I had an amazing shock recently. I was thinning out a vast pile of old video magazines going right back to the first issue of "TV & Home Video" dated Winter 78/79. Ah, those were pioneering days for home video! What caused the shock though, was the prices of video recorders. Let me explain...

Looking at a Comet advertisement of November 1978, the Ferguson Videostar cost a giveaway £699.90 while the identical machine in Akai VS-9300 guise cost £709.90. The bargain was a Phillips 1700 for £624.90 while the Grundig SVR cost £759.90. Now, Comet are competitive where prices are concerned but those look pretty frightening compared with today's prices, and that's despite inflation! Of the machines mentioned only the Ferguson Videostar is still sold (now the 3V22) and the average discount price is around £475 — that's a price drop of nearly a third in just three years.

Of course anyone setting out to buy a budget recorder has a much wider choice now than he did three years ago. Demand for home video has increased and so has the competition for your custom. Most video recorders in the budget £450 to £500 range have better styling and far more features than those early models, though if cash is really tight you can pick up those old ones secondhand for £300 or so. In case you've been holding back buying — or are considering a replacement — here is a rundown of some of the most eligible machines.

All these machines share the basic features of a video recorder — they record and play back programmes recorded from BBC and ITV or from an auxiliary source such as a home video camera or even another video recorder. They can all record in timer mode (controlled by a built-in time clock) up to seven, ten or fourteen days after when you set them. Remote control is available on most machines — sometimes it's only a pause control for crude editing of commercial breaks, in other cases it's more comprehensive but it's nearly always wired rather than infra-red. A basic tape memory switch, allowing you to rewind to a preset point, is normally fitted. Other user features are noted here.

The five models I have taken as representative of the new wave are the GEC V4000H, the Hitachi VT-8000, JVC's HR-7200EK, Panasonic's NV-2000, the SL-C5 from Sony and the PVC-700 by Nippon Electric. The last two are Beta format machines and we'll look at them first.

Sony's SL-C5 (or C5 for short) is a real bargain at £450 (all prices quoted are average retail). Special user features include still frame and rapid picture search (both in monochrome only). Picture search (also known as cue and review or shuttle search) enables you to watch the action at many times the normal speed to rapidly locate the start of a programme in the middle of a tape or to skip the commercials on replay! It is marvellous for folk like me who forget to log counter settings. The timer works over seven days and audio dub is available. A corded remote control is available as an optional extra. Soft touch switches are fitted as on virtually all new machines and the general styling is unconventional — rather like a Citroen car. You'd probably get used to it!

A machine with the same internal electronics and mechanics but a totally different styling is the PVC-700 from NEC (Nippon Electric Company). Features are not quite the same as the Sony C5 — for instance the picture search is in colour and the remote control handles just pause and picture search. It is less widely distributed than the Sony equivalent and at £500 its higher price and unknown name won't help sales — though shortages of the Sony C5 will! Both the Sony and NEC are Beta machines — the others are VHS format.

Just as the C5 and PVC-700 are similar internally, so are the GEC V4000H and the Hitachi VT-8000. Both sell for £500 and feature still frame, picture search, frame advance, auto rewind, counter memory and a ten day timer. The only real difference is in the styling and the wired remote control units. On the G£C this controls all functions, on the Hitachi only pause and frame advance (slow motion). Since the price is the same this makes the GEC the better buy.

JVC's HR-7200EK is the newest of all the machines. Price is around £500 and special features include forward and reverse picture search with (noisy) colour, ten day timer, counter search and not much else. There is a corded remote control unit (with all functions) supplied with it.

The final machine is the NV-2000 from National Panasonic. The timer works up to fourteen days in advance and other user facilities include forward visual search, slow motion, moisture indicator and a precision edit system with minimal picture break-up. Price is around £500. If pressed to make a choice this is without doubt the one I would go for. For anyone interested in the creative side of video the clean edit function is essential and the diecast alloy chassis of this machine helps it earn its excellent reputation for above average sound quality and stability. The other features are useful and well chosen but the two points I first mentioned are the most important to me. The picture quality is also above average, which does help too.

Despite this we have not yet seen the ultimate video recorder. Several other manufacturers have indicated their intention to make home video recorders and the increased competition can only serve to stimulate development of improved machines. There is a very good chance that the VHS manufacturers will announce a long play option within a year or two, and Sony may follow suit too. This will record and play back at half speed, enabling you to get eight hours programming on to a four hour tape, something currently possible only with the VCC system from Philips and Grundig. I also predict stereo playback will be with us soon, enabling you to play the sound of music programmes through your hi-fi system. If, together with all this, prices of machines fall as they have done over the last three years, well...