1981 Laser Disc - 50 Years Together

Wonder if any of these players are still working?

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  Autos & Vehicles

[Watcher3223]

On the other hand, Pioneer came out with their first consumer LD player in 1980, the VP-1000. It was superior to the Magnavox player in virtually every measure, including even playing those lousy DiscoVision titles.

[Watcher3223]

The Magnavox player, when first sold in test markets, sold very well. But, they started coming right back because of problems with reliability and playability. Also, it didn't help that many of the LaserDiscs available in 1978 and up to 1981 were made by MCA DiscoVision, which had serious quality control issues with their discs and that the Magnavox players couldn't really work with them.

[Watcher3223]

The Magnavox player, on the other hand, was a piece of junk and most examples that can be found today will most likely not be working and may require repair.

The Magnavox player shown is the VH-8000 Magnavision, which was the first consumer LaserDisc player, first introduced to test markets in 1978. In 1981, Magnavox also made the VH-8005, which was the same except with an infrared sensor and a wireless remote control added.

[Watcher3223]

There are quite a few of those old RCA CED players still kicking. If something is wrong with them, it's usually going to be worn belts and dried lubrication, though out-of-spec electrical parts, usually electrolytic capacitors, can be a factor, as well.

The RCA videodisc player model shown on this article is the SFT-100W, which was the first model made available for the Capacitance Electronic Disc format.

They were fairly simple and robust players, so they're relatively easy to revive.