[Robert Grant]

Component video outputs on a VHS VCR would be pointless. VHS (and Beta) were not even SDTV. They were LDTV (Low definition TV). In NTSC systems, the vertical resolution was the same as SDTV (480i), but the horizontal resolution, and especially the horizontal chroma resolution, were inferior in comparison to standard OTA or CATV broadcasts. We just didn't notice it easily on a 19" CRT, and were glad to be able to watch a show we wouldn't be home for, watch a rented movie, take the cassette to watch with friends, and keep for decades.
Having to be content with half of the lume resolution and a quarter of the chroma resolution (the latter true even of S-VHS) made affordable and compact videocassettes possible. If the television pioneers knew people would be satisfied with VHS picture quality, there could have been 24 VHF and 140 UHF channels.

I would advise people to look for S-VHS VCRs. Most thrift store employees do not know the difference between VHS and S-VHS (nor, for that matter, the meaning of the "SDTV" mark on a television set), thus there is usually no price difference.

When a manufacturer made an S-VHS VCR, they knew their customers were paying a premium - thus S-VHS VCRs were more likely to be made of major brand parts.

Even with that awful 30-line horizontal chroma resolution, the increased horizontal lume resolution (about the same as broadcast resolution) is useful on sets 23" or larger.