Man... I'm getting OLD..... Have any of you run across this, because it's new to me. I dug out the first VCR I bought new. An RCA Model # VR334. I purchased it with Christmas money on 12/26/91, and if memory serves.. it was $229.00 (and that was for a MONO "plain jane" deck)
I actually had to put it into use today, and as I was programming the time/date, you could NOT enter in the year 2012. I played around with different years to get the day correct and 2001 worked. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago when I bought it, but I wrote the date in the book... man... 21 years ago. (time flies)

My Mitsubishi HS-761V started that either this year or last. It was bought new in 1997, so has had even less of a run than yours. The much older ones, usually of 80s vintage didn't have years so they weren't affected as such.
This machine doesn't record much these days so its not really an issue. It usually shows the wrong date but the numbers are so small you can't see them across the lounge anyway, so not really an issue.

Ya.. I guess it's something I never thought of. RCA probably didn't think this was going to be in service 21 years later, so it was probably a non-issue.
Interesting story on this, that I commented on in another thread, but the reason it went back into into service was because the POS Magnavox combo unit my Aunt bought, broke in 1 day. She only tapes one show. So I told her I would set her to just take it back and I would set her up with a deck to use. I have better ones, but she's kinda dippy when it comes to setting the timer, and RCA I think had the most user friendly program guide out of any deck. I tell ya tho.. the RCA was reluctant to operate after being stored for 10 years. Fow awhile it wouldn't take a tape, but finally that got unstuck, so hopefully all is well.

I have a Panasonic PV-4022 VCR which I bought new in 2002. The calendar seems to go well beyond the year 2000 -- starts at 1997 and ends at -- gasp! -- 2096 -- ninety-nine years (!).

I don't believe for one second that Panasonic expects its VCRs to last over 90 years. (The last Panny VCR I had before this one went bad in two years.) I know that in their ads they used to say (I don't know if they say this anymore in their current ads), "Do you have a DVD player or VCR that just won't die? (It's) probably a Panasonic", but to put timers in these things that can be set for any date up to 99 years in advance -- sheeesh, that's too much.

Hmm, looks like my Sony VCR is ok!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/vcry2k.jpg

Hmm, looks like my Sony VCR is ok!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/vcry2k.jpg

Did you look at the timer on the VCR hooked up to your sister's Hitachi TV and used as a cable box? Does that VCR's calendar go at least to 2075? Depending on when it was made, it probably should. That VCR looks like a slightly newer version of my Panny PV-4022, or perhaps it is a -4022 in a silver cabinet.

It's a PV-V4523S.. Looks like it goes as far as yours.

It's a PV-V4523S.. Looks like it goes as far as yours.

Thanks for the info. I was just asking out of idle curiosity, and to compare that VCR to mine to see if the timer was the same 99-year one that most Pannys probably had.

The clock setting screen looks exactly like mine, and so does the end date for the calendar. Only difference is, my VCR is mono (PV-V4022 as opposed to PV-V4022S, if Panasonic actually made a stereo version of the -4022).

Toshiba was the first VCR manufacturer in the world to put in a LIFETIME calendar, first used in the SV-771 S-VHS model. The first two digits were omitted, and only the last two digits were used. So, if it's 99, it returns back to 00, doesn't matter if it's year 1999 or 2999.

Toshiba shows great optimism about the longevity of its VCR. Previous experience with Toshiba products justifies it, although it`s doubtful that this VCR will last as long as its calendar, nor will any of us.

One of my oldest regularly used VCRs is a rather cheap ToteVision branded machine (made by Goldstar). It's old enough that you operate all the functions through a vacuum fluorescent display panel.

Its built in calendar works with a four digit year and it's good from sometime in the mid-70s (!!!) until the early 2100s.

+1 on Toshiba longevity (now with fingers crossed since I probably jinxed mine!)

+1 on Toshiba longevity (now with fingers crossed since I probably jinxed mine!)
The best ones Toshiba ever built were the 1990-1991 models. It's called the MBK-76 chassis that Studio Sound Electronics, the largest source of VCR parts, liked to name.

http://www.studiosoundelectronics.com/mbk-76.htm