# How Long Befor DVD's Totally Take Over? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-befor-dvds-totally-take-over/109953 "2002-05-20T15:38:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nevermind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/53a042/32.png) [@Nevermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nevermind)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-befor-dvds-totally-take-over/109953/1 "2002-05-20T15:38:24Z")
You remember those old beta tapes, right? Then everything was VHS. I noticed this weekend at Blockbuster that the DVD section has doubled in a month! I’m holding off on buying DVD player. How long do you think it will be before VHS is obsolete? ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-befor-dvds-totally-take-over/109953/2 "2002-05-20T15:56:22Z")
I’m guessing 5 years. It’s already gotten to the point that some places like Fry’s Electronics doesn’t even carry VHS. A lot of movies come out on DVD before VHS (except for rentals). I only buy DVD now, and I’ve had a DVD player for about two years. Still have a VCR hooked up, though, because we have a lot of movies on VHS. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-befor-dvds-totally-take-over/109953/3 "2002-05-20T17:00:22Z")
I’m keeping my VCR. I still record a lot, and I still haven’t found a more convenient, just-as-cheap alternative to using my VCR. Also, like most people, I have an extensive VHS collection. However, I never rent or buy tapes anymore, unless they’re blank. I think most people who have gone to DVD just can’t go back. Personally, I suspect it won’t be long at all before VHS tapes are occupying a very small section of the rental/buying sections. When I pre-ordered the Harry Potter movie, the clerk said that they’d already pre-sold at least 70 DVD’s, but only about 7 VHS tapes. This is a trend that is rapidly increasing. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-befor-dvds-totally-take-over/109953/4 "2002-05-20T17:46:20Z")
[Garth] We fear change. [/Garth] Ech. Just more new-fangled, expensive crap to waste my hard-earned dollars on. I’ve told my wife and friends that I awaid the day that my grandchildren call me a funny old man for using an ancient contraption instead of whatever disk-type thingy they are using by then. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-befor-dvds-totally-take-over/109953/5 "2002-05-20T18:56:02Z")
This from [DVD File](http://www.dvdfile.com): > [@](#): > > VideoScan has also just released their Q1 2002 data, and the numbers are pretty staggering. For the first 13 weeks of 2002, DVD sales accounted for 60 percent of overall unit sales, handily beating VHS, up from the same period last year, where DVD sales came under 45 percent. So DVD is already outselling VHS on a unit basis, and, one can safely assume, on a pure-cash basis as well. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-befor-dvds-totally-take-over/109953/6 "2002-05-20T19:04:36Z")
The real death knell for VHS will sound the day that DVD recorders become “reasonably” priced (my guess - less than $200-$300) and the blank DVD-R media gets down to less than a few bucks a pop.