I just got a Beocord V6000 VCR from a recycling store. The unit was untested and in good optical condition, and I figured you couldn't *ever* go wrong with something that said 'Bang & Olufsen' on it and had a price tag of €7,50. 
Obviously the guys there were pretty clueless as to the brand's reputation and market value.
Interestingly enough though, there was also a Beovision MX6000 on display which was in perfect working order, with Beolink 1000, for 165 euros, but since my bank account wasn't that deep at the moment (and I had no way to transport it) I decided to leave it and break the bond with its Beosystem AV6000 companion.
Getting home, I gave the VCR a few minutes to get back to normal temperatures, and plugged it in. Unfortunately nothing happened, not even the standby LED lights up. There was a tape stuck in the mechanism in mid-loading position, and the only obvious thing that was going on was a noise coming from the power supply, sounding like a capacitor charging and discharging repeatedly, about 2-3 times a second.
Opening the unit, there are no obvious fuses in the line voltage section, the whole power supply is shielded. I wonder if there actually are any, which would probably be the issue and would be the reason the previous owners decided to part with this unit in the first place. If I can find the faulty components, I can probably restore the unit to working order, since it has no apparent damage. She might have just died because of a simple power spike.
If the PSU happens to be completely nackered, this piece of hardware will make the perfect new home for my HTPC system. 