1981 Sears ad for: a TV, a VCR and a Compact Stereo. $795 for the VCR

[IcyPeas]

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[House of Roberts]

1. $795 for the VCR

Yeah, it was Beta.

I gave $1100 for an RCA 625 in 1980, then bought the RCA 650 in 1981, so I could make dubs.

[Grokenstein]

2. Still have a few VHS tapes I got off eBay.

Captive Hearts, a now-forgotten 1987 WWII romance starring Pat Morita that never got a DVD release, still has its $49.99 price tag on the jacket. (Just to be clear, I did NOT pay that for the cassette, that's what it sold for back in the day.)

[KT2000]

3. Have you checked the prices

on VCRs on eBay? Certainly not $795 but some are a couple hundred dollars. I just sold mine for $7.

[Midnight Writer]

4. I paid $1100 for a Betamax when they first came out.

I liked it much more than the VHS format that eventually won out. The tapes were smaller and the unit responded much faster. The remote control was wired into the unit.

[csziggy]

5. Plus, Beta had better resolution than VHS

My first VCR was Beta - first one sold out of the Sears here in town. The Sony dealer could not get one in stock and I just HAD to have one to tape the rebroadcast of this:

I still have a few Beta tapes around here - but can't get a player to get them transferred to digital.