dvd hard disc recorder knackered. how to fix?

[JandLandG]

we bought a panasonic hard disc dvd player/recorder in 2004 and it's died.

no death throes, just death.

it won't switch on.

it was great for recording tv and just click a thumbnail and play it off the hard disc drive...no looking around for vhs tapes everywhere.

anyway, we've had our money's worth i suppose, but i don't just want to throw it.

it starts up like a computer, and it feels like it just needs re-booting or something.

the manual says you can press a sequence of buttons to alt control delete type thing it, but nothing happens when you do.

who do i take it to? a computer repair person? a tv repair person?

you can bet comet would charge an arm and a leg for something which i'm sure is quite simple to fix.....so how to get this thing working again?

any advice welcomed.

bump

sorry, mustn't have made myself clear...it's got power it just doesn't boot up.

it does actually switch on on.

it just doesn't switch on so anything's do-able with it.

Don't know if you sorted this, but it probably isn't worth taking to a shop. They would indeed charge an arm and probably both legs too.

If you post the model number we might be able to find more about it and common faults.
Had it been moved recently? if it has a hard drive then it connects via one of those wide flat ide cables. They can get jogged loose so if you fancy opening it up you can jiggle the cables and see if that helps.

Does it have a seperate power supply? One of those black boxes that goes between the wall electric socket and the recorder. Sometimes they get weak enough to light up the front, but without enough power to get it running.

hey thanks v v much for this...what to do if it's the power thing? and how can i tell if is the problem?

will check the number and put it on here....its a panasonic

might have a look inside and a jiggle about...but it hasn't moved for years.

looks like about 250 quid for a new equivalent...might just have to fork out...spending a lot of cash recently...hope the house sells quick!

Well if it's the sort of power supply that can be unplugged from the back you might have a similar one on something else you can try. It's possible to buy them, but you wouldn't want to do that unless you were sure.

I have a digifusion FVRT (not quite the same thing and obselete now) and so far have replaced the power supply, the fan and swapped the hard drive for a bigger one I wasn't using.

Don't just throw it out if you replace it. Unless the drive IS the problem it should be standard and it might come in handy.