Some Non-Sony Betas

SOME NON-SONY BETAS

Here are some pictures of some non-Sony Betamaxes that have been around over the years. Some of these are REAL rare, and some of these companies didn't produce Betas for very long!

	Sanyo's first Beta entry, the venerable VCT-9100, released in 1979. Handled BII only. The push-buttons were known to break. Video quality was only marginal.
	A later model Sanyo, now called the Sanyo Betacord.
	From 1981, the Sanyo 4020, offering 3-day, 1-event programming.
	The model 6300 from 1983.
	The model 4500, also from 1983, offered 7-day, 1 event programming.
	The model 4400, released in 1984, probably one of the best-sellers ever for Sanyo. Very stripped-down, had 1-day, 3-event timer, and threaded like a VHS.
	The Sanyo 6400, from 1984, with the 1984 Olympics logo on the left.
	One of the first Sanyo Beta hi-fi units, the 7200, also released in 1984. Low-end, 2-head unit.
	The model 4027 from 1986, one of their few SuperBeta units.
	The model 4020 from 1985.
	Sanyo's Beta h-fi model 7500 from 1985, with 14-day, 8-event programming. Available in black or silver.

	The Toshiba V-5210, their first Beta, very similar to the Sony SL-8200. Had rotary tuner, recorded and played X-1 and X-2, with piano keys.
	Another early Toshiba model, the V-5425 from 1980.
	Toshiba's first portable, the V-8035, shown with tuner-timer. Like the Sony SL-3000 portable, it recorded X-2 only, but played back X-1 and X-2.
	Model V-5425 from 1980, very similar to Sony's SL-5000. (Sorry for the poor resolution!)
	The V-9030 from 1980 or 81, probably their 2nd portable unit, and the first one with solenoid controls. Shown with the companion tuner-timer.
	From 1981, the V-8000, a 7-day, 1-event programmable unit. Handled BII and BIII.
	Also from 1981, the V-8500, follow-up to the V8000. Featured 14-day programming.
	The V-8600, from 1982, a follow-up to the 1981's 8500. Had push-buttons, 14-day timer, and wired remote..
	One of the early Toshiba front-loaders, the popular VM-40. Sold in Canada as the V-400c.
	Toshiba first Beta hi-fi entry, the VS-36. A high-end, feature-laden machine, it had 4 heads, locking variable-speed scan, and pseudo linear-time counter. Followed by clones VS46 and VS56.
	The Toshiba VS46, a black version of the VS36 above.
	The Toshiba M-521, an early front loader, possibly a Canadian model.
	Toshiba's last portable Beta, the VX340, from 1985. This was the only one of the ultra-light, ultra-compact "B-5" entries to make it to America. It offered a real-time counter and insert editing. The other B-5 portables (Sanyo's, Sony's, etc.) were never exported to the States.
	Model VM-41, from 1984.
	The sleek VM-411, year unknown
	The VM-501, year unknown
	The VS-54C, Canadian model, from 1986, same as the American model VS-54
	The VS-443.
	The VM-32, from 1984, had 14-day, 8-event programming.

	The NEC 739E Beta hi-fi from 1983. A high-end machine, with 4 heads, 3 slo-mo speeds, etc. Strangely enough, this one NEC model brings in BIG BUCKS on the used Beta market! Bottom picture shows the unit with right-hand door removed.
	A shot of the of the 738E, first introduced at the 1983 Winter CES. Vastly improved as the 739E, shown above.
	The 20EU, a low-end mono unit from 1984, with a 14 day, 8-event timer.
	1985's model 70EU, another high-end Beta HiFi unit. Had 4 heads and 21-day, 8-event programming.
	The only SuperBeta unit ever made by NEC, the 65EU from 1986. Also has the distinction of being the ONLY non-Sony Beta unit that recorded at B-Is! Video quality was just marginal, though.

	The VR-9000W from 1979 was Zenith's clone of Sony's SL-5400, which introduced BIII recording and BetaScan.
	The KR-9000W from 1978 was an exact clone of the Sony SL-8600. First Zenith Beta to have a built-in clock and wired remote.
	Released in 1980, the VR-9750J was just like the Sony SL-5800, with variable-speed slo-mo, etc.
	The 1981 "Video Director", AKA model VR-8500PT, somewhat similar to Sony's SL-5000, offered BIII recording only and a 1-day timer.
	Zenith's 9775 was a clone of the Sony SL-2500 slim-line Beta from 1982.
	Also in the early 80s, Zenith offered their version of the Sony SL-2000/TT-2000 "BetaPak" portable Beta/Tuner-timer combo. These units were very popular, and offered Swing Search like the 9775 above. These units are very popular on the used Beta market because of their portability.
	The model 8510 from 1983 offered BIII recording ONLY! Had a 3-day, 1-event timer.

	One of the earliest Sears models, the 5322, from 1981. Had a 14-day timer.
	The Sears 5341 was one of their few Beta hi-fi units from the mid 80's. Made by Sanyo, it was another mediocre performer.
	Sears model 30163, obviously made by Sanyo.
	Model #564.53170451. Has 7 Day, 1- event program, number-counter, two speeds (II and III), remote capabilities, remote pause socket, loads and unloads tape with each transport function. Loading mechanism is finicky. Info provided by Sean Meskill.
	The Sears 2-piece portable, year unknown, model number 562.53580150. Separate VCR and push-button tuner suggests early 80s.
	Model 30214, year unknown...looks like late 70s, early 809s.
	Model and year unknown, this is obviously a clone of Sony's SL-8600; had first built-in clock/timer, and rotary tuning.

Audio maker Marantz offered this Dolby-B Beta in 1982, in the pre-Beta HiFi era. (It even had the famed Marantz gold finish to match their audio gear!) This unit was manufactured by Sanyo and offered only mediocre audio and video performance.

	Sony subsidiary Aiwa offered two Beta Hi-Fi units in 1984. Shown here is the AV-50M, which was a portable two-piece unit, with separate VCR and hi-fi processor units....similar to the Sony "HFR" series.
	Two pictures of Aiwa's step-up unit, the AV-70M, a regular all-in-one Beta Hi-Fi VCR. Although it was Beta Hi-Fi, it had a mono tuner. It is extremely small, yet very heavy, since it has a metal case.

	Radio Shack offered a few VCRs in the mid 80s, under the "Realistic" name, all OEM'd from Sanyo. Here is the Model 20, a Beta HiFi unit, from 1985.
	A year later saw the release of Radio Shack's only SuperBeta unit, the Model 22, an exact clone of the Sanyo 7250.

The famed Pioneer VX-90, one of two Betas that Pioneer made in the mid 1980s. The VX-90 was an exact clone of the Sony SL-HF900 SuperBeta HiFi, and like the 900, could be modified to play and record at the B-Is speed.

The other Pioneer Beta was the VX-50, a lower end model than the VX-90. This one is REAL rare!!! Above is a pre-production rendering of the unit, the 2nd and 3rd show the final production model.

TWO VIDEO FORMATS THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT.......
First, the infamous Sanyo V-CordII VCR, from 1976, another videocassette format and a weak competitor to Beta. Lasted only a few years.

Secondly, the infamous RCA CED Selectavision Videodisc! Lasted a few years, but was crushed by the superior optical Laserdisc/Laservision format.
( If you're into these units, here's a link to a CED website, with TONS of info!:
http://www.cedmagic.com/selectavision.html )

And here's another piece of history.....

The FIRST 8MM camcorder, the Kodak Kodavision! Quality of the recording was likened to VHS-EP, pretty poor! This camera came inside a larger case that included a TV tuner for timer-taping!

IF YOU HAVE ANY PIX OR INFO YOU CAN SUBMIT, PLEASE E-MAIL ME!

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