SEARS BETAS

Sears sold a lot of Beta VCRs at very competitive prices, and all of them were manufactured by either Sanyo or Toshiba. Their model numbers are located on the back just above the serial number. But other designations you might find on the box or on the VCR, like Series 2000 or Type 5317, are purely superficial. Sears used a part numbering method that coincided with their catalog system. The root number came first, then a period. The next six to eight numbers pinned down the exact model. Betas that looked identical could have different numbers. One might end in a zero and another in a one. The difference might indicate a variation in timer capability, or whether it came with a remote, or if it was exported into Canada. In the beginning Sears was the only major retail chain to exclusively sell Beta. They began selling VHS just around the time that Betahi-fi was introduced.