technology Second-hand Recorded Betamax tapes

[Katie Cadet 100]

Hello fellow bronies!

Back in January, I got a Sanyo Betamax Hi-Fi VCR from 1984. Unfortunately, after a few months in storage, it started to have a bad habit of eating/jamming tapes.

I know it was a competitor to VHS, but in my pile of recorded tapes, someone back in the 80s and 90s recorded some Classical music recordings (there was Horowitz in there that I recognize), K.D. Lang (off of a Laserdisc copy of her music videos), 28 Up (British television documentary), and some other recordings from CBC television.

Feel free to talk about your recorded Betamax finds from previous owners! Sony, the creator behind Betamax, claimed to have better quality than VHS, but I can't spot the difference.

Anyways, if you have some Betamax television recordings, discuss here!

[Brony Number 42 10,069]

We had a Betamax when I was a kid. I remember we recorded GI Joe The Movie (which is the only GI Joe movie, fight me ) and Spaceballs. 

These days I typically collect digital media: CD, DVD, SACD, DVD Audio, HDDVD, and onward.

[Katie Cadet 100]

My second Betamax VCR, which is from Sony, is a Hi-Fi-ready Mono unit from 1985. (It can even do Super Betamax too!) Unlike the Sanyo Hi-Fi VCR, this one doesn't eat or jam tapes very often, and upon playing one of my bundled recorded tapes of classical music, the video and the audio kept cutting out at one hour and thirty minutes into the tape. Definitely there's something wrong with the machine itself and not the tape.

So now I have two non-functional Betamax VCRs from Sony and Sanyo, but one day there might be a proper one or a possible fix... We'll find out.

[Dreambiscuit 9,691]

I have a second-hand recorded copy of Star Wars: A New Hope. It was given to me when I was little because I hoard anything Star Wars. Unfortunately I never had a Betamax player that worked. It was always VHS for me, so I never saw how it came out or had a chance to compare the two formats. I wish I had, because I've always been curious about it.  

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,305]

Wish I could take a look at that tape