Go Video 8mm/VHS VCR - GV-8020 (made by Samsung)

You may have seen Go Video's dual-deck VHS VCRs. But here's one that is a "VH8" combination 8 mm (Video8 / quasi-Hi8) and VHS VCR -- the GV-8020, from 1994.

Time flow:
0:00 Introduction
1:41 Overview
3:36 Patents
4:34 Controls & display
6:13 VHS playback
8:36 8mm playback
10:13 A look inside
11:59 Repair attempt
13:35 VHS recording
15:47 Repair results
17:16 Conclusion

#RetroTech #VHS #8mm

[niafer]

The film never gained traction and is not widely known, but Dorothy's Graduation is the sequel to The Wizard of Oz.

[electronraygun]

This is one of the things I like about VWestlife's videos, we still got to see the 8mm playing even though it was faulty. Most other YouTube channels would skip it and my curiosity would forever remain. Its nice to know that there's other nerds like me in the world 😀

[manonthedollar]

Long-time viewer here: As I watch the video, the "thumbs up" count keeps going up and up -- makes me really happy that your channel is appreciated

[Ale.K]

What a cool device! I hope you can get it fully working.
I'm from a PAL country and we lost the EP/SLP speed; "modern" VHS decks were SP and LP only. I remember "discovering", thanks to my NTSC Playstation, that my VCR alternated between the usual SP and LP in PAL mode and SP and EP in NTSC mode.

[charlie_nolan]

Something kind of interesting if you’re a nerd: the cheap Sony and many other VCRs of the late 90s and early 2000s used the same VHS mech as several Go-Video decks. I had a dual Go-Video deck have one side fail, so I decided to open up my cheap Sony and I was able to take the entire VHS assembly out and transplant it. After a rough re-alignment of the head with a screwdriver it worked like new.

[charlesdorval]

Wow, Samsung was doing serial ports way earlier than I thought!
I like my "older" Samsung TVs for that, ExLink is just RS232 :)

[ellwood]

I have 2 Sony 8mm vcrs that would not display a stable image untill I recapped the head amplifier boards. You can check the caps with an ESR meter if you want to isolate the worst caps. Tracking can be improved by adjusting the 2 tape guides and observing the effect on your monitor.

[GarthBeagle]

8:23 No, no time for church, I gotta bungie jump!

[Daniel-]

2:18 because of Techmoan I always expected some seedy music to play as the protective layer is being pulled off

[UserUser-zcfx]

That's actually an awesome find. In my experience most Go Video products are junk, but one made by Samsung can't be all that bad, and to be able to have a Video 8 deck with Hi8 playback as well, along with HiFi VHS for archiving videos is awesome.

[Badonicus]

I must say for something that's 31 years old it looks to be in great shape

[GregInTokyo]

I still have a Sony dual-format player I bought 30+ years ago which came in really handy when I recently digitized all our 8mm video tapes. These things will probably end up being valuable.

[mushroomsamba]

8:15 Shove over, God. We've got sportsball!

[EndUser]

I saw that same unit at unique but didn't know if it worked. Glad you were able to get it and make this video.

[bigdudeohyeah]

Dual Deck Director makes so much sense for the era - it could've been like the sports dad version of the PlayStation 2's DVD player.

[Recordology]

I’m honestly flabbergasted that these were made by Samsung. They looked cheap but they never died.

[nobideluxe]

VO: In the twentieth century we have seen more advances in science and technology and more social changes than we had in the previous two-thousand years ...
[somewhat uneasy music]
Me: ... is that a threat?
[music turns slightly sinister]

[Gljin]

I owned several of Go-Video`s dual VHS decks and still own one....Go -Video`s claim to fame was the included "Americhrome" circuitry which overrode the VHS macrovision copyguard which allowed for copying "Hollywood" movies....I copied thousands of them back in the day.

[AMDRADEONRUBY]

These are pretty neat i love them thanks Kevin for bringing me memories so much!, you are the best!

[kchalu]

My grandfather had one of these. Was thinking of asking for it, or the Sony VCR. Still in the cabinet where he left it.