When I started to study and moved out of my parents' house I wanted my own VCR so I could still watch the numerous films I taped from television before.
I also wanted a VCR which could play back dual sound channels, so I could enjoy those films which were recorded bilingually and switch between languages there. Unfortunately that meant I had to get a somewhat expensive VCR as none of the cheap VCRs at the time could do that.
Other features of the machine include a nice automatic tuning mode which magically puts the channels into a reasonably good order and the ability to 'skip' to the end of a recorded film.
There are also parental controls. Which hit me hard when I accidentally turned them on by sitting on the remote control and the VCR just ignoring everything I told it when wanting to use it a few days later. It took a while to figure out what was going on there, to find the manual and the instructions how to turn the lock off again.
As my luck has it the machine broke exactly three video tapes before it was supposed to be retired. A plastic cogwheel in the loading mechanics got dislodged and the VCR didn't manage to move the tape around the head afterwards. Which of course rendered it useless as anything but an analogue TV tuner.