VCR's in general

[sixtyten]

I also remember all the kids from school (I left in 82) coming over to each others houses (the ones lucky enough to own a VCR) and watching movies at lunchtime and weekends.Some of the quality of bootlegs around then was utterly appalling,but we still sat and watched.
the Fergusson we finally bought ( think it was one of those rent it and its yours after 3 years deals,not hire purchase,but the technology would be long superseeded by then) was and probably still works to this day. pretty indestructable as long as you kept the heads clean.
the school video was a V2000 and MASSIVE,as were the tapes. quality varied but it always seem the people who recorded educational stuff to be shown on the school V2000 did not know how to tune a TV!
nothing changes..my old man got a DVD/VHS combo a few years back and still can't work out how to get a good picture on certain channels
Viva la difference!

[sixtyten]

Aye,same story here.. we rented a Fergusson Videostar from Radio Rentals,at the very birth of this "new" technology. its was a heavy silver affair,piano keys and top loading,natch.
First things I remember seeing on it were "Death wish,a bootlegged Exorcist and Dirty Harry.
the video shops were only in their infancy and Blockbusters did NOT exist! (at least in this country).the guys down the first Video shop in my neck of the woods were always offering "under the counter" tapes..clockwork Orange and the banned Snuff movies,but the stock in the shop must have been only about 100 titles at the time,just like when CD was introduced.
and considering we earned a lot less then,£4-5 a night was stupid money to pay to watch things that were pretty much on TV at the time too.
Always amazes me nowaday that years ago,any movie released in a Cinema had a five year wait until it appeared on TV..now,I don't even bother with the cinema as most films are out on DVD in months,weeks even

[OrangeCremolaFoam]

Hi guys..

My first Video was a Hired Betamax for £10 a week from a local TV Rental Store when I was on Y.T.S. at age 16..thought it was great too..then my second Video was a 'Fergusson Videostar' with the huge chunky buttons..had it for years..it was about the size of a World War 1 Tank..;0)

best wishes...

Rab ;0)

[Oggy]

We had a Radio Rentals, special a Baird i think........massive thing though, and heavy too.

[lonesome crow]

Our first one my dad bought was a Ferguson videostar even the remote control was attached via a 3foot cord! we thought it was brill!!!!!

[ruby]

My parents bought our first VCR in the early eighties.I remember the first video we rented was 'Greystoke:The Legend of Tarzan,Lord of the Apes'.It was a VHS,can't remember the make,but it was a huge silver thing,top-loading.For some reason our VCRs always broke(I think it was due to too many kids fiddling with them - my brother once took one completely apart when we went out shopping lol).I still buy videos today,it's true you can just chuck 'em in,no fuss.
They do seem to last longer than DVDs..

[JEM]

In the early 80s, my parents would rent a VCR on special occasions...and I think they rented them from this furniture shop (kinda weird). We finally got a VCR around the '84-'85 holiday season, and boy that was a gift for us. Now I have a VCR/DVD combo and I still buy video tapes. Can't say the same thing for tape cassettes...

dvd v vcr

dvds seem so slow to start up. and i still cant figure out how to find all the things on the dvd..at least with a vcr you just bung it in and play it and you know you`ve seen it all by the end!

[Lothar-gr]

I remember the first VCR we had ... a AKAI VS2600 ( i think the model number was 2600 ). It was in black color and quite huge for todays standards. The most weird about it, it was this: It had a mirror inside the cassete compartment and a small lamp in the compartment ceiling. the plastic in front was see-through also .. so you could see the cassete working inside the machine

[Aidan]

Technology me a* - you can't record on your bogstandard DVDs ! Hopefully the VCRs & tapes won't disappear too abruptly for that reason.

[Superkav]

I remember the day we got our first VCR, I don't remember the manufacturer but it was BIG and silver. Top loading (of course) with big peg buttons that really clanked. The remote control had a lead of about 5' which was about 2' too short to actually use without having to get off the armchair to press the buttons.
I remember that when it came out, recording off the TV was something we did if we wanted to keep that particular program forever. I remember my parents thinking that it was illegal to record certain things and that you could somehow be 'tracked' if you did it!!

[Tomo]

I've got a Sanyo VTC 5000 Betacord - it's proper boss. Got a Duran Duran Beta tape as well, the qaulity is so much better than VHS. Not bad considering it came out 20 years ago, and the tape itself came out in '83!

[pablo]

massive vcrs

blimey our first vid cost u nearly 800 pound from the catalogue!big massive ferguson.it didnt even have a search facility.still love watching vids though especially ones from the telly years ago,anyone remember the granada ones where the tv repair man whistles?and yes i still buy vids from ebay.not everythings out on dvd yet.

[Precious Jewels]

I recently bought my dad and DVD-video combi so that he could have the best of both worlds!

My grandad still has a working Betamax vid that he just won't part with - it's great going round to his and watching classic tv from back in the day!

[Snakeystew]

Nice to know