Philips dvd/vcr problem, help?

[Force95B]

I bought this unit back in Feb of this year at Walmart. In the past
two months the vcr part has developed a nasty habit of "eating" tapes.
At first it was doing it to the tapes I use to record tv shows. I
thought maybe it was the tapes, so I popped in my tape of Star Wars
Episode I and about 45 minutes later it grabbed the tape and shut off.
Then I bought some new tapes for recording and put one in. Even before
doing anything it grabbed the tape and stopped. Everytime this happens
an error reading appears. I can't return it to Walmart and it would
cost $80 to trade it for a new one through the company. My question is
does anyone know what the problem could be and what course of action I
can take. I realize that combo's aren't the greatest due to this
problem of one side failing. I just bought a cheap Emerson vcr to
record shows in the meantime, however, I would like to know if the
Philips can be fixed or if it just needs cleaning. I am going to get a
cleaning tape and try that, but any advice would be helpful. The unit
is a DVD750VR dvd/vcr combo. You would think that a unit less than a
year old would not do this. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Winston]

Force95B wrote:

I bought this unit back in Feb of this year at Walmart. In the past
two months the vcr part has developed a nasty habit of "eating" tapes.
At first it was doing it to the tapes I use to record tv shows. I
thought maybe it was the tapes, so I popped in my tape of Star Wars
Episode I and about 45 minutes later it grabbed the tape and shut off.
Then I bought some new tapes for recording and put one in. Even before
doing anything it grabbed the tape and stopped. Everytime this happens
an error reading appears. I can't return it to Walmart and it would
cost $80 to trade it for a new one through the company. My question is
does anyone know what the problem could be and what course of action I
can take. I realize that combo's aren't the greatest due to this
problem of one side failing. I just bought a cheap Emerson vcr to
record shows in the meantime, however, I would like to know if the
Philips can be fixed or if it just needs cleaning. I am going to get a
cleaning tape and try that, but any advice would be helpful. The unit
is a DVD750VR dvd/vcr combo. You would think that a unit less than a
year old would not do this. Thanks in advance for the help.

Do me a favor?
Grab a flashlight and some long tweezers.
Unplug the Philips and stand it on its rear on the kitchen table.
With one finger, hold open the VCR door. Use the tweezers to remove
the piece of label that has become stuck in the mechanism.

Had I done this, I would have saved enough for a decent dinner.

Yours for free, 'cause I like you.

--Winston