I was reading a 1981 Advertisement for a Beta VCR and saw that the price was $795.00. My Family didn't get a VCR until the year of 1984. So 24 years ago, The Beta VCR was like the DVD recorder is Today.

My family got one in the year 1986

We got our first VCR in 1983 it was a Quasar brand. (I don't know if that company still exists) My parents still have it and use it. It works fine.

We got our first VCR in 1983 it was a Quasar brand. (I don't know if that company still exists) My parents still have it and use it. It works fine.
I grew up on Quasar VCR's. :D

My parents didn't have a VCR in 1981, but they got one in 1982 and they brought a brand that was like $690.

We didn't get our first VCR until 1989. It was an Emerson and it cost $200 back then. In 1981,VCR's cost between $500 and $1000 and some of those were the top loading type that you put the tape in there like a regular tape player and pushed buttons. And the tapes weren't cheap either, $15 for only one. Nowadays you can buy 20 tapes for $15. My current VCR is a Panasonic and it cost only $85.I had a Magnavox before that that lasted 6 years(1996-2002) that cost $125

well my parents are useless.. they said they got one sometime before i was born [1986] and it cost 200 dollars.

The first VCR I owned was in 1986.

OMG I can't believe it, my mom still has the receipt! :crazy: We got it in 1984.

My sister and her husband were the first people I knew to get a VCR. I don't recall what year they got the thing. There was the big debate about VHS vs Beta. The things were expensive and huge in comparison to the size they are today. My sister's machine actually came in two pieces.

Me, personally... I got my first VCR in 1988.

We were the last ones on our block to get a VCR. We got our's in May of 1983 where as everyone else got their's in 1982.

We got ours in 1987. JVC that cost $1000. My folks had to put it on layaway. The salesman's big selling point was that it had freeze/still/slow so you could watch pornos in slo-mo. He actually said that! We retired it a couple years ago because the eject button stopped working.

Nope, not in 81. My brother got on in 86 though. He paid like 3 or 4 hundred dollars for it, my mom thought he was crazy.

We got our first VCR Christmas, 1984.

The first Beta VCRs hit the market in the U.S. in late 1974-early 1975.

The first Beta VCRs hit the market in the U.S. in late 1974-early 1975.


So that means they probably were $1795 in those years

My husband and I bought a Beta in 1983. I think we paid around $500 for it. It was SO big. A couple of years later, we bought a regular VCR. I remember that the remote had a wire attached to it. :lol:

My husband and I bought a Beta in 1983. I think we paid around $500 for it. It was SO big. A couple of years later, we bought a regular VCR. I remember that the remote had a wire attached to it. :lol:



Do you still have that Beta VCR?

Do you still have that Beta VCR?
No, it's long gone.

My husband and I bought a Beta in 1983. I think we paid around $500 for it. It was SO big. A couple of years later, we bought a regular VCR. I remember that the remote had a wire attached to it. :lol:


:lol: We bought a VHS version in 1981. Took the salesman 4 hours to program the channels in! :lol: I think it cost around $600 too.

The first one I had ever seen was one a friend bought in 1978 - it was HUGE -like the ones they used to have in schools. Cost about $1700 too! :eek:

We used to argue with a guy who bought a BETA - he SWORE it was going to be THE VCR of the future! Guess who got the last laugh there! ;) :p

No, it's long gone.


Yall were supposed to keep that janice.lol That's History

I've heard that BETA VHS are worth a lot of money at Antique stores. If you sell a BETA to an antique store, you should be bringing in a lot of money.

I remember that the remote had a wire attached to it. :lol:

I remember that too...ahh technology!

I remember that too...ahh technology!
Yeah, tripping over that sucker half drunk was always fun. :lol:

Yall were supposed to keep that janice.lol That's History
Who knew Solomon? I wish I saved a lot of things. :confused:

I think we got ours about 1983

I wasn't even around in '81, but I know my family didn't get one until 1995.

I believe my parents first got one around 85' of course neither of my parents could program it..i even got them one of those little magic programmers that used a special serial # that was printed in the TV guide ( well, its still collecting dust on a shelf downstairs )...To this day, i'm not sure if either one can program a VCR, but, being retired,with a lot of time on their hands now, they just watch the show WHILE they record it! :rolleyes:

I believe my parents first got one around 85' of course neither of my parents could program it..i even got them one of those little magic programmers that used a special serial # that was printed in the TV guide ( well, its still collecting dust on a shelf downstairs )...To this day, i'm not sure if either one can program a VCR, but, being retired,with a lot of time on their hands now, they just watch the show WHILE they record it! :rolleyes:


Just as long as they're not sitting there watching the flashing "12:00"! :lol:

I don't know, my parents were married that year. I'm going to say probably not.

My husband and I bought a Beta in 1983. I think we paid around $500 for it. It was SO big. A couple of years later, we bought a regular VCR. I remember that the remote had a wire attached to it. :lol:
:lol: I was cleaning out the entertainment center at my dad's a few months ago because it was overflowing with VHS tapes and junk. When I finally reached the tapes that were waaay in the back of the unit, I pulled out a strange box. It was one of those hard plastic boxes you would normally put VHS tapes in, but it was smaller. I opened it up, and it looked exactly like a VHS tape, but smaller. Then it struck me...It was a Beta! How it got there, I have no idea...we never had a Beta player growing up. I thought it was fascinating...I had never seen a Beta tape before. :lol:

Just as long as they're not sitting there watching the flashing "12:00"! :lol:
VCRs dont flash anymore...it's illegal ;)

:lol: I was cleaning out the entertainment center at my dad's a few months ago because it was overflowing with VHS tapes and junk. When I finally reached the tapes that were waaay in the back of the unit, I pulled out a strange box. It was one of those hard plastic boxes you would normally put VHS tapes in, but it was smaller. I opened it up, and it looked exactly like a VHS tape, but smaller. Then it struck me...It was a Beta! How it got there, I have no idea...we never had a Beta player growing up. I thought it was fascinating...I had never seen a Beta tape before. :lol:


Yeah they were like half the size of VHS tapes.

I don't know exactly what year we got a VCR but I do remember when I was little when we didn't have a VCR my mamaw taped The Smurfs on Saturday Morning Cartoons :lol:

We got our first VCR in 1983. It broke in 1995 and we got a new one that Christmas. We got a laserdisc in 1988 and a DVD player in 1998.

I wasnt even thought of in 1981. ;)

We had both a Beta AND a VCR. I don't know the exact years we got them, but we had them before we went to Japan on 1979 b/c we taped alot of stuff over there. We still have some of the Beta tapes.

I can remember the first time I saw a VCR remote that wasn't attached to it. :lol: That was BIG news.

D

My dad couldn't afford the price tag of the 'new' VCR's so we did without one until about 1986.

We got our first VCR in 1987, I believe? We still have it and last time I checked a few years ago it was still working pretty well. It works a lot better than other VCR's we got years later.

We got our first VCR in 1987, I believe? We still have it and last time I checked a few years ago it was still working pretty well. It works a lot better than other VCR's we got years later.
I've had over 10 VCR's since 1986. I lost count. :lol:

I believe my parents first got one around 85' of course neither of my parents could program it..i even got them one of those little magic programmers that used a special serial # that was printed in the TV guide ( well, its still collecting dust on a shelf downstairs )...To this day, i'm not sure if either one can program a VCR, but, being retired,with a lot of time on their hands now, they just watch the show WHILE they record it! :rolleyes:

I'm the only one who can program ours too.

It would never flash 12:00 though...that would drive my dad insane!!

We got a laserdisc in 1988.

Oh, those were fun. :lol: I never had a teacher who could get those things to work right. It was hilarious.

dawsongirl, those things were kind of annoying having to get up every 40 minutes to flip the disc and put a new one in was exhausting. I think my dad lost 35 pounds doing that. lol

No one answered my question about BETA players! :( I am so ignored these days.......... :(

No one answered my question about BETA players! :( I am so ignored these days.......... :(


When did you make a post about Beta VCR's?

Sometime in the early 80's but not a Bata. We had a vhs and the remote was attached to the record by a wire. :cool:

No, it's long gone.
I still see beta players and tapes from time to time in yard sales

My first cd player I paid over $700.00

I can't remember for sure but I think it was 87-88 when I got a VCR.

When did you make a post about Beta VCR's?

This is what I wrote:

I've heard that BETA VHS are worth a lot of money at Antique stores. If you sell a BETA to an antique store, you should be bringing in a lot of money.

I've heard that BETA VHS are worth a lot of money at Antique stores. If you sell a BETA to an antique store, you should be bringing in a lot of money.

Hmmm... BETA VHS? I would imagine that would be worth some money, Is that like a hybrid?

We got our first VCR in 1983. It broke in 1995 and we got a new one that Christmas. We got a laserdisc in 1988 and a DVD player in 1998.

Wow I didn't even hear about laserdisc until 1990s... We had one in school my senior year.

I remember those discs they used to have in the early 80s that played movies, they looked like records, I forget what those were called tho.

I don't know, but my family didn't have me until 1988 ;)

I don't know, but my family didn't have me until 1988 ;)

Maybe we should ask if your family had you in 1981? :lol:

Okay I talked to my dad, and he said that we did have a VCR back in 1981. He looked at me like I was nuts. I mean sorry, I wasn't born until 4 years after that. How was I supposed to know that we had one back then?

No, we did not have a VCR til 1984..and I remember the first thing I did when we finally went out and bought one was to stay up all night taping music videos off from MTV..when MTV was cool!

No, we did not have a VCR til 1984..and I remember the first thing I did when we finally went out and bought one was to stay up all night taping music videos off from MTV..when MTV was cool!

My mom used to do that all the time!! Our crappy cable didn't have it so we took it to my aunts and taped it. She'd fill up a 6 hour tape then watch it. I remember I was so mad when she taped MTV over my Punky Brewster, lol.

My mom used to do that all the time!! Our crappy cable didn't have it so we took it to my aunts and taped it. She'd fill up a 6 hour tape then watch it. I remember I was so mad when she taped MTV over my Punky Brewster, lol.
I spent hours and hours on end taping MTV. I remember one time I stayed up the entire night just waiting to tape a Duran Duran video :crazy: :lol:

We got our first VCR in 1983. It broke in 1995 and we got a new one that Christmas. We got a laserdisc in 1988 and a DVD player in 1998.

Question:

What's a laserdisc?

Laserdiscs was just like a DVD player, except the discs were REALLY big...about the size of LP's

My Family didn't get a VCR until the year of 1984. So 24 years ago, The Beta VCR was like the DVD recorder is Today.Except the VCR is 1000% better than that DVD crap :)


We got oiur first VCR sometime in the 80s,im not sure when.....

It was a top loader....

Yes, from the late 70s on.

I would love to have stuff recorded from analogue TV Stevie from that early!!

Those early VCR's were heavy and they were expensive. I bought my first one around 1980 or 81, it was a top loader General Electric brand, retail price was $1,100 but I got it for $900 and I thought I was getting a good deal. It was a nice machine and I had it for quite a few years but it eventually conked out. I remember the excitement of having that first VCR and being able to record movies and TV shows that were telecast. It was quite a thrill. Then later on I bought a 2nd VCR and I connected the two machines together and would dub stuff from one machine to the other. Fun times.

Those early VCR's were heavy and they were expensive. I bought my first one around 1980 or 81, it was a top loader General Electric brand, retail price was $1,100 but I got it for $900 and I thought I was getting a good deal. It was a nice machine and I had it for quite a few years but it eventually conked out. I remember the excitement of having that first VCR and being able to record movies and TV shows that were telecast. It was quite a thrill. Then later on I bought a 2nd VCR and I connected the two machines together and would dub stuff from one machine to the other. Fun times.

My first one was an early Betamax; yes, very heavy and bulky. And used a second Beta machine for editing, a few years later. And as i mentioned in an earlier post, Beta was superior for editing. I had a really nice Betamax VCR in the early to mid 80s. VHS should not have won out.

My first one was an early Betamax; yes, very heavy and bulky. And used a second Beta machine for editing, a few years later. And as i mentioned in an earlier post, Beta was superior for editing. I had a really nice Betamax VCR in the early to mid 80s. VHS should not have won out.

I remember the format battle between Beta and VHS. Eventually word started getting around that VHS was going to take over, so I went with VHS. That first VHS VCR I had, the General Electric one, did a nice editing job and gave me clean, sharp looking edits. Back in 1985-86 and early 1987 I recorded a bunch of East Side Kids and Bowery Boys movies from WGN TV Chicago and I still have them. The WGN airings were sourced from 16mm prints.

My first one was an early Betamax; yes, very heavy and bulky. And used a second Beta machine for editing, a few years later. And as i mentioned in an earlier post, Beta was superior for editing. I had a really nice Betamax VCR in the early to mid 80s. VHS should not have won out.Why did it win out buddy??

Im curiious Stevie if ya hooked a VCR to a BETA unit and dubbed something from BETA TO VHS,would it look exactly the same on VHS?

Whats the differene between VHS and BETA??

BETA means they are testing something like REGSEEKER BETA 2.0 (Last version that works on 98se)

If they were testing BETA and saw it was BETTER than VHS,why did they drop it??

Do ya know buddy??

If they were testing Sony's BETA and saw it was BETTER than VHS,why did rhey drop it??

Mainly because Sony who developed BETA got too greedy. Initially Sony was reluctant to license BETA to other electronic manufactures, so the only BETA videorecorder on the market was from Sony which sold them at premium price.

JVC who developed VHS went the opposite direction. They licensing the format broadly to cheaper Korean electronic manufacturers and soon they flooded the market with cheap VCR that cost hundreds dollar less that BETA machine from Sony. So VCR became more consumer friendly (price wise) and more widely available :)

https://www.zoopy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/betamax-compared-to-vhs-473x500.jpg

Thank you for explaining. Its interesting!

My family didn't have a VCR until 1986.

It's a shame Sony mis-handled the whole Beta thing--if I recall correctly, they eventually did license it out (since I'm pretty sure I had a second different-brand Beta), but it was too late.

Laserdiscs was just like a DVD player, except the discs were REALLY big...about the size of LP'sVideodiscs are the same........ Man I would love getting a MONO Videodisc player :)