"Brett Robson" <jet_boy@deja.com> wrote in message

> >And you're too cheap to get a PAL VCR.
...
> they do? PAL tape in, NTSC out?

Yes, multistandard VCRs can read anything on a normal TV : PAL and even our
old
sovietico-French SECAM standard. There have some in the decent language
schools because the quality of image/sound is much better as when you get
tapes converted (as they do in crappy schools).
You can get them in the shops with "duty free" posters in Den-Den town and
certainly in Akihabara or Shinjuku for you. As it's mostly for the gaigin
market, the choice of models is limited. I didn't buy any. I wanted a TV-VCR
combo with stereo to hear the English news, and the only stereo
multistandard combo was much too huge for here. If Dad ever sent me a tape
with something he filmed, I could always watch it at some place where I
work. It's just "if", cousin's marriage was 2 years ago, and the tape is not
copied yet. Anyway, now they have DVD I can watch on the computer. If your
relatives are serious about it, you could equip them with a DVD recorder.

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