Does anyone know where I could get hold of a multisystem VCR? (Or even a PAL-only one, but I assume that’s even less likely!) I had kind of assumed these would be readily available in Taipei but I was wrong, or I just don’t know where to look. I’ve tried Fortress, which had no VCRs of any description, and 3C, which had exactly one - an NTSC one which the salesman said could play tapes but couldn’t actually record from TV (actually, I think you could rig it up through the AV inputs if you had to, but what he meant is that it had no RF input which is the usual connection). So at this point I don’t even know where to get a “normal” NTSC model.
Any help much appreciated. I brought a whole bunch of PAL tapes from home… which are now paperweights
You might want to try FNAC first. Video tapes are pretty much on the way out here. I still use them but I’ve noticed that they are getting fewer and fewer.
I got my first one in Hong Kong where they were easily available. However that packed up after a year of abuse from our 3 year old. I got another one from a family leaving Taipei who told me they bought it at Carrefour. You would probably be better off looking in the hypermarkets ie where the average Joe is going to buy this than higher end speciality stores. Someone told me Costco had them as well. If you find one let me know as I need (yet) another!
Something I didn’t point out in my post of earlier is that even after I got a multi system VCR from Hong Kong and repeatedly checked with the salesman that it would play my PAL tapes on an NTSC TV, I got it back and found it didn’t. You have to have a PAL TV or a multi system TV to take full advantage of a multi system VCR. Basically multi system means that it will play all tapes (in my case PAL,NTSC 3.38(?) and 4.43(?) and SECAM). BUT it would only do that if you had a multi system TV that was able to ready the signal ie a PAL tape was output with a PAL signal that an NTSC TV cannot interpret.
For some reason, a PAL TV, it was suggested, could handle both but not the other way around.
So all in all a multi system VCR is no panacea to your paperweigjt probeelms unless you already have the multi system TV. In my case I ended up importing one from HK, but only after the store that had sold me the VCR had given it to me free.
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Nope, definetely not. Some TVs in Europe can’t handle NTSC either, some can handle Pseudo-PAL (aka PAL60, a PAL signal with NTSC frequency) and some are true multi-system (PAL, PAL60 and NTSC, well, and SECAM if anyone cares except the French ).
I would look out for Samsung VCRs, they do have a multi-system player but I dunno if they sell it in Taiwan.
I have a high-end Sony which is multi-system myself, but I purchased it in Malaysia and it was on the expensive side.
An alternative might be to get a converter, can be found at the electronic shops in Gunghua market or Hankou/Kaifeng Street.
I also noticed a converter at a shop at the south-west corner of ZhongHua and ZhongXiao (between the MOF and the new pedestrian bridge / school) which had one on display in the window. Not sure if that box was NTSC to PAL or vice versa though.
The story so far for those who wanted to hear results: have found a couple of places, but not yet exactly what I wanted (well, at a reasonable price!). If anyone wants more details, feel free to PM me.
JVC HR-J82 NT$10,000
This one is multi-system, but doesn’t have an NTSC tuner (it does have PAL and SECAM capability, I think). I think it can record through the AV inputs though.
SHARP (unknown) NT$14,000
This one is multi-system, with an NTSC tuner but no PAL/SECAM tuner.
I think both can play NTSC on PAL TVs, but not vice-versa, due to that pseudo-PAL thing.
And would someone mind telling me whereabouts the Gunghua market is? I assume it’s near Gunghua street or something, but I can’t find anything it on my map, so a general area would be helpful. Thanks!
[quote=“jlick”]I’d look at one of the AV stores in the Guanghua shopping area, or a higher end AV shop like Daiichi.[/quote]Is that near the Chunghua shopping area ? If so, it’s on Zhonghua road, walking north from Ximen MRT station, on the right side, and down one of the smaller streets.
Guanghua market is under a bridge next to Xinsheng/Bade, but they don’t sell VCR’s, just computers.
Au contraire! Stuffed amidst all the computer shops are a few AV shops. I bought a nice region free progressive DVD player there just last week. I know they have VCRs, but since they sell security cams and the such they might be the long-play time-lapse ones instead of multisystem.
The Samsung I don’t know about, but the one shop I managed to find on the internet (remembering that my Chinese literacy is next to non-existent) is Yiicheau. They have this which I think is the kind of thing you wanted. I didn’t even bother to ask the price of this one, because net searches revealed that the list price is about US$2,000 :shock: , and the multisystem ones I’d already looked at cost roughly double the US price. You’d better be rich
Some AV shops are not located under the bridge but in the south-west corner of Bade and XinSheng, kind of small underground shopping center (B1/B2 level).
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