BeoCord V 8000

The V 8000 was B&O’s last VHS video recorder. Although it used similar styling and similar mechanicals to the earlier V 6000, the V 8000 was much smaller and neater. Despite being somewhat below the level of sophistication and quality established by the VX range, the V 8000 replaced the VX 7000 in the Beocord video range. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

The BeoCord V 8000 was effectively the video recorder section of the Beovision Avant in a separate casing. It was based on Philips electronics and mechanicals and used the “turbo drive” deck, a mechanism that offered quick response to commands and a very fast rewind time. As would be expected, the V 8000 included Nicam stereo and Hi-Fi sound recording, along with a half-speed (LP) option and the facility to replay S-VHS recordings (at “standard” quality). Features specific to the B&O application included remote control via the 21-pin AV socket, the ability to download and copy the tuning data from a suitable Beovision and teletext programming (some markets only). Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

Despite being similarly priced to the Beocord VX models, the V 8000 was not really up the same standards of quality or durability. Nevertheless, as the only choice it sold quite well. Later, the DVD 1 DVD player was introduced in a matching cabinet. The two units could be installed together in the specially designed stand of the Beovision 3. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

The last few V 8000 units were sold at the end of 2005, shortly after the HDR 1, a fixed-media hard-disc recorder, was introduced. This model also used the same cabinet as the V 8000 and was almost identical in appearance except for the lack of a tape slot. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.