# Goodbye old friend **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997 "2011-01-17T21:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/21 "2011-01-18T20:34:28Z")
I have Escape From New York on DVD and also an old VHS and there is something about that movie that makes it better when you watch it on a low-quality VHS. It fits the atmosphere of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/22 "2011-01-18T21:47:41Z")
I once bought a crappy old VCR in Reno to watch it die. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/23 "2011-01-18T21:53:26Z")
My old VCR skipped. Only a couple of times though. (Then it finally sank into the pond.) ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/24 "2011-01-18T22:06:23Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I have Escape From New York on DVD and also an old VHS and there is something about that movie that makes it better when you watch it on a low-quality VHS. It fits the atmosphere of the movie. You know, I never thought about it, but that movie _IS_ better to watch on a low quality copy. I don’t want _Escape From New York_ on BluRay in HD. I want the grainy drive in movie with a drunk projectionist feel. That sounds like a joke, but I’m with you on that one, **PSXer** Crap! I have _They Live_ on VHS! What am I going to do now?! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/25 "2011-01-18T22:11:32Z")
We recently purchased a cassette/DVD recorder combo to replace one that had been broken by a visiting teenager. One day we’ll get around to transferring all our old videos to disc. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/26 "2011-01-18T22:20:11Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I have Escape From New York on DVD and also an old VHS and there is something about that movie that makes it better when you watch it on a low-quality VHS. It fits the atmosphere of the movie. Along those lines, I used to say In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was best heard on a scratchy LP. Maybe you could use some processing software to dirty up a DVD version for future viewing. You know, add scratches, dust, hairs and such, make it like an overplayed cheap cinema reel. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/27 "2011-01-18T22:27:11Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > My VCR is a VCR/DVD combo, and I actually use it quite a bit. I still have a ton of movies on VHS, both purchased and recorded, and am too cheap to replace them with DVDs (and then, of course, the inevitable replacement with the next technology). I bought a VCR/DVD combo a number of years ago. Unfortunately, one part of it died recently - the DVD player. The door won’t open any more. So now I have a VCR/DVD combo where the DVD half doesn’t work and, on top of it, a working DVD player. Isn’t that a Jeff Foxworthy joke? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/28 "2011-01-18T22:30:48Z")
I’ve still got an expensive Sony VCR hooked into my receiver. It still works but I haven’t used it in years. I keep it where it is because of the the convenient, always on, clock display. (Which is still an hour off, only a few more months until we are back in DST.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/29 "2011-01-18T23:41:57Z")
I kept my VCR to watch the hundreds and hundreds of movies I had on tape. Except I never, ever watched any of those tapes. So a couple of years ago, I threw away the VCR. Then I threw away the tapes. Now I have something much more valuable: shelf space. ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/30 "2011-01-18T23:54:10Z")
I’ve got an old (probably almost 15 years now) VCR in the closet, still works perfect. It’s sitting right next to an old TV (that also still works perfect, even have the remote) that wasn’t worth buying a converter box for. I can never bring myself to throw them away, even though I haven’t used either one in over 5 years and I don’t believe I even own a single tape anymore. I’m such a packrat. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/31 "2011-01-19T00:46:43Z")
You’ve made me consider my VHS collection. Two drawers full of tapes that I will probably never watch and the secret stash of pr0n in another place. Time to make plans to transfer tape to disc, methinks. Get it done before my VCR dies and makes the tapes I do want to keep too hard to watch. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/32 "2011-01-19T03:47:46Z")
I still have a VCR hooked up to cable in my bedroom. I have a VCR/DVD combo player hooked up in the loft, but it’s just connected to the TV – I haven’t even bothered to set the time on it. In the Room of Unused Electronics, I have a very small TV/VCR combo that still works, as well as two VCRs (both play tapes, but only one records properly – unfortunately, they’re the same model, so I’ll need to hook them up in order to tell the difference). ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/33 "2011-01-20T06:09:24Z")
I still use my $40 Walmart VCR, bought in the 21st Century, several times per week. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/34 "2011-01-20T08:28:55Z")
My kids are teens and know what a VeeCie Arr is, but only because their family on the mom’s side are all inbred rednecks and barely know what DVDs are. I still have a Betamax machine in storage somewhere along with a bunch of old home movies. (along with Betamax camcorder!) It’s one of those things I’m adamant about keeping, as I know some day I’ll sell the whole thing on eBay in about 20 years or more. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/35 "2011-01-20T14:30:48Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Can you still buy blank video tapes at drug stores? Because I’m still taping shows off mine, and the last time I went to buy blank tapes at the Osco, they didn’t have any. > > I will be majorly pissed if I can’t buy blank tapes any more. You can still buy them in discount stores, though the selection is sparse. Wal-Mart has three-packs of Memorex T-120s (or something), but no single cassettes, no alternate lengths, etc. IIRC, larger drug stores-- CVS, Walgreens-- me still carry some VHS cassettes as well. I have 3 VHS VCRs in my collection: an ancient beast from 1979 or so (complete with analogue dial tuner) that plays SLP/EP tapes that nothing else will track (as well as a few slow speeds that nothing else can pick up), a once high-end Zenith from 1983 or so that can track onto really degraded tapes and outputs a very clean NTSC signal with stereo, and a once-expensive D-VHS multi-player from the early 2000s that converts PAL/SECAM to NTSC, plays S-VHS and D-VHS/D-Theater, records S-VHS quality on standard VHS, and records full HD on D-VHS if I’m willing to pony up the cash for a cassette. All useful to transfer friends’ cassettes, do captures to digital, playback cassettes unavailable on DVD, etc. About the only thing I can’t reliably playback are those slow-mo security-cam VHS tapes that held 24 hours per cassette, but I could pick up a player for those for cheap if needed. I also have U-Matic, Beta, and Video8 machines in storage. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/36 "2011-01-20T14:48:54Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I don’t want to live in a world where kids don’t know what VCRs are. VHS movies are so much better for children. They can leave them lying around and hold them in their hands and they won’t get damaged like DVDs will get scratched up. They can just put in the movie and play it without having to navigate through the menu and stuff. I see you’ve never had a kid make confetti ribbons out of a videotape. Dad was pretty upset, but the look on his face was enough to make Littlebro realize he’d done a Very, Very, Very Bad Thing and no punishment was issued. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/37 "2011-01-20T22:11:24Z")
It’s threads like this that make me feel old. For those of us who recall the dawn of the VCR era, do you remember what a leap in technology it was? “What?!? You mean I can watch that show when _I_ want to, not when the network broadcasts it?” As a teen in the early '80’s I recall asking a co-worker at the mall movie theater to trade shifts with me one weekend. She couldn’t do it because “American Gigolo” was on TV the night I wanted her to work. ☹ I recall our first local video rental place ($5 each, pretty steep for the '80’s) and also being \*delighted \*at stumbling upon a Suncoast Video store at the mall. A whole store that sold movies! Wheee! And then “Raiders of the Lost Ark” came out on VHS, _priced for sale_. IIRC, it was something like $20 at the time. Truly amazing. “You mean I can \*\*own \*\*it? And watch it whenever I want?!?” I think I got it as a gift for my (18th? 19th?) birthday. I still have it. ☹ This fantastic technology has now become an old timer’s joke. I feel so old. p.s. I’m 47. ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/38 "2011-01-20T22:26:07Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I once bought a crappy old VCR in Reno to watch it die. Ok, you just made my day!!! Thanks ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/39 "2011-01-20T22:37:10Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > You know, I never thought about it, but that movie _IS_ better to watch on a low quality copy. I don’t want _Escape From New York_ on BluRay in HD. I want the grainy drive in movie with a drunk projectionist feel. That sounds like a joke, but I’m with you on that one, **PSXer** > > Crap! I have _They Live_ on VHS! What am I going to do now?! You could pull that off by recording the VHS onto a DVD. I did it with something I had only a VHS copy of, and it looked even worse than when I normally watched it on the VCR. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997/40 "2011-01-21T03:34:02Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > This fantastic technology has now become an old timer’s joke. I feel so old. > > p.s. I’m 47. Kids these days have never had to adjust tracking, horizontal or vertical hold. They don’t know how good they have it. Get off my lawn. I’m 47 too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-old-friend/567997.md?page=1)