I just bought a VCR head cleaner at Circuit City a couple of weeks ago. I think the dry cleaner is $9.99 and the wet cleaner is couple of dollars more.
(it comes with a solution you put into the tape before putting it in the unit)
They are usually located at the end of the rows of electronics - at least that is where I found mine.
My VCR finally crapped out on me after 12 glorious years of taping Star Trek DS9, the A-Team and Adult Swim.
As for a replacement - I'm going with a Super VHS model made by JVC. I can use it for editing old home movies with the computer and still tape the things I like to catch when I'm out. (Adult Swim, Scrubs, etc...)
If you're in the market for a new VCR, I did a lot of research and this model seems to work nicely:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-B3I7pPup9jN/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=56000&id=essential_info&i=257HRS5902
If you look around, you can find a $10 off coupon for Crutchfield if you use a certain payment. ($10 off with Discover Card for example)
I know, I know... it's still a freaking VCR, why not go with a TIVO or something? I want to wait until the technology gets better and buy a TIVO/DVD burner all in one.
The latest Humax is nice (300 hours), but I've read that it takes up to 4-5 minutes to burn a DVD! No thanks.
It would be nice to have certain shows on DVD, but I can wait.
(sorry for the long post, but I'm in a similar situation myself!)
