I like the concept of being loyal to a brand, especially if the brand has worked for you in the past. But it is really difficult if no one stocks it. In this case, I was in the need of a new VCR – but didn’t have a lot of money to spend. I wanted to continue with RCA, of which there were four in the house. We replaced one about two years ago (a hi-fi mono deck for about $50) and one other about two years before that (a hi-fi stereo deck for about $100.) RCA lists a comparable deck to the recently deceased one for $70, and so I hit the pavement and went to four stores – three of which RCA decks have been purchased at in the past, and three of which are major electronics dealers – none of which stocked RCA VHS decks!
Now RCA is not some “fly-by-night” manufacturer. They’ve been in the business for about as long as the business has been around. My first deck was an old RCA top-loader (well, we rented it – when we finally purchased one it was a J.C. Penny label but manufactured by RCA…) It’s a little sad that after two decades (or so) of being a loyal RCA user, I am now the owner of a JVC VHS deck. Oddly enough, JVC are the people who patented the VHS format (and licensed it’s use to other companies, which Sony didn’t do with BetaMax.) Oh, well… Now I just have to get used to operating my new toy…
2003-10-06