kid, loved it! Never put it down. I was checking eBay and there are some available, might have to reinvest in one. Thanks for posting!
I have a PXL2000, but I can no longer get cassettes.
I remember back in the day - pre internet - when a guy named Gerry (or Jerry) would adapt people's cameras with RCA a/v output jacks, so they could record from the PXL to any format (at the time it was portable Hi8 decks). Do you know if he is still around, or if anyone else is doing something similar?
I imagine that now it's possible to have some kind of on-board digital recording system, like on to SD card. Any ideas?
@orchidtender, Cassettes are easy to pickup from secondhand stores. You can even get pre-recorded cassettes, and put some tape on the record lids (on the top there are 2 holes on pre-recorded tapes or recordable tapes if removed). You can then rerecord over it. Don't mod it, you'll regret it.
Great review. I wanted one of these as a teen, but at the time a used car was about $500 and spedning 20% on a toy made me stop and think. That same summer my friend's aunt bought him a $1200 VHS camera and we shot on that thing like crazy.
Just came back from our local Goodwill Store here in Oakland, CA with one and it does not work, naturally. I think that the belts need replacement, but then again, the two battery covers were missing. I did get the power adapter, though and get this: they GAVE ME THE PXL-2000 when I told them it did not work properly.
I coveted one of these when I was a junior high student in the late '80s, but I remember the price being much more than $99. From my memory, it was sold for around $300, bundled with its own black and white monitor.
@VJTOMYAZ they were discontinued because they were too pricy for a kid's toy and didn't sell very well. They came out right about the same time that regular camcorders were starting to drop in price, so these were kind of a novelty.
This is a really unusual and amazing piece of equipment! It's a really interesting system. I already tought about if it could be possible to get vide recorded onto a cassette. Well, this thing proves that it is possible (by rising up the tape speed of course).
Also, someone told me that the original mechanism is patented, and the original patent holder still owns it. If you look about the internet, some people have made all sorts of modifications to this little camera.
con't "service set", used to replace defective pieces but no longer useful to the company. I bought TWO relatively complete sets for $75 each. I did not get a case but I did get 2 monitors, 2 cams, and misc. accessories. Not only did I shoot a few tapes, but I used the unit as a "camera only" feeding to a regular tape deck. You got much better resolution but still odd looking! Of course I called back months later and they didn't know what I was talking about! LUCKY, still have both.
Another nice video Kerry. I have a Pixelvision story of my own. I was in my first condo and my mom had given me either a Wards or JC Penney catalog accidently amongst a whole bunch of magazines. The inside cover was this camera. It was a catalog from the previous year, and I tried all over to find one to buy, of course, they were all gone. I actually called Fisher Price to see if they could direct me to anyone who still had stock. The lady was really nice, she said she could sell me a
Oh man. I wish I had one of those! Do post the videos you've made with the PXL 2000 when you get it fixed! Vive la audio cassettes! :0D
Tyco made a similar type of kiddie camcorder in the mid 90s as well, but I think you had to plug it in to a VCR in order to record what was going on. It also was in black and white.
Someone has offered to copy my Pixel tapes to DVD. When they finish with them, I'll post the best of them here. Yes, Tyco made a B&W camera for kids but it did have to be plugged into a VCR. I see them currently on ebay for cheap.
I was just visiting a website the other day and the guy had one for sale. Pop a few screws, get a measure of the old belt and order up a new one. I put a belt in one of my old 8 tracks not to long ago.
I remember when they came out & the Adverting. They were Sold @K-Mart like stores. NOT the greatest images, it was Black and White & slow scan I believe (except for the color viewfinder.hehe). I bet you can take it apart quite easily (yeah, right huh? ;) I'm almost sure its a standard audio cassette mechanism. Probably just a belt and or roller to pin cushion..
Q: Where was in made? Im always curious..Taiwan, Korea, JAPAN???
Was the image put onto the tapes in color? Just curious. Oh, as a side not, I recently got a hold of a camera treasure of my own. I got a 1916 Brownie Box No. 2 camera at an antiques sale. Really neat stuff. Thanks for sharing this with us, Kerry!
This is superb! I do remember vary vaguely being available here in Australia. It did takes my interest purely because of the cost, unbelieveable that anything at such a cheap price could record any kind of video at all (considering camera's of the time were very expensive). Great video Kerry!
I've got one myselt. Bizarre toy, puts out weird pictures. The one thing that drives me crazy is that they didn't put a tracking knob on it to fine-tune the speed of the motor. To get a picture without rolling the tape has to be moving exactly the same speed it was when you were recording. So if my tape was a little jammed and running too slow when I recorded it, I can't watch my videos once the jam clears up. Drives me NUTS! But when it works, it works great for a camcorder that uses cassettes!
I had one when I was a kid, loved it! Never put it down. I was checking eBay and there are some available, might have to reinvest in one. Thanks for posting!
ERock73 3 weeks ago
Hi Kerry
I have a PXL2000, but I can no longer get cassettes.
I remember back in the day - pre internet - when a guy named Gerry (or Jerry) would adapt people's cameras with RCA a/v output jacks, so they could record from the PXL to any format (at the time it was portable Hi8 decks). Do you know if he is still around, or if anyone else is doing something similar?
I imagine that now it's possible to have some kind of on-board digital recording system, like on to SD card. Any ideas?
orchidtender 1 month ago
@orchidtender, Cassettes are easy to pickup from secondhand stores. You can even get pre-recorded cassettes, and put some tape on the record lids (on the top there are 2 holes on pre-recorded tapes or recordable tapes if removed). You can then rerecord over it. Don't mod it, you'll regret it.
TheRealDutchOwner 1 month ago
I used to run mine directly into a vcr too.You could use the camera and get a bigger picture with better quality.
WastedTimeVideos 9 months ago
Reminds me of the NBTV format that I play around with sometimes. Except this was better, as it recorded more than 32 lines.
kargaroc386 1 year ago
Great review. I wanted one of these as a teen, but at the time a used car was about $500 and spedning 20% on a toy made me stop and think. That same summer my friend's aunt bought him a $1200 VHS camera and we shot on that thing like crazy.
Adom 1 year ago
Awesome posting on the PXL-2000!
Just came back from our local Goodwill Store here in Oakland, CA with one and it does not work, naturally. I think that the belts need replacement, but then again, the two battery covers were missing. I did get the power adapter, though and get this: they GAVE ME THE PXL-2000 when I told them it did not work properly.
How cool is that!
Marantzguy 1 year ago
eBay or craigslist are your best bets for playing the recordings by getting a working camera.
ObiWanBillKenobi 1 year ago
I coveted one of these when I was a junior high student in the late '80s, but I remember the price being much more than $99. From my memory, it was sold for around $300, bundled with its own black and white monitor.
anothertalkinghead 1 year ago
I just heard about these last night through an old friend, they're so interesting - and I'm extremely jealous of you.
Galforg 2 years ago
i remember this! Brilliant! WHY was this discontinued? Was it a threat to the video camera industry?
VJTOMYAZ 2 years ago
@VJTOMYAZ they were discontinued because they were too pricy for a kid's toy and didn't sell very well. They came out right about the same time that regular camcorders were starting to drop in price, so these were kind of a novelty.
orchidtender 1 month ago
I paid 300 bucks for mine on ebay. Ouch!
marinagipps 2 years ago
This is a really unusual and amazing piece of equipment! It's a really interesting system. I already tought about if it could be possible to get vide recorded onto a cassette. Well, this thing proves that it is possible (by rising up the tape speed of course).
DrCassette 2 years ago
and very interesting video :)
AccordionManiac 2 years ago
The old Pixel tapes are finally copied and I hope to upload them in Nov 09. Stay tuned!
KKD1247 2 years ago
Wow that sure is unusual!
AccordionManiac 2 years ago
Also, someone told me that the original mechanism is patented, and the original patent holder still owns it. If you look about the internet, some people have made all sorts of modifications to this little camera.
ToyKingWonder 3 years ago
Yes, thats true. GREAT story!!
KKD1247 3 years ago
con't "service set", used to replace defective pieces but no longer useful to the company. I bought TWO relatively complete sets for $75 each. I did not get a case but I did get 2 monitors, 2 cams, and misc. accessories. Not only did I shoot a few tapes, but I used the unit as a "camera only" feeding to a regular tape deck. You got much better resolution but still odd looking! Of course I called back months later and they didn't know what I was talking about! LUCKY, still have both.
ToyKingWonder 3 years ago
Another nice video Kerry. I have a Pixelvision story of my own. I was in my first condo and my mom had given me either a Wards or JC Penney catalog accidently amongst a whole bunch of magazines. The inside cover was this camera. It was a catalog from the previous year, and I tried all over to find one to buy, of course, they were all gone. I actually called Fisher Price to see if they could direct me to anyone who still had stock. The lady was really nice, she said she could sell me a
ToyKingWonder 3 years ago
Oh man. I wish I had one of those! Do post the videos you've made with the PXL 2000 when you get it fixed! Vive la audio cassettes! :0D
Tyco made a similar type of kiddie camcorder in the mid 90s as well, but I think you had to plug it in to a VCR in order to record what was going on. It also was in black and white.
movementent 3 years ago
Someone has offered to copy my Pixel tapes to DVD. When they finish with them, I'll post the best of them here. Yes, Tyco made a B&W camera for kids but it did have to be plugged into a VCR. I see them currently on ebay for cheap.
KKD1247 3 years ago
I love these kind of oddities
TheOwl 3 years ago
I was just visiting a website the other day and the guy had one for sale. Pop a few screws, get a measure of the old belt and order up a new one. I put a belt in one of my old 8 tracks not to long ago.
Would love to see the movies.
Thanks for sharing.
miledbill 3 years ago
I remember when they came out & the Adverting. They were Sold @K-Mart like stores. NOT the greatest images, it was Black and White & slow scan I believe (except for the color viewfinder.hehe). I bet you can take it apart quite easily (yeah, right huh? ;) I'm almost sure its a standard audio cassette mechanism. Probably just a belt and or roller to pin cushion..
Q: Where was in made? Im always curious..Taiwan, Korea, JAPAN???
THANKS FOR SHARING KERRY! :)
chachavessel 3 years ago
My Pixelvision was purchased at Toys R Us. It was made in Japan.
KKD1247 3 years ago
Was the image put onto the tapes in color? Just curious. Oh, as a side not, I recently got a hold of a camera treasure of my own. I got a 1916 Brownie Box No. 2 camera at an antiques sale. Really neat stuff. Thanks for sharing this with us, Kerry!
danielchance 3 years ago
Pixelvision only recorded in B&W.
KKD1247 3 years ago
A real oddity. This video should appeal to all those interested in video and audio. Many thanks for this.
numpty1972 3 years ago
amazing!
grandmarquisinspace 3 years ago
Great video! This brings me back to 8th grade.
phdecora 3 years ago
I wonder if this could be revived in some form to make use of unwanted audio tapes? Thanks for the review of a device I did not know about.
OtherLives 3 years ago
This is superb! I do remember vary vaguely being available here in Australia. It did takes my interest purely because of the cost, unbelieveable that anything at such a cheap price could record any kind of video at all (considering camera's of the time were very expensive). Great video Kerry!
tubeie07 3 years ago
I've got one myselt. Bizarre toy, puts out weird pictures. The one thing that drives me crazy is that they didn't put a tracking knob on it to fine-tune the speed of the motor. To get a picture without rolling the tape has to be moving exactly the same speed it was when you were recording. So if my tape was a little jammed and running too slow when I recorded it, I can't watch my videos once the jam clears up. Drives me NUTS! But when it works, it works great for a camcorder that uses cassettes!
TheSwillMan 3 years ago