I just got a very high end Betamax player for dirt cheap. Now to figure out what to do with it. Is there any tapes I should watch out for? Or should I just get rid of the thing.
Chris

Don't get rid of it. What model is it? The last pre-recorded tapes were released in the mid 1990's. Many of the tapes have Dolby Surround audio. I'm only aware of one letterbox title (the color purple). By the time VHS was releasing letterbox versions, Beta was not being released any more. There are a number of movies only available on Beta and VHS that never made it to Laser or DVD. There are a few titles that were released in the "SuperBeta" format which should look the best of the commercial releases. I'm aware of a couple "Tina Turner Live - Private Dancer Tour" and "Mr. Drums: Buddy Rich and His Band Live"

There are a number of music title beta tapes, particularly Japanese releases not available on VHS or laserdisc so I'd also recommend holding onto it.

SONY SL-HF600 Beta VCR HiFi

I need to get a belt tightened
Chris

Your machine was from the first year SuperBeta was released (1985). You can see where it fits in with all the others at:
http://www.betainfoguide.net/Pix.htm

I like firsts, lol

Lucky you! I haven't looked on eBay at Beta tapes in such a long time, but I imagine there's probably tons of stuff available for cheap worth picking up. I have a copy of Abel Gance's Napoleon on Beta that's still sealed...My Betamax has been packed in a box since I moved five years ago, and is in storage - one of these days I must find it and hook it up again...strangely enough, I know where all my Beta tapes are, just not the Betamax, go figure...

Katie

I need to have it worked on. I guess you need to have them checked every 500 hours. I am going to see how much it costs to send to a betamax guy and go from there. I have seen nice ones priced from 250 up to 700 bucks so I think 80 bucks is a good investment for something I paid 10 bucks for.

Very nice deal indeed!

Katie

I ended up selling a really nice Sony super Beta unit a few years a go on ebay. I actually was buying beta back in the day and LOVED it. When everyone else jumped on VHS I stayed with beta to no avail. Anyway, I just couldn't get psyched up for beta anymore because of the non widescreen issue and sound quality (compared to ld). I would say sell the unit and use the funds to continue whatever needs you have in the world of laserdisc.

I want to get it fixed upo and sell it for more, lol.

Is that player similar to the Sony SL-HF 950? I like that player a lot. How it has all the dial and knobs and best of all, how when you put a tape in, the whole drawer comes out. WOW that is agreat machine but I don,t collect Beta though. If you are interested in Beta, I suggest you have a look at Ray Glasser's channels. He has the best collection of Beta I have ever seen.
http://www.youtube.com/user/videoholicreturns

Good day Guys,

I read in a well know AV Magazine about a year ago, that SONY were still servicing the BETAMAX hardware right up to about 2009+ and that they have now officially stopped support.

That is really good going indeed.