frustrated about lifespan of common electronics

[windeye]

yesterday I took the camcorder out for a short capture of something I am working on. The unit is a Panasonic HDC-TM90, does the 1080 recording. I bought it likely in 2011 to 2012 time frame, don't really remember. The screen flickered and later on went blank.

Come to think of it... over the last 25 years or so, I have owned 8mm tape camcorders, 4mm tape camcorder, and this Panasonic digital, as well as many point and shot digital cameras. All of them died out of normal use, no abuses whatsoever.

Yes, it has been many years of use. but I still feel quite frustrated. Sorry for the negative energy. These things are not really repairable or worth a repair.
Add TV sets as well. Old things don't have to die, but they die anyway. Ugh!

 

[dishdude]

Camcorders are obsolete, any decent phone will blow that thing away.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Camcorders are obsolete, any decent phone will blow that thing away.

Except zoom.

Also, depending on how much HD/UHD footage you want to capture, storage space on your phone may become an issue.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Come to think of it... over the last 25 years or so, I have owned 8mm tape camcorders, 4mm tape camcorder, and this Panasonic digital, as well as many point and shot digital cameras. All of them died out of normal use, no abuses whatsoever.

We have a Panasonic HC-V700 of similar vintage (bought in 2010 I think), and it's still running OK despite taking quite a bit of abuse - it got dropped multiple times and the body is all scratched up. Wife still uses it heavily to record our vacation trips.

 

[SC Maintenance]

planned obsolescence

 

[IndyIan]

Except zoom.

Also, depending on how much HD/UHD footage you want to capture, storage space on your phone may become an issue.

Yeah, I found our old camcorder and having a lense with some size and optical zoom is a lot better for recording the kids on the ski hill. Phones still have to follow the laws of physics, for sure some electronic trickery helps, but a lense with 10 times the light collection has advantages.

 

[windeye]

gotta move on I guess... I would like to get a new camcorder... later this year, thinking black Friday etc... but not sure if I should shell out for a 4K camera... what do you all think? do you have a 4K, what's your favorite? Thanks.

 

[John105]

That is frustrating. We too have a 2008 Camcorder which I assume still works.

I had a Denon AV receiver (AVR-1709) that cost $229 in 2009. It broke in 2021.

When I went to replace it, tried to get same specs, and we were into the high $500's.

I decided to slum it and get a Sony in the low $200's that didn't have the same specs. Weight wise, the Sony was about 1/2, and in 2009, I found the Denon to seem to have nothing to it.

In my case at least it did last 12 years--but the TV it is paired with, a Samsung series 8 52", is still going strong...

 

[Lubener]

Camcorders are obsolete, any decent phone will blow that thing away.

What is he supposed to do, throw it down a sewer because you feel it is obsolete??

 

[dishdude]

What is he supposed to do, throw it down a sewer because you feel it is obsolete??

It threw itself down the sewer!

 

[Vil_Riker]

Sony FX3 with Sony PZ 1635 F4 lens if you are feeling particularly wealthy.

 

[Nukeman7]

Would a GoPro HD action camera be suitable for your video recording needs? They have excellent image resolution and can be adaptable to many different applications, especially for outdoor activities.

 

[y_p_w]

The biggest issue might be if the firmware is corrupted. EEPROMs can fade over time, although periodic use might mean periodic refreshing. Not 100% sure on that though.

 

[Rmay635703]

yesterday I took the camcorder out for a short capture of something I am working on. The unit is a Panasonic HDC-TM90, does the 1080 recording. I bought it likely in 2011 to 2012 time frame, don't really remember. The screen flickered and later on went blank.

Come to think of it... over the last 25 years or so, I have owned 8mm tape camcorders, 4mm tape camcorder, and this Panasonic digital, as well as many point and shot digital cameras. All of them died out of normal use, no abuses whatsoever.

Yes, it has been many years of use. but I still feel quite frustrated. Sorry for the negative energy. These things are not really repairable or worth a repair.
Add TV sets as well. Old things don't have to die, but they die anyway. Ugh!

Just buy another one like it or identical to it sometimes they are at thrift stores.

This is how I handle printers.

Too bad monitors, computers and other electronics rarely make it to thrift now that everything is so anal about monetizing the recycling stream

 

[MVAR]

That is frustrating. We too have a 2008 Camcorder which I assume still works.

I had a Denon AV receiver (AVR-1709) that cost $229 in 2009. It broke in 2021.

When I went to replace it, tried to get same specs, and we were into the high $500's.

I decided to slum it and get a Sony in the low $200's that didn't have the same specs. Weight wise, the Sony was about 1/2, and in 2009, I found the Denon to seem to have nothing to it.

In my case at least it did last 12 years--but the TV it is paired with, a Samsung series 8 52", is still going strong...

I recently had to replace my old B&K AVR507 as the preamp section failed & I couldn't find service support for the AV/Preamp section. Replaced with a Yamaha unit. The Yamaha doesn't even make rated power & lacks the dynamics of the B&K. It does support 4K passthrough & has a better DSP for room EQ but that doesn't come close to making up for the lack of performance.

I'm actually debating looking for an old B&K 7ch amp & a new standalone AV preamp to go along with it for the best of both worlds. Problem still holds with reliability on the Anthem (and other) AV preamp units I've been looking at.

This new(er) electronics market is frustrating to say the least.

 

[wander2039]

Huh my Denon failed couple years ago also. I think it was 5xx something... audio just went out. Is Denon junk? . Went with Onkyo this time but I bet it won't last any longer.

 

[alarmguy]

Have a pair of Bose QC earbuds, not cheap! We moved to a new home, they weren't used for about 9 months and almost brand new before that time. Maybe used 30 times.
Freaking things are fried. I am so pissed. Get red and blue flashing lights on them.
Meanwhile my JayBird Vista II purchased for around $130 in Sam's Club continues to work perfectly. I use the JayBirds extensively when in bed, they are so small I can sleep with them. They really are a great pair of ear buds but dont count on their noice cancelling feature for anything, its really not very affective and honestly unless you have a perfect fit even more expensive ones like Bose are not that effective.

I also have a pair of Bose Sport Buds, those I ahve used a fair amount working outside and they continue to work. Just the freaking expensive Bose Quiet Comfort has failed. I just found this out yesterday when I unpacked them. I will appeal to Bose at some point. I have read in Reddit some people were successful getting free replacements by making noise at Bose and on Twitter "X" so it must be a known failure.

 

[Rand]

@alarmguy
red and blue is failed pairing.

red and white is error.

have you tried anything to fix them?

I'm a fan of the samsung buds but not opposed to others just havent used many.
I need a set that fully works when only using 1 bud and i like to switch off left and right ears.
many you can only use left or both.. etc.

I have a super nice set of sony headphones(XB950N1)-- at least by my standards of nice....
I use when mowing.. I previously used a cheapo corwin e7 set for that but after 5 years I figure the batteries in the sony will eventually go bad so they get the rough use now.

 

[alarmguy]

@alarmguy
red and blue is failed pairing.

red and white is error.

have you tried anything to fix them?

I'm a fan of the samsung buds but not opposed to others just havent used many.
I need a set that fully works when only using 1 bud and i like to switch off left and right ears.
many you can only use left or both.. etc.

I have a super nice set of sony headphones(XB950N1)-- at least by my standards of nice....
I use when mowing.. I previously used a cheapo corwin e7 set for that but after 5 years I figure the batteries in the sony will eventually go bad so they get the rough use now.

Yeah, been trying, resets, even using Bose app that is supposed to fix them automatically. Thing is they are not communicating and cant fix something if you cant get it to communicate.
. I dont give up easy but do not want to spend a lot of time in any one day messing with it.
I have seen posts on Reddit that says its an internal fault (fried) and can not be repaired, also Bose refers to that as well but implies that some possibilities exist to correct it since they offer steps to do just that but its not working.
The other "fault" can be batteries that went bad.

Yet the Jaybirds work pretty much flawlessly all the time and inf fairness my much used Bose Sports work fine too, just the most expensive Bose do not. I am also a fan of some of the Apple Buds but I swear something is a little bit off in one ear and I cant get a good fit with them, this is happened with many other brands as well and why the Jaybirds and Bose were perfect for me.
Over a few month period a couple years back I tried about 6 different sets of buds from all the big manufacturers trying to get a good fit.

 

[Rand]

Over a few month period a couple years back I tried about 6 different sets of buds from all the big manufacturers trying to get a good fit.

I hear that wife has tiny "earholes" so even the smallest tip doesnt fit well (painful)
I gave her my never used pair of "samsung buds live" and shes on her 2nd set of those.. they dont go in that far.

I have tried about 5-6 but they either dont work as single buds or have odd issues.. the regular buds2 are my current set and about ready for a new set.