The Dream Machines!

THE SONY DREAM MACHINES!

These are the best of the best -- each of these Betas broke new ground in features, quality, or both...and they are the hardest to find! People who know what they are either hang on to them or sell them for top dollar. The newest trend is to put them up on one of the Internet auction sites and get (sometimes inflated) big bucks for them!
(Some of these photos are quite large, so please allow time for them to load!)

The 15th Anniversary Betamax, the legendary SL-HF2100 (1991)....the last full-featured Beta released in the States. Had a huge touchpad for machine operations, B-I-Super High Band record mode, digital signal processing, and a weird touch-screen remote! This puppy can command $1500 or more on eBay!!
Below are some close-ups, showing all the "buttons" on the touch-screen and some of the various displays. Pix are courtesy of the still-frames I took off the machine years ago, plus my Snappy! I made the images overly-sharp to be readable (hopefully!), and took out some of the color.

Rear of the unit

Close-up of the inputs and outputs. NOTICE THE S-VIDEO JACKS....ONLY consumer Beta to have them!!!

That wonderful remote!!
It's an LCD touch-pad, with 11 different "screens!" Most people hated it. The timer could ONLY be set through the remote, and was a total pain to program.

The EDV-9500, showing large bottom flap closed.

Same unit, showing flap opened.

The Canadian version, known as the EDV-9300. Instead of metal rack mounts, it had wooden sides.

The great EDV-9500 ED Editor (1988). $3300 new! The ED-Betas required special "ED Beta" metal tape that yielded 500 lines of horizontal resolution -- blowing away the competing Super VHS system by 100 lines! The EDV-9500, like the SL-HF1000 below, offered true insert video editing using flying erase heads, and had a very similar design and layout.

BELOW:
We added the EDV-7500, since it too is a Dream Machine in its own right, with the same 500-line resolution as its bigger brother above. It's missing the insert editing function and the jog wheel, but has its own unique jog lever (called Shuttle Edit), and it added a Digital Scan button ON the machine.

The Metal ED-Beta Tapes

To achieve the 500-line resolution on these machines, they required special Metal ED-Beta tapes (which cost a fortune!) Here is a pic of the common ED-L500. The L-750 version was available only in Japan. The industrial BetaCam SP (metal oxide) tapes also work in the ED machines, and are readily available in 20 and 30 minute lengths, which equal L500s and L750s respectively.

The SL-HF1000 with door and drawer closed

The SL-HF1000 with door and drawer opened

Another gem...the infamous SL-HF1000 SuperBeta Editor (1986). In this author's opinion (and in the opinion of many Betaphiles), the KING of the entire Sony Betamax line - in terms of both performance, features, picture quality, and versitility! Introduced B-IS High-Band recording, had TRUE video insert editing and audio dubbing, programmable assemble editing, character generator, time-search, on-screen calendar, and MUCH MUCH more!! These babies can still bring in close to $1000 on the used Beta market!

Showing the controls that are buried behind the front flip-down door.

	Showing the controls on the slide-out right-side drawer, for Record Mode, Editing, Input Select, Black Screen on/off, Character Generator, EE mode, Timer Setting, etc., etc., etc.
	Another picture showing the sliders behind the drop-down drawer on the left side of the machine. These are for Sharpness, SuperHighBand mode on/off, audio controls, normal and slo-mo tracking, Edit on/off, Tape Remaining settings, mic input, and Line 2 inputs.

The first of the full-featured SuperBeta line, the SL-HF900 (1985), which turned out to be the biggest selling Betamax of all time!! Had 4 heads, pseudo insert video editing, audio dub, and the first Beta to offer a jog and shuttle wheel with variable-speed playback, from frame-by-frame to Betascan, in forward or reverse, with 4-head crystal clarity!
Also, this is the only Betamax that had TWO jog/shuttle wheels!! The Japanese version recorded and played B-Is; the American version can be modified to do the same, as well as the Pioneer clone of the SL-HF900, their VX-90 Superbeta.

Decal on the top of the machine:

The left side of the machine, with the flip-down door closed.

Next: a rare shot of the original decal on top of the machine:

Showing the settings and controls below that flip-down door.

A shot showing inside the right-hand drop-down door, exposing a duplicate jog/shuttle wheel, used for changing channel/timer settings/jog-shuttle playback speeds. Also inside this panel were the timer-setting controls, insert editing buttons, clock setting button, and others.

Same shot, with the drop-down door shut.

THE JAPANESE SL-HF900
The Japanese version of the SL-HF900 had some interesting differences from the American version, see pictures below. "SuperBeta" is called "Hi-Band" in Japan; notice the flap where the tape is inserted. Also, notice the Record Mode switch, which says B-Is / BII / BIII. A tip of the hat to Karen Ury for these pics!

The SL-HF750 SuperBeta deck (1986), with its unique "linear-skate" loading system, similar to loading a CD or DVD; front cover on the right in this picture has been removed. The 750 introduced the B-IS record mode to the American market (the Japanese market already had B-Is in their SL-HF900), which set a new standard in half-inch video home recording. Also introduced limited on-screen displays to the Beta line. Oddly enough, the on-screen timer used military (24-hour) time!

Showing the SL-HF750's cassette compartment fully ejected...the ONLY Beta to have this feature!! Note that the machine is playing a tape!! Next pix shows the right-hand drop-down door open.

And here is a shot of the left side of the unit:

When the 750 was new, it had 3 "transit screws" in place to hold the tape-loading drawer in place so it wouldn't shift during transport. Two of these screws are on the back of the machine, and third is on the bottom. Once the machine had been unpacked and made operational, these 3 screws were stored on the back of the machine. Here is a shot of the 3 screws mounted in place on the rear of the unit.

Here is a pic of the SL-HF750, with all original stickers intact, the remote on top, and the original box.

The original remote for the SL-HF750 is the RMT-143, shown below.

A comparison of the Sony remotes for the SL-HF1000 (left, the RMT-148), and the RMT-143 for the SL-HF750, right.

SL-HF750 / SL-HF950 COMPARISON
Note the differences between our American SL-HF750 and the U.K.'s PAL counterpart, the SL-HF950.

SSL-HF750 (U.S.)

SL-HF950 (U.K.)

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