Retro VCR

[Earych]

After much research, my dad invested in a Betamax. Go ahead and laugh but the thing still works...sorta.

[kytodd]

Relaaaaaxxxx!

[Chubachus]

gilligan?

[14lanicup]

to bad vcrs are obsolete now i had some good times with my cassetes as a little kid in the late 90s and early 2000s

[caatcher]

I got my first VCR in January 1980. It was a Panasonic and cost about $800; I think it was one model down from the machine in this commercial. (This one would do forward and reverse search. As I recall, it went for $1100.) On my VCR, you could program just one event within the following 24 hours, and all the controls were tactile -- you punched keys that clicked into place, threw switches, pressed buttons. No on-screen menus, nothing fancy. I loved that thing.

[AmatterofPat]

Relax!

[1337BananaL33TVostok]

terrific!

[cessnaace]

My first VHS VCR cost me $1,500 in 1979. Blank tapes went for about $10-15! Professionally made pre-records were even more expensive. Public domain titles $30 or so. 20 year old films (as an example) $49-69. Newer films $79-90 ($120 for Star Wars when it first hit video.

STAY AWESOME! :)

[gianca60]

Long live VHS!!!

[cameron20101000]

@gianca60 VHS is better than DVD shit little fuck.

[gianca60]

@cameron20101000 Shit little fuck: I agree.

[cameron20101000]

@gianca60 thanks, if you really miss those VHS things, got find them at Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Rite-Aid, Walgreens, and Dollar General.

[tdrewman]

Now, you DVR games, if you team loses, you can delete the game from your smart phone.

[iwolchuckup]

"Unauthorized recoring may be contrary to Copyright Laws." LOL

[asseertedwolf]

keep it classy fuck this bluray shit vcr is where its at

[Dreambro1]

@asseertedwolf I agree, It takes High Definition or Blu-ray, to get the quality that tvs had in the 70s. I have had Many of tvs from that Era, and the picture was Superb. Unless a show is broadcast in HD, the picture quality on these new Plasmas or crap, and even in HD , they are no better than the tvs from the 70s and 80s

[d44102]

wow 4 hours of recording time what would be funny is if they got home and there game went into overtime after 4 hours of recording LOL

[n1uvu]

first vhs tape i bought (maxell t120 ) cost about $19.00 in 1981

[yellafever]

I wonder how many HDMI's input is on those bad boys?

[nathankrug]

those had to be like $20.00 back then!

[doomslayer133]

@nathankrug more than that, probably 499.99

[cameron20101000]

EP speed was not available until either 1983 or 1984 on vcrs 

[sega31098]

There will come a day, when even taping programs will become illegal. Copyright has to be stopped from expanding.

[ksteiger]

Relaaaaaaax.

[aaronpapanos]

I still have this exact VCR sitting in my living room. Amazingly it still works great, gotta love old technology!

[Cleric775]

@aaronpapanos You got to look after it...

[aftershock71]

Just download everything...it's a lot easier!!

[SuperGilberto1977]

who needs a Tivo? fuck tivo

[krakken242]

RelAAAAAAAAX you scare away all thA FAAAAASH

[supressorgrid]

I had one of these. It cost me over 700 dollars and the drive belts broke all the time, but I loved it!

[MrRandomTux]

I Read about the lawsuit on recording from TV using a VCR. Next they'll have a lawsuit of the same thing, but involving DVRs.

[RetroCaptain]

Good Day

I have this model also!

It used to work well, then 1 or 2 of the drive belts went bad, & I have it sitting in storage now. It was bought new in ...1978? 79? for abt oh gosh I think it was $1800CDN back then. A fortune.. And heavy also

[chaseman94]

my dad bought that same vcr back in 1979 for $700. And I still have it in my garage to this day but I don't think it works but i still keep it as an antique.

[billybassman21]

I have this VCR in my livingroom. I got it for $5 at a flea market and it retailed for $1000 back in 1980. It has a better picture than most newer VCR's.

[KriptoDie]

The longest VHS I've ever had could only do 2 hours

[talldude123]

@KriptoDie 2-6 hours, depending on quality.

[snower5554]

lol 70s tivo

[cuteycindyhoney]

My dad has a Beta machine and it still works.I heard that Sony accidentally killed the format when they wouldn't lease the technology to adult film producers.. VHS did get leased to them, and it started the home pron industry! Beta was left in the dust after that!

[VIEWTUBE00000]

2 Jews.

[darthslash77]

That top loading beast has channel changing knobs!!

[mudkiprules4]

it records more than dvds today and this was the 70s and 80s :P Dvd just got PWND!

[southparkfan2717]

Well most people who need to record just get TEVO today.

[mudkiprules4]

IT AIN'T THE SAME :(

[MrClassicAds]

@mudkiprules4 DVDs record up to 8 hours in ep mode using a DVD recorder connected to a cable box or TV.

[mudkiprules4]

@MrClassicAds what EP mode? DVD-R's and DVD-RW's only record 90 minutes (4.7GB) it's the standard

[mudkiprules4]

@mudkiprules4 I mean 120 minutes (4.7GB)

[Uzeless]

@mudkiprules4 Eh? DVD's can hold a lot more than VCR if you put VCR quality videos on them!!

[CoolConejo]

@mudkiprules4 Uhm, Hi. yeah. DVD's was a means of convenience and lasts triple of cassette. Today's Technology is Held within USB's( FLASH MEMORY ) Thats the size if your tiny dick. Maximum length is 1 inch. They are capable of storing Several Thousand Cassettes while at the same time, Holding Several Thousand Music Files, Photo's,Video's and Document. PWND!

[mudkiprules4]

@CoolConejo Who the hell asked you? Stop butting in to conversations

[mudkiprules4]

@CoolConejo How would you know how big my dick is without spying on me? Plus when Dvds break, They're broken forever while Vhs Deteriorates over time and for your information smartass it was a simple joke it wasn't meant to be taken seriously now go back to playing your 360 and telling people how much the NES sucks because the graphics are horrible. Lastly, blocking someone doesn't solve your problems. You would never survive in the real world.

[MattTheSaiyan]

@CoolConejo Well, actually, a home burned DVD often last less than 10 years. Sometimes less than 5 years. Same goes for home-burned CDs.

[spacehelmetforacow]

@MattTheSaiyan Tapes aren't much better.  Quite a lot of old home videos have succumbed to wear and the iron oxide slowly rotting off.

[underthaice]

@CoolConejo shut up you annoying dick head. nobody cares and typing PWND just makes you sound like a retarded little kid

[kellingc]

@mudkiprules4 The problem though is to record 4 hours, (8 hours with T-160 VHS), you had to slow the machine down. This reduces quality by a lot. The picture on that TV was simulated.

[CoolConejo]

@mudkiprules4 That's because of its low quality, try putting DVD Quality on a Tape, or even better, blue ray...Haha Pwnt.

[spacehelmetforacow]

@mudkiprules4 So? almost no-one uses DVDs for recording.

And I doubt videotape could ever catch up to the ~1 *week* modern DVRs can do.

[WatchmenDrManhattan]

@mudkiprules4 its not that they are better its that most devices today record white a higher quality

[elgavilan2000]

"Unauthorized recording may be contrary to Copyright Laws."

I guess they could foresee 2009...

[PrincessTigerlili]

I have one of those VCR and it's still work! The sound is not verry loud though.

[mig189189189]

Nice video my dear virtual friend!

[pidosilencio]

i'm still using vcr, to record some movies or documentals from tv. XD

[malcommerriweather]

Four hours? Are they for real? That's like future tech!

[almondtealeaf2]

I think my parents had a vcr just like the one in this commercial.

[TheNewFormula]

"CHS, the 4 hour system from Panasonic, anothe rleading company!" I don't get it, JVC was the one ho invited the VHS system...

[MRLOL785]

The First VHS VCR's were made by Panasonic and RCA and only had the SP and LP speeds.

[Watcher3223]

@TheNewFormula

"'VHS, the 4 hour system from Panasonic, anothe rleading company!' I don't get it, JVC was the one who invited the VHS system..."

Correct. But, at the time, JVC was a subsidiary of Matsushita, which also owned Panasonic.

[Watcher3223]

@TheNewFormula

The 4 hour speed mentioned in the ad was devised by RCA and Panasonic to give VHS more recording time.

The speed came to be when RCA demanded a slower speed but JVC's couldn't provide it at the time, so RCA approached JVC's parent company and made the request to them. As Panasonic was going to make VCRs for RCA under an OEM basis, Panasonic worked with RCA to the chagrin of JVC.

JVC would eventually release the 6 hour speed. They refer to the 4 hour speed as "the bastard".

[TheNewFormula]

V-2000 could tape up to 16 hours on one cassette.

[MRLOL785]

but not available in U.S and no one really cared at the time.

[GlamMetalChild]

4 hours... YES!!!!

I love old technology :D

[Gibix]

Damn, today we have Tivo and digital cable.

We came a long way o.o

[TashkentFox]

I prefer Betamax, at least it doesn't look like you're watching TV through a window pane or a fish tank.

[cyberappleswe]

I will never stop using my VHS

[sirplus3000]

as clunky as it looks i bet this ends up lasting longer than some dvd players!!

[felixjazzage]

This commercial has to be from 1978 to 1982 or so: that is one CLUNKY looking VCR...

[Watcher3223]

Late 1970s, most likely 1978.

By 1982, VHS in North America would have three speeds (SP, LP, SLP/EP or 2, 4, and 6 hours) and all VCRs, Beta and VHS, of that vintage used logic control with electric pushbuttons rather than mechanical keys for the functions (play, stop, etc.) that this Panasonic model used.

[TrustKovacss]

i remember when only rich people had a vhs..lmao

[AidanLunn]

or Betamax!

[SONICSATAMJAMER77]

LONG LIVE VCR 1960's-????

[AidanLunn]

at least late 70s. Beta was launched in 75 with VHS the following year.

[ferociousgumby]

I had Beta. I had Beta. I had BEEEEEETTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA and it went OBSOLEEEEEETEEEEEE!

[AnimeOverdrive]

Were the VCR tapes loaded like an audio cassette?

Also did it (old VCRs in general) make an audible clunking noises when pressing the stop, rewind, play, fastforward buttons?

[SashaNein]

Some loaded like an audio cassette. Most of mine were front slot loaders, though.

[felixjazzage]

Based on my own personal experience (and I'm in my late thirties), the cheaper VCR's could be quite noisy, especially those models from the early to middle 1980s. ...And SashaNein was right: some were top loaders and some were front loaders.

Believe me, DVD's--and now the Blu-ray player--are superior in every single imaginable way. VCR's look about as advanced as 78 record players these days. There was nothing more frustrating than having a VCR player "eat" your favorite movie or a rental.

[dashwarts]

Y'know what? I have a DVD changer that eats DVD's faster than my SVHS VCR eats tapes...

If you have a good VCR, you get good picture, sound, and reliability (no eating). I'd be much happier if we all had WVHS instead of BluRay. (Think of it... DVD's and BluRay can force you to watch trailers. VHS lets you fast-forward through them)

[frescobe]

i have the same vcr it just dont play and rewind. i cleaned it. the belts are good can some one help please.?

[CLS2086]

use a spray contact cleaner in the buttons and sensors.

Then think to replace all electrochimical caps, they have now more than 20 years old and tend to fail. It's easy to do but it takes a lot of time !

[kawininja81]

looks like an old Omnivision... we had the same one in our family until the DEW light came on and never went off

[willdav713]

I remember the DEW light. I once had a top loading Panasonic from the early 80s to 1992 (it would no longer turn on) SP and LP were the only speeds SLP didn't come out until 1983 with Magnavox VCRs (SP, LP, SLP) In 1990 LP mode began to quickly disappear from VCR models. T-120 tape SP-2 Hrs, LP-4 Hrs SLP 6-Hrs. LP was the best speed and converted Mono into Stereo, however newer VCRs hate LP mode probally due to Macrovision.

[MRLOL785]

I really want an old top loader with LP speed, cause I found some old tapes that are recorded in LP speed and my new VCR doesn't handle them. BRING BACK THE LP SPEED, YOU IDIOTS. Damn Macrovision, screwing up perfectly good vcr's....

[willdav713]

A Sony Hi-Fi Stereo VCR will play your LP speed tapes however you have to press the Audio Monitor to make the tape setting on Mono. Most 1980s model VCR's have LP setting. A 1990 model JVC VCR has LP setting. But I totally agree with you though I wish I had my Canon Pro VCR with Manual Gain Controls L And R and LP was my speed a choice. For Macrovision blame Bill Clinton and the Republicans for it they passed the DMCA (pro macrovision bill) in 1997

[MRLOL785]

I also want to record in LP mode for recording sports games etc, or want to put more stuff on one tape with out a major drop in tracking and quality like you get with EP/SLP mode. I really want to get an old top loader like the one in the commercial, that's an awesome VCR.

[MRLOL785]

I don't like Macrovision. It's a great idea, but how it works makes it feel like the government is trying to control us and put us on a leash. They really don't trust us,

[Juliaflo]

Macrovision is a BIIIIIIIIIG JOKE.

If you agree, raise your hand.

[MRLOL785]

(raises hand)

hey, is there any way to remove VHS macrovision, or get around it besides buying a pre-1984 VCR?

[dashwarts]

(raises hand)

I have a 1980s GE that still sabotages viewing of macrovision protected material. I even tried disabling the AGC and it still does it!

The VCR i would like to record with is a JVC SVHS ET VCR, but there seems to be no way to defeat macrovision on it. Maybe I need to get a "video conditioner" for the problem.

I've lost several movies because I couldn't make backup copies.

[richardgatinhoruas]

Well, I have a 90s (brazilian Semp) which plays a LP tape. The last time I played it the video was nearly entirely replaced by interference.

[MRLOL785]

It is either the VCR's today are shit(which they are) or tapes suck these days. I believe both are true.

[HoustonPublisher]

@MRLOL785

DVD is technology that SUCKS! All you have to do is clean one or simple handling it can ruin it. If that's not enough they won't dependably play or record all DVD players. The opposite was true for VCRs. There wasn't anything wrong with VCR technology but everybody bought into the DVD crap and now we're stuck with it. That's not all.. professionals also depended on that technology such as svhs, but they stopped making the tapes. We've learned if it's not hard drive based LEAVE IT BE!

[Dreambro1]

I agree,,,,Digital is not necessarily better,,,Its cheaper and faster to reproduce and inturn turning out higher and faster profits,, ive seen some pretty crappy digital products,,,Anolog beats the hell out of digital in sound and visual quality,, tho digital is cheaper (for the marketers) and more convenient! lol,, my thoughts!

[WatchmenNo1]

I think I know what was behind them doing away with VHS by a survey I found online the other day. My suspicion like theirs. I believe they did it to stop people from copying movies. As you know they have built in copyright protection in DVD recorders so movies can't be copied. If that was their reason for running thousands of peoples investment in VCRs then hollywood better get busy making something worth stealing and replace the DVD format too. I have not and will not rent movies on DVD.

[Dreambro1]

just think,, when you go buy a good cassette,, what does it cost you? about 2.50 a piece on average,,,BUT,, you can buy 100 Cds on a spindle for around 10,99 on average,, thats basically 11 cents a CD! Just think what the mass producers get them for! then they turn around and sell them for 17,99 a piece LOL

[WatchmenNo1]

@Dreambro1. Huge profits to them good point. But on the personal or consumer end of it it isn't all that good. Like when you record fond memories onto DVD and have it fail. Gone are those memories.

[MrClassicAds]

@Dreambro1 You also have to think about the royalties they have to pay to the cast and certain crew members. All of that gets added to the cost of the DVD or Blu-Ray. Also, the cost is higher because of piracy. They have to make up for all of the illegal downloads.

[mudkiprules4]

@MrClassicAds That's weird

[HoustonPublisher]

I hear that. And what really gets me is dealers knew this was coming years ago. They must have. The reason I think they did is the company who made our studio recorders started making hard drive based recorders as far back as 2K. But those companies continued selling VHS based units all the way up past 2003 knowing this. That's why I say if it's not hard drive based may as well leave it alone or it will be obsolete before you get it home. Learned our lesson well.  They can keep their stupid DVD!

[AidanLunn]

@Dreambro1 I've seen some pretty badly made analogue stuff as well. If you buy cheap, you get crap, whether digital or analogue. How many cheaper VCRs had tracking errors or had rubber bits that perished early? Or had clapped out heads after just a few years?

[ihatestupidsignups]

@Dreambro1 I HAD this VCR when it was NEW! If you think analog video was better than digital video go read about how few scan lines that VCR had. Not going to go into the audio argument, but that machine set to four hour speed gave you blurry, fuzzy video you wound he horrified at today.

[FHCTech]

@ihatestupidsignups

Don't bother reasoning with people like Dreambro1...you can show them all the facts in the world and they'll still cling desperately to their inferior devices.

Apparently this person has forgotten every stuck tape, stretched film, visual/audio static event, and has really poor eyesight and hearing....

[ihatestupidsignups]

@FHCTech At the Very least! I've had to scavenge a lot of tape in the last few years for irreplaceable material, I know better. The Analog audio people can get silly, but the superiority of "analog Video"? That is asinine even for YouTube.

[PAULLONDEN]

@Dreambro1 Digital ..a god's gift....BlueRay beats analog into bits. As for Digital sound..a good equalizer is necessary,and will solve most problems. My digital collection beats my vinyl stack hands down.

Anyway, if stubborn...one can always get the best of both worlds,and use a tube amplifier.

[jedw]

I love that, "vhs from PANASONIC and other leading companies", yeah companies like JVC LOL.

[Watcher3223]

Well, to be fair, Matsushita Electric, which is the parent to Panasonic, also had controlling interest in JVC back then. Even though VHS was JVC's, it was also technically Matsushita's so they could claim that VHS was from Panasonic.

That was also how Panasonic and RCA would have 4 hour mode in American VHS decks, despite JVC's protests to such an outside development.

[Kargaroc286]

tv picture is simulated, like always.

[Creepingdeathx81]

lol the thing has dials on it like an old tv wow, those were the days.

[dashwarts]

It's funny, old TV's through 1989 warned about copying, then it stopped for VHS... Now they go bonkers over DVD's and such being copied and they don't give a rip about VHS...

[mudkiprules4]

@dashwarts What about Macrovision? that was huge in the VHS days

[dashwarts]

@mudkiprules4 Good point, forgot about that when I posted the other comment perhaps... At least I found a junked DVD recorder that doubles as a macrovision stripper recently.

[Morahman7vnNo2]

@dashwarts I think it's because of the lessor quality of Video Home System. After all, if people bought all of the Hollywood films on Betamax, why would people still go to the movies?

[grumpybb]

My dad had a model that looked identical to that when I was growing up. I think he had a Panny or Quasar before that too. I remember the earliest tapes he bought were nearly $30 each for a 60 minute tape!

[microsoftiscrap]

VHS is crap. VHS was really poor before the HQ system came along in 1981 Super VHS Much better..

Betamax is still better.

[Brillemeister]

Talk about a long-standing grudge :D

[microsoftiscrap]

indeed

[g7mzh]

Actually I think the reproduction was better _before_ they introduced HQ ("Highly Questionable"!) The early machines like the old JVC3300 and its clones (the original piano key ones) gave really excellent results, far superior to the modrn garbage.

S-VHS was better, but not enough to justify the extra cost.

And yes, Betamax is better.

[microsoftiscrap]

i only ever had a S-VHS VCR because my camcorder took S-VHS tapes, still have it now, its like using a rocket launcher.

[Kargaroc286]

and ED Beta is still better. like an analog DVD.

[Watcher3223]

Not necessarily.

Although luma bandwidth of ED-Beta is superior, topping out at over 500 lines, chroma bandwidth wasn't really any better than with conventional Betamax as it still relied on the chroma-under-luma process to modulate the color signal.

This was also a problem with SVHS.

If anything, LaserDisc is more like analogue DVD because the video had higher color bandwidth, though LaserDisc was composite video while all variants of Beta and all variants of analogue VHS were Y/C separated.

[Watcher3223]

Of course, his is beside the fact that both LaserDisc and DVD employ random access optical scanning while VHS and Beta used magnetic helical scanning.

[Watcher3223]

Actually, you can get pretty good picture quality from HQ, but only if full HQ processing was employed.

There were HQ VCRs that did not employ full processing because the licensing of some of the technologies was costly, so you could only find full HQ from some manufacturers with higher end offerings of their VCRs.

Chances are, you'll have full HQ from a high end Sony VHS deck, such as the SVHS SLV-R5UC or the industrial SVO-160 (a model I own and use), than you would from a low end Samsung.