A VCR, or video cassette recorder, was a machine that could record and play VHS or Betamax video on tapes.
The Tenth Doctor used a VCR that played Betamax tapes in order to defeat the Wire. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern) Anji Kapoor once bought a VCR in Boston, but was frustrated when she figured out that PAL tapes that her family sent from England would not play on her American, and therefore NTSC, VCR. (PROSE: Escape Velocity)