Just curious to see how many in here ever owned a Beta VCR? I never did. I didn't own my first VCR until 1990. My family used to rent VCR's from the video store in the 80's that came in one of those thick cases with a handle.

Well, my first VCR was a VHS, bought it for 500$ (today, I guess you can find machines which were equipped like that one in each cereal box :) ). Betamax was going to extinct and Video 2000 (German format invented by Grundig) was already dead then, although both offered the better picture and audio quality.

I can remember that Sony offered an automatic changer for their VCRs which allowed you to load a number of cassettes, and Video 2000 had cassettes which worked like the Compact Cassette Tapes, means you could flip them over to get a maximum playtime of 2x4 hours.

Originally posted by wavemaster:
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I can remember that Sony offered an automatic changer for their VCRs which allowed you to load a number of cassettes, and Video 2000 had cassettes which worked like the Compact Cassette Tapes, means you could flip them over to get a maximum playtime of 2x4 hours.</STRONG>

Those would have been interesting to see.

My dad hung onto his Betamax VCR and tapes well into the 90s, LOL. Luckily he just happened to live near a video store with a huge Beta selection. Stubborn refusal to go VHS.

My mom's family got a VHS VCR in, oh, 1982 or 1983. The first thing we ever watched was Chariots of Fire, taped from TV. Top-loading Kenmore VCR from Sears... no remote. :) Ah, the memories.

For all the video freaks out there...found a good website which covers a lot about the Sony Beta and the Video 2000 system:

PALsite - the home of the PAL video system (http://www.palsite.com/)

The reason why Betamax and Video 2000 died were the politics of the manufacturers, as they didn´t gave away the production licenses as JVC did with the VHS.

Sony was the almost sole producer of Betamax VCR, same goes for Grundig with the V 2000. When they finally gave away the licenses to some other producers, it was too late, especially in Europe. JVC sold their patent to other manufacturers from the beginning on, which meant that VHS recorders became quickly cheaper than the concurring systems. Both Betamax and V 2000 virtually doesn´t exist anymore in Germany at the end of the 80´s.
Philips who was the original inventor of the V 2000 system never played a greater role on the German market with their machines, as top loaders didn´t go well with the customers here.