I have 3 VCRs that were all bought at different times and are different brand names. Yesterday VCR1 ruined a tape and the Stop button fell in. Then I tried another tape and it too got ate. Hooked up VCR2 and rewind and fastforward stopped working. I lifted off the case and saw that when rewind was pressed, the film would loop up and wrap around a spool. Happens on every tape. VCR3 was jamming up while ejecting a cassette. Seemed like the opening was damaged like someone stepped on it. So I try to stretch plastic back to the original shape and snapped the entire face off. Now I don't have one. Is this gonna happen with my DVD players one day?
Sounds like most of your problems are caused by deteriorating belts - that and poor engineering. After a few years the rubber used for drive and load belts will turn to mush, whether the machine is used or not. Since you didn't mention any brand names or manufacture dates, it's hard to say whether the units would be worth repairing, but unless you know someone who will cut you some slack, they're all probably by all accounts nothing more than boat anchors by now. And unfortunately Tigerbeam is right, most consumer electronics sold nowadays are made to sell, not work. You can still get quality equipment if you want to pay for it, but today's trend is to buy cheap and throw away quick. I wouldn't be too concerned about how long the $39 DVD player/recorder/video game system you buy today lasts, tomorrrow they'll introduce Holographic Event Assimulators, and those DVDs will be collecting dust in your basement along with your old Thourogood cassettes and Naked Gun videos
