1984 Quasar VCR

[AUdubon5425]

Picked this up at an estate sale - an '84 Quasar VH5041XW top-loading VCR. Nothing elaborate about it, but it still works fine! I was surprised it didn't need any attention. Weren't these built by Panasonic?

[zenithfan1]

Hey! Those work really well. I used to have one. I can't remember if it is all Quasar or not, probably not. Look inside and see who made majority of the components.

[Eric H]

Neat, that's about the time period when they started putting all sorts of colorful buttons on electronics, remember those?

[zenith2134]

Yep, I had a Sharp VCR from this time with a wired remote. It had different colors for all the buttons. White for rewind, blue for fast forward, green for play and red for record (Naturally!)

This deck is probably Matsushita built.

[radiotvnut]

I'm 99.99% sure that is a Matsushita built VCR. Quasar was actually the name used for Motorola's solid state "works in a drawer" and some hybrid color TV's. In '74, Matsushita (Panasonic) bought the consumer electronics division from Motorola. Most Quasar products after '74 will be a rebadged panasonic.

[bgadow]

I have one very close to this-I need to pull it out and see just how close. Too much stuff around here-I can't remember where I got the Quasar! Somewhere else I picked up a remote but I've never tried it. Yes, Quasar was just another brand of Matsushita at that time. These VCR's do seem kinda lightweight compared to the Panasonics I've seen.

[waltchan]

100% fully engineered and designed by Matsushita (Panasonic). There's no 99.99%. These 1984 top-loadings last forever, but they use switch-mode power supply, so that's why they are rather lightweight.

[zenithfan1]

DUH! I can't believe I forgot about Matsushita buying Quasar! Boy do I feel like a doofus.

[Geoff Bourquin]

Good VCR.
I picked up one of those in 1984, and still have it. Last time I checked (last summer?) it still worked 100%. I don't think I have done anything to it except new rubber and cleaned the mode switch.
For a few years, it was integrated into my first TV/VCR, which used this VCR, a CTC17 chassis that I put into a Magnavox cabinet with the Maggie CRT, a solid state Toshiba Tuner, and tied the whole thing together with a Jerrold ultrasonic remote cable box. When finished, everything worked, and the remote controlled them all.

I had way too much time on my hands back then; now days I cant even find time to change the batteries in my remote control

[Jeffhs]

My first VCR, in 1984, was a Panasonic-built GE top-loader with wired remote (the Quasar unit mentioned in a previous post reminded me of it; the control panel behind a small door on the front panel is almost identical to the one on mine). Paid $400 for it. Worked well the six years I had it, then in 1990 the heads wore out. I'm not surprised, as I used this VCR a lot. I'm actually amazed my current VCR, a Panasonic PV-V4022, is still working today, some five (?) years later--cheap plastic parts and all. I had a Pana VCR with VCR Plus, but the thing ate a tape and I had to practically wreck it to get the cassette out. I junked the machine, but kept the remote, which works with my present VCR.

Oh well. I don't think anyone even uses VCR Plus anymore. The local newspaper (and most U.S. newspapers in the '80s) used to put VCR Plus codes in its TV listings, but no longer. In this day and age of TiVo and DVR, these codes are of no use, although I think it would be great if some day these new digital recorders were again equipped with a revamped and updated automatic recording system such as VCR Plus was. I'm amazed no one has thought of this yet. VCR Plus took the guesswork out of programming VCRs; the same system could do the same for today's digital recording devices and would probably, even likely, be an instant hit with the viewing public. However, I don't think even TiVo or most DVRs have timers for unattended recording; why, I don't know. A clause in the DMCA, perhaps, forbidding digital time-shifting of TV programs? Hmmm.