Was this worth saving?
 

I was at an estate sale recently and remembered somebody saying these old VCRs where "desirable". True???

This is a Panasonic Omnivision (as opposed to the Plymouth Horizonvision?) Anybody interested? Why was I supposed to buy this again?

Horizonvision? Ha! Still slapping my knee:D

If I came across this cheap I'd have bought it. Why? Cause like most of the folks on these forums I'm a little nuts! :screwy:

A friend of mine still has a Magnavox (made by Panasonic) VHS that has the clickity-clack-round-the-railroad-track tuners on it. You can program it to record ONE show! :rolleyes:

This one's downright modern, it has an electronic tuner :D

"Why was I supposed to buy this again?"
Because it will keep the lid from blowing off your trash can on a windy day. :lmao: :zoom:

I recently threw away a Sears beta recorder and camera. It worked, but not so well. Looks like I should have asked here first... it might have been saved from the trash.

I don't think these are real "collector's items" although they usually still work pretty well and are a lot more robust than later VCR's. I don't buy the VHS's unless they are the real old ones like with the knobs...generally I will pick up any Beta or 3/4" machines I come across to have a good amount of back-up machines to play these type tapes in the future.

...but wasn't it something about being able to record without "macrovision" or some other such hooey?

Aye, no macrovision as I understand it.......also, don't forget to watch out for smashed oil pans on those early Horizons with the VW engines, remember Carmine? Check those stem seals too! LOL

Anthony

Wouldn't waste any time on a Horizon with the VW engine. :puke:

I'm a 2-point-2 guy through-and-through. :D

Beta VCRs have a very loyal following. Some of the high end Betas regularly sell for hundreds on ebay.

seems they were stuffing whatever they bought cheap that week into the omni/horizon.
hell i had one with a peugot engine.
seen mopar,vw and mitsubishi too.

Panasonic Omnivision VCRs
 

Panasonic still makes VHS VCRs under its "Omnivision" label. I had one with VCR Plus (which went west about two years ago when it ate a cassette--of a program I had taped only about two hours earlier and hadn't even seen yet). ARGH!!!!!!!! :mad: Bought another one right after that (the next day), which I still have, and it still works. Mine will record up to eight shows in, IIRC, a 7-day period, but since I have digital cable with a cable box, I have to manually change channels at the box if I want to record shows on different channels (sorta' like the original Omni systems). The VCR itself must remain on channel 3 or 4 to receive the output of the cable converter, of course, much as the UHF TV converters of the '50s and early '60s (and today's VCRs) operate.

Speaking of Omnivision, I wonder what, if anything, that label was or is supposed to have meant? Or is this just another example of a company using these fancy labels as marketing symbols, as Zenith, RCA/GE and Magnavox, etc. have been for about the last 15 years since their operations went offshore? :dunno:

Personally, however, I don't think the label had anything to do with Macrovision (as another poster mentioned here). This was supposed to have been, IIRC, a system meant to thwart illegal copying of commercial VHS movie cassettes; if all Panasonic Omnivision machines (including current production) had had this feature, it probably (IMO) would have sent the price through the roof.