Museum of early consumer electronics and 1st achievements
www.rewindmuseum.com

Vintage Betamax VCRs

1975 - The 1st ever Betamax VCR.
The Sony SL-6200.







The Sony SL-6200. No tuner but AV inputs and outputs.
Mechanical counter. The plain black sides are evidence that it was
inside a larger unit. The sides would be hidden (see below).
We are delighted to have an SL-6200 in the museum.

The LV-1901

The first Betamax VCR was part of a Sony combined video and 19" TV consul. In Japan it
was called a Sony LV-1801 and the VCR inside was called an SL-6300. In America the
consule was called an LV-1901 and the VCR inside an SL-6200. The date was autumn 1975.
Below you can see a SL-6200 inside an LV-1901 (library pictures - not in museum).
Note the tuner and timer units are not part of the SL-6200. The SL-6200 can clearly be seen.

1976
The Sony SL-7200 & SL-7200A



In the spring of 1976 Sony released the first stand-alone Betamax VCR, the SL-7200.
This was an SL-6200 without the consol but with a tuner. The 7200A pictured here,
also from 1976 is simply an SL-7200 but with added audio video and microphone inputs.
(The stanadard SL-7200 only had audio and video outputs.)
Notice that the SL- 7200 has a stylish front and wood sides which sharply contrasts with
the SL- 6200 where the sides were hidden.
Dates and details from www.sony.net
This museum is primarily about milestone first achievements in consumer technology.
We are delighted to have a sample of the first ever stand alone Sony Betamax VCR in the
museum. This unit is in mint condition.









The original clear dust cover is included.



We even have the original manufacturers carton. The unit is an NTSC version.

1977
The 1st ever long play Betamax VCR



The SL 8200





All of the packaging and accessories is complete.
Warantee forms are in the packet on the side of the box.
When you look in the bottom of the box you can see the dust cover in a sealed bag







All of the paper work is complete.







Unopened sealed pack,



About this unit.

The Sony SL-8200 Betamax VCR. This unit was donated in 1996 by a local specialist video store
that dealt with pro-industrial equipment. They were throwing them out when we were visiting them
It is in it's original box with all of the packaging and manuals. Looks like it was
never sold although could have been a demo model. They actually gave us two (fully boxed and new)
and I sold one a few months later. I Don't usually sell anything but at the time I was short of
space and I had not really thought out everything the museum was going to keep. Even so it did
not stop me keeping one! This was stored in a different place and I was able to get hold of it today
(14th March 06). There place where there would be two tuner knobs is blanked off. This unit did not
have an internal tuner to record TV programs. It came from a pro dealer where most VCRs
were sold without domestic tuners and so this is not surprising.
It is a 110V unit and NTSC and yet it came from a UK dealer which is strange.
It may have been stock for supply in video standards conversion applications.
The dealer that gave it to us was in Newcastle not London (as per paper work above) and so the unit
must have been imported by the London dealer and supplied to the Newcastle dealer. The original US
dealer is also on the paper work. The fact that it is absolutely new and complete makes it very
interesting. The unopened pack seems to contain photos but we have decided not to cut open the sealed
polybag envelope. It says "Betamax programs collection for Betamax owners." If anyone has details of
the contents of this pack, please let us know.

General information.

The Sony SL-8200 (1977). This is a second generation Betamax VCR, It was the first Betamax
to have two recording speeds The new 1/2 speed capability provided 2 hours recording time on
the new L-500 Beta videocassette. This was to try and compete with the new VHS VCRs which
offered 2 or 4 hour of recording time.

SLO-340 (1977)
The 1st ever portable Betamax VCR





Due to the use of plastics in the case, this unit is lighter than the first (JVC) VHS
portable video recorder. It is a valued addition to the museum.
This was classed as the professional version with a 10-pin J-type screw-on barrel
camera connector and other pro features.
The domestic version was the SL-3000 (see below) and the 3000 was introduced in 1980. Some web
sites claim the SL-3000 was the first portable Betamax unit but the SL0-340 was earlier.
They are, however, very similar to look at - see the SL-3000 below.

SL-3000 (1980)
The 1st ever domestic portable
Betamax VCR





It is often the case with consumer electronics and cameras that the
domestic version is black (like the SL-3000) and the "pro" version
(like the SL0-340) is cream (or light grey)

The Toshiba v5470. 1979



Toshiba v5470 VCR (Betaformat V-5470B Colour Video Recorder). Acquired in 2003.
Features - Picture search, variable speed play, still frame, slow motion and up to
2 times normal speed adjustable by a wheel under the front of the machine, index
search (Toshiba called this Quick Select) that works
An Advanced timer. The three event timer could be programmed either as one-off events
or on at the same time each day. Liquid crystal timer display in 1977!
This consisted of black digits on a yellow background.











The camera kit above is the Toshiba TA-11 video camera and is in the V-5400B
brochure as the matching camera for the V-5470 VCR.
There is very little information on the Internet about this Betamax VCR. Indeed the
only library picture I could find was the rather poor one below. This unit is quite
large and heavy but due to the pleasant wood surround, it is an attractive unit.
It is also quite a well specified unit for 1979. This museum example is very good
condition and comes with a manual and manufacturers brochure.



The British company "Bush" cloned the V-5470B under their own name, The Bush model
was the BV6900A and came was silver compared to the Toshiba's woodgrain

Sanyo VTC9300PN. 1978



The 9300 was the 2nd Betamax VCR from Sanyo to be introduced into the UK.
(The 9100 was the 1st in 1977.)
This unit is in mint condition. It is large and heavy with mechanical keys.





Interesting features,
The digital display could be switched between clock and counter.
A wired remote was included.

Anomalies and questions.

Model Numbers.

It seems that the model number for products in Japan minus 100 produced the US model number.
So - when we see the first ever Betamax unit in Japan is the SL-6300, this was called SL-6200 in
the States. The SL-7300 was called the SL-7200 and the SL-8300 was called the SL8200.
This was also true for the Sony Umatic VCR system of model numbers. The first ever Umatic was
the VR-1100 in Japan (a player only) but in the States it was called the VR-1000. The first ever
VCR (player and recorder) was the VO-1700 but it was the VO-1600 in the States.

Was the SL-6300 (or SL-6200) only built into a consul unit - the LV-1901 (or LV-1801)?

Many web sites suggest this was the case and clearly the SL-6200 above with it's black
sides can be identified as having been inside the LV-1901 shown above. However, one of
Sony's web sites shows a 6300 with attractive wooden sides. Clearly this was a stand alone
unit as these sides would have been lost in an LV-1901. You can see below the picture of
this unit. It is also clear that apart from the sides, it is identical and does not have
a built in tuner unit even though it is a stand alone unit. The Tuner unit in the LV-1901
being a separate panel.



It therefore follows that only the SL-7200 (or SL7300) can be considered as the first
Betamax fully "domestic" "stand-alone" VCR as it was the first with a built in tuner.
That is to say the inclusion of a tuner is a pre-requisite to the "domestic" description
along the same lines as the Philips N1500.

Making a donation.

The Rewind Museum is a none profit making endeavor. The web site and the touring exhibitions are run on
a voluntary basis. Donations, not money, just old items you no longer want, are always welcome.
If you have something that you think would be of interest, please contact us with the details.
We can send in a courier to pick them up. (Even an international courier). Thank you.

Return to home page.

Link to our main site. Satellite TV.

Sponsored by Vision International.
Note. One of our businesses, Vision International (established 1991) sponsors the
Rewind Museum including financial support for this web site.
Vision International is one of a group of businesses that we have in the field of
Satellite TV. This is a link to our sponsor.



Tune in an extra 8000 channels? Watch the world? Links to some of the pages are below,

Sky Receivers Sky Accessories Transparent Dishes Motorised systems High Definition Receivers. Caravan satellite
Catalogue index page of all satellite products.

This museum's web site is maintained on a none profit
making voluntary basis. Our main business website is at
www.satellitesuperstore.com/cat.htm
Our main business is satellite TV and we are a specialist satellite company.
We supply satellite goods in the UK and worldwide including fixed and
motorised satellite systems, accessories and installation equipment.