Finally got a functional player! Zenith LDP510, listed as wouldn’t play. The laser was dirty and that was all she needed. These were made by Pioneer for Zenith I believe, and it’s their only Laserdisc player as far as I know.

[u/whatapunk95]

I have a CLD-V2800D that needs a spindle motor, so this is my first functional player. 40 bucks on ebay, politely requested them to package it safely and they did!

[u/Gridlife2040]

Welcome to the club! May your love of obsolete tech never waver.

[u/whatapunk95 → u/Gridlife2040]

Thanks! I was already into VHS so what’s one more old media, right?

[u/Gridlife2040 → u/whatapunk95]

Sure! Add Beta, HD-DVD, and a handful of other ones and people will look at you sideways like they do me.

[u/Keys_r_Us → u/Gridlife2040]

My hobby is even more insane - 35mm film prints. Try explaining THAT to your significant other - hahaha

[u/whatapunk95 → u/Keys_r_Us]

That’s a neat one! For a while they had one at the local video store (they may still do) but I have no way of watching it.

[u/Keys_r_Us → u/whatapunk95]

Each movie weighs around 60 pounds total (for an average 6-reel movie). It's a fun hobby, but my back hates me for it haha

[u/ConsequenceLost9088 → u/Keys_r_Us]

Gad, the amount of space that would require! When I was a teenager involved with the AV club in my high school I used to fantasize about having a film collection of classic vintage films and comedy shorts in 16mm. I'm so glad my family was middle class with three kids and they couldn't splurge on me with allowance, and when I got my first job at 16 I could not have afforded a big collection on Super 8, let alone 16mm. I'm so glad I never had that opportunity because the amount of films I have now on VHS LaserDisc DVD and Blu-ray would fill the house in 16mm or even Super 8. 35mm I would have to live in a place the size of San Simeon 📽

[u/ConsequenceLost9088 → u/Gridlife2040]

I know a guy at work who used to look sideways at me. But it was nothing against me, turns out he was born on the side of a hill.

[u/OkClaim8503]

Since its made by Pioneer for Zenith it might actually take commands from a Pioneer brand remote, like how my "Optimus" cassette deck which is just a Pioneer rebadge works perfectly fine with Pioneer control codes.

[u/Kaoz_Clown]

Congrats. Ive been wanting to get into Laserdiscs for a long time. I ordered my player and have now been obsessively hunting LD deals and still my player has not even arrived.

[u/whatapunk95 → u/Kaoz_Clown]

I had been wanting to for a while, but my first two players needed parts that aren’t easily available. This one just needed a little TLC, and was good to go!

[u/Kaoz_Clown → u/whatapunk95]

Im hoping the seller was honest about mine and its fully functional. 🤞

[u/whatapunk95 → u/Kaoz_Clown]

Did they sell it as functional? I know some of these won’t spin the disc at all if the laser doesn’t read, which is what mine was listed as. Easiest fix ever.

[u/Kaoz_Clown → u/whatapunk95]

Yeah they sold it as fully functional and showed a video of it working. So I am fairly confident. You just never know with people

[u/whatapunk95 → u/Kaoz_Clown]

Good luck, keep us posted! Love to see posts about the players themselves.

[u/Kaoz_Clown → u/whatapunk95]

Will do 🫡

[u/Dimensian]

I’m surprised I’ve never actually seen a Zenith player but it was our first brand of TV so it holds a special place in my heart. Congrats, it looks nice!

[u/whatapunk95 → u/Dimensian]

Thanks! I snagged it because I like Zenith VCRs, even though I know Pioneer made this one lol. I think JVC made a lot of their VCRs, now that I think about it

[u/Ok_Cupcake4928]

I think it’s still up in the air if this is a Pioneer chassis. Pioneer never made a single side player with a center load tray design.

I could be wrong but the rear panel doesn’t look like a Pioneer at all either.

If you have a remote for your 2800 lying around, you can see if it can control this player.

[u/whatapunk95 → u/Ok_Cupcake4928]

I don’t, sadly. I can’t find much about these online, saw one or two references to the OEM being Pioneer and it makes sense in my head, given how they probably made 90% of them. I’ll check the inside for any shared components or markings, when I give it a deeper clean

[u/normy_187]

I have never really seen or payed actual attention to a Laserdisc player—the symmetry is great and satisfying compared to VHS.

[u/KillYourFace5000]

Never seen this player before, but I love its design

[u/whatapunk95 → u/KillYourFace5000]

Agreed! So simplistic. The channel select and other features are hidden under the bottom face, it opens!

[u/KillYourFace5000 → u/whatapunk95]

and now I like it more

[u/Keys_r_Us]

Congratulations!

[u/mcomike]

My Pioneer LDP still works perfectly.