CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

Area Man · Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Posts: 5 Location: Vancouver, BC

Which also happens to be the first CED player I've ever seen in the flesh (metal?).

When I discovered CED's existed a couple years or so ago, I was totally fascinated. Never thought I'd see one in person, but I totally wanted to.

Conversation at a dinner with friends this past weekend turned to the tape format war of past, and I semi-successfully tried to explain CED's with the help of a YouTube video.

Yesterday on my break at work, I hit Craigslist to satisfy my curiosity as to what people were trying to sell Betamax VCR's for nowadays (answer: too much). Punched in "CED" just for fun and... there it was:

CED player and 80 movies: $25.

I emailed right away. I was literally bouncing in my seat as I refreshed my email waiting for their reply. The reply came within 5 minutes and contained a phone number. I advised I'd be over that evening (yesterday), and so it was.

Dear god these things weigh a TON. I couldn't carry them all up the stairs to our fourth floor apartment, so I just brought up the player and a copy of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Gave the player a much-needed bath, hooked it up, and plugged the first side of the first disc into its face. As soon as the intro sequence started up...

Oh man. It's a little fuzzy but surprisingly not bad. A little stutter-y crackly in places, but I have to assume by the musty smell of the whole lot that it's been in storage a lonnnng time. Hopefully some regular use will improve it.

I left it to play while I cooked dinner. At this point I was totally living for the moment my other half got home and noticed it playing. At first, he didn't; it was just "are you watching the Star Trek movie?", followed by "Is that a CED PLAYER?!"

Best night ever. Very Happy

Rixrex · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 1222

So what model of player is it?

I suspect the stylus needs some cleaning. That's usually what causes picture weakness and staticky sound.

Also a good idea to take off the cover and get the dust out of it, if you feel adept at doing such. Not with a rag, but a hair dryer set on the cool position.

Depending upon the model, the stylus may be easy to remove or a little bit more difficult.

Good luck with it!

Area Man · Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Posts: 5 Location: Vancouver, BC

I suppose that'd have been helpful info, huh? It's a Sanyo VDR-3000.

I'm comfortable opening it to dust. Thanks for the tip re: hair dryer.

Is it possible to clean the stylus as well? Or does that need to be done by someone with special experience/equipment?

Rixrex · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 1222

Here's a forum topic covering the cleaning of stylus:

http://www.cedmagic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1796&highlight=stylys+cleaning

The Sanyo is a rare bird! Well worth getting at that price. See it here:

http://www.cedmagic.com/museum/ced-player-guide/vdr3000.html

Not a clone of an RCA or other make, completely of its own. That's one I would completely restore to perfect if I had it. But still, like the Toshiba, it uses the RCA 149000 stylus, still somewhat available and can be rebuilt or cleaned professionally, if your cleaning doesn't work. The stylus can be taken out easily enough with access through the top hatch. It must be done carefully and cleaned very gently.

A great buy!

Beetlescott · Joined: 03 Oct 2010 Posts: 2085

Welcome to the site. I know how exciting it is to bring home your first player and CEDs. Good luck with your player. CED players are very addicitive

SelectaVision420 · Joined: 25 Mar 2012 Posts: 1204 Location: Hartford

cool dude, does it have the remote?
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Area Man · Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Posts: 5 Location: Vancouver, BC

Rixrex · Joined: 28 May 2004 Posts: 1222

All the more reason for you to restore it to top condition! Or sell or trade it to me, ha!

But seriously, I'd be getting replacement belts for it and making sure all lube points were properly lubricated, and all dry points were clean, and looking for another good stylus, so you always have two on hand in case one needs rebuilding.

Then it's time to collect some more discs!

I think BlindFury has one of those and maybe some tips he can share with you?

blindfury420 · Joined: 26 Jan 2011 Posts: 1036

Area Man · Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Posts: 5 Location: Vancouver, BC

ketonic_dude · Joined: 20 Jul 2012 Posts: 448 Location: Mankato, MN

Congrats on the find and welcome to the world of CED! Sounds like an amazing start. I've never seen one of the Sanyo's for sale anywhere, I'd be curious to know what discs you got with it. I guess I'm even more amazed that it still had the remote with it and that it actually worked. Usually the belts turn to goo, someone must have taken good care of that one. Well I'm glad to have another CED fan amongst us. Thanks for sharing your experience.

mxpxpunkrock1987 · Joined: 31 Jan 2013 Posts: 24 Location: new britain ct

i have a guy john steven who does repairs and has parts for most machine anyways if needed shoot me a email for help or if your stylus needs cleaning frankyiq at hotmail dot com

blindfury420 · Joined: 26 Jan 2011 Posts: 1036

John Stevens is part of the Cedatum team and you can contact them at www.cedatum.com As far as I can remember they only work on RCA brand players though. I know for a fact they wont work on Hitachi models but it never hurts to ask if they will work on the sanyo! Like he said above though they do awesome work on styli!
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