Could this be *Jim's Gift: Fastforward the Future*?
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There is a very obscure movie called *[Jim's Gift][1]*, released in 1996. 

[![enter image description here][2]][2]

It was based on an even more obscure novel by an equal obscure author named Sylvia Wickham, written in 1994. 

[![enter image description here][3]][3]

According to the movie description:

> When Jim gets home, he tries the VCR, which has an interesting
> feature: Jim can see events from his past—from birth to just a few
> moments ago. He uses this to find some lost money and the like,
> leaving his parents thinking he's psychic. Soon Jim finds Bossy, but
> he's not done with the VCR. Naturally, he won't be able to resist
> pushing that fast-forward, and when he starts trying to foil robberies
> that haven't happened yet and picking horse races, there's trouble.
> When trouble hits, the stranger repossesses the VCR, which means Jim
> and a pal must solve a mystery themselves.

I can't find any book description. 

There are some IMDB reviews [here][4] that offer additional details. 

This fits several of the criteria, assuming that the book is similar to the movie:

 1. It was published in the early 90s (1994), and features
 2. a VCR that
 3. can record the past and the future and 
 4. probably is controlled by buttons, not dials (to judge from the book cover).
 5. The main character is a boy. 
 6. It is 96 pages (under 100, though not under 50). 

 

  [1]: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/jimsgift.php
  [2]: https://i.sstatic.net/nKJ9I.jpg
  [3]: https://i.sstatic.net/KNZLX.jpg
  [4]: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0219104/reviews?ref_=tt_ov_rt