When Did Everyone Get Their First VHS/Betamax Player?

[ChrisW6ATV]

My first VCR was a Sony SL-7200, the table-top one hour Betamax. I bought it used in September 1979 for $320 from an ad in Tradin' Times (a local Chicago classified newspaper of the time).

I still have several of my original tapes and recordings from that machine, but I have not tried to play any of them for many years. I added an audio/video input to the machine and connected a black-and-white camera later.

Later VCRs I owned include a Sony SL-5600 in 1981, an SL-2700 in 1983, SL-HF900 in 1985, and an ED Beta EDV-9500 in 1990. I also owned one VHS machine, a cheap Emerson VHS Hi-Fi so I could rent movies.

[jr_tech]

My first VCR was a Panasonic (PVC-1000?) purchased in the fall of 1977... I think that it was one of the first 2-4 hour models. Top loader, piano keys for operation, the only remote was a "pause " switch on a long cord. It weighed about 35-40 pounds...massive castings inside. Very solid unit!
It was almost a "bait and switch" deal...there were no "video stores" at the time, but a large department store in the area advertised a RCA 4 hour unit for $999 in the Sunday paper... When I got there, the RCA units were all gone, but they had a few of the almost identical Panasonic units left for $1095.
Many of my early tapes are still playable today, including a recording of "the Nutcracker" with Baryshnikov and Kirkland that aired just before Christmas.
On a side note, the first T-120 tapes (4 hour in LP mode) were very expensive and in very short supply, averaging about $25 per tape... Ouch!
jr