fall inside a hole

V-5200 (1977)

Toshiba's first Japanese Beta, a rebadged Sony SL-8100. Recorded Beta II and played I and II.


photo source

V-5210 (October 1977)

Toshiba's original American Beta, a rebadged Sony SL-8200. Recorded Beta II and played back Beta I and II.




V-5700 (Early 1978)

Toshiba's original Japanese Beta that they designed themselves. Recorded Beta II and played I and II.

A photo of the V-5700 can be seen in this gallery.


V-5800 (1978)

Japanese variant of the V-5700 with an easier to set timer. Recorded Beta II and played I and II.




V-5310 (Early 1978)

American version of the V-5700 with a built in tuner and timer. Beta II only, also released in a V-5310T variant, differences unknown. Toshiba called Beta BetaVideo early on, with the top of the machine also referring to it as a "Betaformat" VCR.



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V-5250 (1978)

Rebadged version of the Sony SL-8000 for the European market.




V-7100 (1978)

Probably the first programmable Betamax, with a pushbutton tuner and mechanical tape counter. Recorded and played Beta II. Oddly, this VCR and the ones based on it that followed used an liquid crystal display for the tuner and clock instead of the more common self-illuminating VFDs or other display types.


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V-5420 (Fall 1978)

The first programmable Betamax deck in the US, with a computerized tuner called the Comput-R-Tune. Recorded and played Beta II only.





V-7700 (1979)

Updated version of the V-7100 that can also record and play Beta III.


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V-5425 (Early 1980)

Updated version of the V-5420 with Beta III speed, which Toshiba called "LP" on some machines, with Beta II speed being called "SP." Essentially no manufacturers other than Sony supported the Beta I speed after the 70s. Seven day, three program timer with picture search.


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V-9000 (1980)

Toshiba's first portable for the Japanese market. Hooked up to an external tuner-timer and recorded and played only Beta II.


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V-5470 (1980)

European version of the V-5425. Also sold by Bush in the UK and made its way to Australia by 1981.


service manual


V-5530 (1980)

American version of the V-9000. Portable Beta II only recorder that could be hooked up to an external tuner/timer.


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V-500D

Toshiba began calling their Beta VCRs Viewstars with this model, which went on to spawn many variations. Wired full function remote with a slider for picture search speeds, which Toshiba carried on to many future models. The Viewstar name alludes to the advanced trick-play features Toshiba would put on this and many of their future Betas.



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V-800L

Linear stereo deck in a similar chassis as the V-500D.



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V-8000 (1980)

Redesigned solenoid-driven toploader, sold in a few different variants. An early example of "locking" BetaScan, where picture search would latch on when hit once, instead of having to be held down. Toshiba called its high-speed BetaScan mode that went up to 40x normal speed "Super Scan." One week, one event timer.


service manual


V-8500 (1980)

Upgraded V-8000 with four heads (the first consumer four head VCR), wired full function remote and upgraded two week, eight event timer. The "Auto Find" button could locate the gap between two recordings during winding and begin playback when detected.




V-8600 (1980)

European version of the V-8500 with a full-function wired remote with variable speed slider. Reached Australia by 1982 as the V-8600A.


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V-8700 (1980)

Very similar to the V-8600 and also for the European market, this model included a wireless full-function remote.


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V-8035 (Spring 1981)

Upgraded version of the V-5530 that could also record and play Beta III and included BetaScan. Rebranded by Sears as their first BetaVision portable. One day, seven event external timer unit, which still had a knob-based tuner.


V-303S (1981)

Low-end model of Toshiba's first Japanese frontloaders. Recorded and played back Beta II and III. Included video in and out under a front panel, mechanical tape counter, and an eight preset tuner.


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V-503D (1981)

The midrange early 80s Toshiba frontloader, with an upgraded tuner/timer and digital tape counter.


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V-803L (1981)

Higher-end version of the V-503D with linear stereo added as well as a full-function wired remote with variable speed picture search. These early Toshibas used a complicated loading mechanism with large gears linking both sides of the tape basket.





V-9035 (1982)

Redesigned portable with four heads and separate 14 day, eight event timer.