VCRs that will last forever

[Whirled One]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Here's a link to what was Panasonic's first VCR, or VTR as it was called. Looks pretty darn close to mine

http://matsushita.co.jp/corp/company...inp1977_1.html

You gotta think that for $1100 new back then, they built in the same quality into these as many companies did in stereo gear.

Actually, Matsushita/Panasonic had VCRs out long before that..! They obviously didn't use the VHS format though-- they were EIAJ-2 format, which was basically the ol' EIAJ-color 1/2" open reel video format, but repackaged into *cartridge* form. The cartridge had just one tape reel though-- you inserted the cartridge into a front-load slot in the machine (much like on a modern front-load VCR), and internally it would automatically thread the tape out of the cartridge and onto the (internal) take-up spool that forms part of the mechanism. Of course, this meant you had to rewind the tape entirely before you could eject the cartridge.

Come to think of it, though, perhaps that doesn't qualify as a "VCR" though since a tape "cassette" tends to imply two reels of tape in the same cartridge. Oh, well, whatever.