Retrotalk : Movies : Your first VCR

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Nuke67 Member Since: November 2006 Contributions: 754 Gold Stars: 358 View User Posts	Your first VCR Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:50 pm Central Time Back around 1984, when VCR's finally dropped to an a affordable price we purchased one.. My first one was a top loading 2 head Quazar brand VHS. It had a wired remote control, play,pause,FF and REV It also weighed I believe about 15 lbs are so, because they were made with metal parts, not like the plastic gears etc that was put in later VCR's in the late 80's and 90's.. It lasted a good while, I believe if finally bit the dust oh around 1989 or so. Last edited by Nuke67 on Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
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sbrening Member Since: May 2007 Contributions: 7603 Gold Stars: 235 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:48 pm Central Time I'm not sure what brand it was, but I remember in 1986 when we moved to Texas, we got our first VCP, not a VCR. It worked just like a VCR, but it didn't record. I remember that night we rented "Fletch", "Back To The Future", and a couple of other things, and it was very cool because none of us had ever seen a movie like that in the comfort of our own home before.... Ah, good times. _________________ www.hauntingheather.com DISCLAIMER: I'm not trying to sell anything, just spreading the word.
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wldpuma Member Since: December 2005 Contributions: 3526 Gold Stars: 852 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:53 am Central Time As for me...... .......Back in 1985, I bought a brand new RCA VCR at Fedco in So. Cali. It cost about $800 at the time, but it featured recording on VHS tape & part of it was a side mounted shoulder holder to record events while video shooting. I also bought the RCA video camera at Fedco. I still have both items, and they still are in working condition, but I dont plan to sell it.....cause it's an 1980's memorabilia! _________________ The Electrifying Carmen Electra!
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Rooney Member Since: January 2007 Contributions: 5217 Gold Stars: 894 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:02 am Central Time We had a Betamax - I think it was by SONY. It was top loading and it did not have a remote. You had dials for each of your channels - but we had cable - so we only had to tune in channel 4 to get the cable box to come through. _________________ Wake up and smell the coffee, Mrs. Bueller. It's a fool's paradise.
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edehl Member Since: April 2006 Contributions: 1723 Gold Stars: 385 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:37 am Central Time Rooney wrote: We had a Betamax - I think it was by SONY. It was top loading and it did not have a remote. You had dials for each of your channels - but we had cable - so we only had to tune in channel 4 to get the cable box to come through. view Our first VCR was also a Sony Betamax, too. I liked Beta. The tapes were not only smaller but I thought the picture quality was better than VHS. Unfortunately, my folks got their Beta in 1986 right before they began to be phased out, so we didn't have it for long. I still have a few of my old tapes in storage somewhere.
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Nuke67 Member Since: November 2006 Contributions: 754 Gold Stars: 358 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:02 pm Central Time Rooney wrote: We had a Betamax - I think it was by SONY. It was top loading and it did not have a remote. You had dials for each of your channels - but we had cable - so we only had to tune in channel 4 to get the cable box to come through. view Not soon after we got our first VCR my friend told me his family was getting one, I said wow cool we can copy and trade movies, they got a Betamax DOH!
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kendra Member Since: February 2008 Contributions: 3886 Gold Stars: 4688 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:10 pm Central Time I don't remember the brand,but we always had VHS. No BETA for us.
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HardyGirl66 Member Since: November 2005 Contributions: 4040 Gold Stars: 550 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:29 am Central Time I can't remember the brand either, but when I lived w/ my dad, my older brother bought us a VCR. We jury rigged some cable channels through it (for free). Money was tight, so we didn't rent movies, but we did borrow them from the library. My kid brother drove us all crazy w/ "The Pirate Movie". Whenever my brother came down for a visit, he brought loads of movies he recorded from cable. I remember at that time "Wargames" was a fave. And my niece and nephew constantly wanted to watch "Willy Wonka" and "Superman 2". _________________ Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.
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dessi69 Member Since: August 2008 Contributions: 50 Gold Stars: 4 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:11 pm Central Time We were overseas in '83 when my Dad brought home a Beta as a surprise! It was silver, big and had a cheesy remote with a long cord that attached it. The first thing I saw was a boot-leg copy of "Motown 25". The 2nd thing was a REALLY bad version of "E.T." that someone copied out of their raincoat pocket while crunching on that chocolate snow cone candy. You could see their fingers and hear them whispering! I watched them both over and over until we got a copy of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". I still like that movie! Me
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Niolani Member Since: September 2006 Contributions: 139 Gold Stars: 74 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:18 am Central Time My parents bought a Toshiba VHS player after our BETA got stolen but, that was before is was born. We had it for several years until it died. We watched too much movies! Fortunately, it was the time when VCR became very affordable. So, why bother repairing our old VCR when we could get a brand-new 4-head VCR for at least $50. _________________
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matthewb03 Member Since: September 2008 Contributions: 557 Gold Stars: 148 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:12 am Central Time my first vcr was in the day i was really young i was like newborn child back then we had a vcr i think it was like 1987 or 1988. what's cool about the vcr when you copy or trade your movies like the magnificent seven the great escape the dirty dozen and so much more. they can do it with friends or families. it was really cool and you can record a sport coverage or a movie shown on tv.
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MetalBarbie Member Since: February 2008 Contributions: 183 Gold Stars: 29 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:38 am Central Time I remember the first thing we taped off of tv with our new VCR- Annie. I remember my blonde mom saying "Can we talk or will it record our voices?"
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Kapatsos Member Since: January 2008 Contributions: 1236 Gold Stars: 977 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:42 am Central Time MetalBarbie wrote: I remember the first thing we taped off of tv with our new VCR- Annie. I remember my blonde mom saying "Can we talk or will it record our voices?" view My Mom was like that also when it came to stuff like that...too funny...the first thing we taped with ours was the Hbo special EmmItt Otters Jug band X-mas
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Youth_Happiness Member Since: October 2008 Contributions: 40 Gold Stars: 63 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:46 am Central Time I still have my first VCR i believe its an early VCR right as soon as beta was still around in the early 80's, it is in storage. I believe it still works, i will have to go and see the model though, i forget. I remember having a Magnavox Box TV that sat on the floor with the VCR nicely placed on top. With the flick stick knob dials and pop up Tape Deck.
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Tom1956 Member Since: December 2005 Contributions: 1343 Gold Stars: 34 View User Posts	Re: Your first VCR Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 5:41 pm Central Time My original VCR, purchased in the late 1980s, was an off brand (but still a bit pricey) 2 head model. It had no on-screen menus, a limited-function remote (fortunately wireless), and 12 channel presets for recording, each one with its own little tiny switch and tuner dial that you had to control on the VCR itself. I remember that even though cable TV had less than 30 channels in those days, the tuners could not get all of them. I've owned three other VCRs since then, and each time one would wear out, I was able to replace it with a better model that cost much less than the one before it -- first a 4-head model with on-screen programming (and better picture), then a stereo VCR. My current VCR is not much different than the last one, but cost less to buy. (I have a feeling, though, that when this one gives out, I may have to settle for a very basic model -- if any are still in the stores by then -- or buy a TiVo.) _________________ "Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -- Ferris Bueller "A word to the wise ain't necessary -- it's the stupid ones that need the advice" -- Dr. W.H. Cosby, Jr.
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