1981 Sony Betamax Commercial

[Unknownboi88]

Its funny because it was a complete failure

[UrielDagda]

Yeah he's not dead, he's now playing a recurring role in Boardwalk Empire on HBO.

[darthyoda219]

i think its "Uncle Junior" from the Soprano's

[Hellishcrusade]

Can I haz betamax?

[BizzMarki]

That old man is most probably dead by now :'(...

[winnabego]

i only ever saw laser disks in middle school.

[E235J]

Most dvd and bluray players still make use of advanced front loading systems !

[filmboy]

damn! uncle tony looked old back in 1981..this guy looks the same today

[jjovereats]

That is the fattest dowry somebody could give to somebody else.

[5star555555555]

you know what's an even more amazing betamax? vhs!

[biped19]

"Tony I have the ass-cancer."

[WillHear432]

Damn, uncle Junior.

[FreudRulz]

LaserDisc still wins!

[SuperGilberto1977]

does it play bluerays?

[NoIDidunt10]

You know whats really sad? At the time theis lady thought she was so cool recording herself flash dancing.It looks so hokey today.

[Stizogm]

What an awful wedding gift

[houstonphotografx]

I would de-own his ass if my father gave me that phucking chit for a wedding gift! Give me some thumbs up if you agree, LOL!

[juniorsurprise06]

My God, I remember this commercial and feel very old. Nice memory though.

[ShotDead20]

@snelpiller I owned one of each and personally liked the VHS better if you want to learn more on this subject the history channel did something on it, I beileive it was an episode of modern marvels.

[ShotDead20]

@snelpiller Kindof i've had one of each but prefferd VHS.

[tdrewman]

The Price.... I had the Zenith version of it, it was $1,000 bucks!!!

[MIKON8ERISBACK]

@tdrewman For most people, the concept of recording TV and playing it back at a later date was a new thing if you weren't an electronics wizkid with lot's of money.

[MrBuc128]

Johnnie ola from godfather part 2

[manuel8200]

good old times, i watched my first movies in that betamax it was my grandfather beta,

[snelpiller]

okay so I´ve never heard of this system/format. (im Swedish) was VHS and betmax like competitors, but VHS won? kinda like HD dvd vs bluray a couple of years back?

Was betmax worse/better then VHS or were they equal? :)

[Mikebmc]

@snelpiller Ok, there was a competition between VHS and Betamax at the time just like HD DVD and Blu-Ray. I don't remember seeing many Betamax machines but I remember learning that Betamax was better than VHS with better picture quality but because the porn industry went with VHS, VHS won out in the end.

[Jeff98177]

Sony wasn't genius when it came to licensing Betamaxes. It wouldn't allow any other company to make them while VHS was being made by everyone. Betamax was superior but the limited manufacture ultimately killed it.

[HectareaTelevision]

waaaa diosss, que mostrenco, y con mando con cable....! I want one of these!

[curewindy2]

wired commander.

[CoolConejo]

I had no idea they made Microwaves that small back in 1981.

[neneshubby]

I was 15 when this came out. Wow, where does the time go?

[crackernazi]

That is junior from the sopranos.

[mercuryasu]

what's amazing is that people will still argue which was better VHS vs Betamax and it's 30 years later!

[NoIDidunt10]

@mercuryasu Americans were smart to go with the cheaper VHS.There wasn't that much difference in picture quality between it and the Beta Max to give a damn

[Spinal1978]

@mercuryasu laserdisc > betamax > VHS, however... VHS still won the war oO I had a betamax before a VHS tho, but i wish i had the money for a laserdisc back then...

[kingx11]

the old guy in the ad is johnny old from godfather 2 and uncle junior from the sopranos ^_^

[steelers6titles]

VHS won because its developer (Philips?) was much freer with the licensing. Sony held onto the Beta technology for itself. By the end of the 80s, many hardware manufacturers made VHS VCRs, and VHS pre-recorded tapes greatly outnumbered Beta pre-recorded videotapes.

[JBofBrisbane]

@steelers6titles - VHS was developed in Japan, and was initially embraced by Matsushita (National/Panasonic) and JVC, to my knowledge. Philips developed its own VCR format, the tapes of which resembled an oversized Super 8 movie film cartridge. IIRC, Sanyo and Sharp also marketed Beta VCRs. But yes, VHS was better marketed, mainly through appeals to popularity, and was more keenly priced than Beta.

[MattTheSaiyan]

I want one!

[uzernaam100]

"I gave my daughters an SL- FIVE THOUSAND" ... And they said "What the f&k is that?"

[PietroDimeglio]

wish i had a betamax... bloddy vhs crap :(

[coolc101]

lol at this commercial.

[MetallicBill]

My first desire getting online with eBay was SVHS and SuperBeta decks to own, the prized HF1000, but I had to settle for the GCS 50 instead, but scored as well, the HF870D, HF750, and two VCR7200 Sanyo machines I sold recently

[capnquirky]

Uncle Junior!

[cmrodican]

was that junior soprano/ the picture was fuzzy but it sounded just like Dominic Chianese from The Sopranos

[TheShockMaster]

To anyone who has actually seen a Betamax (I haven't), was it really better than VHS? Was it noticeably better, just kinda better, or WAY better?

Or, was it worse? I only assume it was better because the general story that I get is that Betamax had higher-quality video, but VHS was cheaper.

[donjabroni]

I owned both, and I could say it was better. Plus the tapes last longer as well, but that could be because of the manufacturer.

[Redline748]

yes picture was better but also sound was far superior due to it's seperate audio track on the tape, how vhs won out is beyond me, I think as you say it might have been price

[opusvfive]

@TheShockMaster Beta had perhaps better colour quality than VHS, though lacking DVD's definition. I'm going by a 1984 Toshiba that I still sometimes play to keep the belt supple.

[Icebeam47]

@opusvfive (if i can remember from Modern Marvels) i believe the betamax and VHS where different in only a couple of ways-i think betamax had a bigger head than VHS so i gave it more quality. (that's all I remember)

[JimAsian1]

Are you sure this is from 1981? I bought this SL-5000, which I think it is, in 1983 around June or July possibly.  Are you sure it's 1981?

Thanks.

[oc61579]

Trust me,because this aired during the 1981 Garden State Bowl (Tennessee vs Wisconsin)!

[JimAsian1]

OK, maybe this model just kept selling and it was still selling in 1983. Or maybe they made a slightly different version of that model. I'm not sure. But thanks.

[Watcher3223]

@JimAsian1

The SL-5000 first debuted in 1981 and the basic chassis continued to be used for the SL-5100 for 1982 and the SL-5200 for 1983.

The SL-5100 is basically the same as the SL-5000 while the SL-5200 was the first model to feature Beta hi-fi.

The chassis for the SL-5000 series was discontinued in 1984 in favor of the slim Beta chassis based on the E-Z Beta line.

[MetallicBill]

@Watcher3223 Our family had the BetaScan SL5600 top loading, I owned several of my own since the 1980s

[xcfan]

i still have a betamax. i'm converting my 20 yr old tapes over to dvd

[ihatetaft]

How is that a "remote" contol if it is plugged in to the VCR?

[dannielpreto]

Whoa front loading and remote control? I must buy this

[TJae1]

don't like it ~ don't do it ~ U horny bastard ~ :D

[mig189189189]

Awesome video. Keep on with that good work!

[dwarfer777]

yes the price of sony really is amazing(ly high)!!!

[xabat77]

Uncle Junior looks like Larry David (without glasses) in the commercial.

[RUSH2LIMBAUGH]

I have that exact same machine, and it still works perfectly after 28.5 years. I record DVD now, but somehow videocassette tapes, I think, were more fun. Ah, the good old pre-digital days!

[mmichaelc]

You mean "So much better than a VHS!"

[ImagesAR]

UNCLE JUNE!

[WULFY1993]

i still use Beta and Vhs never will need to buy a dvd player cus all my units work just fine :D

[TheNewFormula]

Where do you get blank beta tapes?

[klaaser]

Hes from the Sopranos Uncle junior ;)

[tronfan]

SONY - THE ONE AND ONLY

[martinbreeden]

beta is a vcr!!!

[TashkentFox]

'Advanced from loading system'? It was basically a top loading VCR with several more motors and a bigger case, the upper half is mostly empty, it's ownly purpose is to give the loading carriage more room to work.

[mark871162]

why do yanks say bay-ta max ? its BEE-ta-max !

[FalseCode]

Question: Do you folks pronounce Beta "Bee-Ta"

No disrespect intended.

[donjabroni]

No, more like "Bay-Ta"

[tdrewman]

This was my first VCR my family bought back in 1982, but it had a Zenith Branding .

[smoretaco]

I would be happy to receive a Betamax.

[bryemycaz]

He didnt like his daughters much to give them Betamax. I bet he gave his friends VHS

lol