Is there still any use for VHS tapes?

[CandidGamera]

@demian_travis

I see here in Brazil sometimes people that transfer vhs and super-8 to dvd. If there is a service there must be a demand…

They’re commercially purchased VHS tapes, so copying them to DVD has potential copyright implications, and I believe they have Macrovision or some other kind of built-in copy protection.

[ftg]

@DChord568

Up until this week, I was using VHS to archive stuff I had recorded to my DVR but didn’t want to have on there permanently taking up space.

Are you sure you can’t do a network copy of the videos? E.g., TiVo has TiVoDesktop (and a host of 3rd party applications) that allow transfer off a TiVo to a computer. And from there than be converted/burned/etc. (But that blasted CCI byte is becoming set more often preventing direct copying.)

This is an important feature to me. Allowing me to make room by offloading to my server (and still watch them later). A terabyte just doesn’t go far nowadays.

[runningdude]

@runningdude

Ah, thank you. That had a surprisingly straightforward answer.

I responded to the wrong thread :smack:

[Wesley_Clark]

@DChord568

Up until this week, I was using VHS to archive stuff I had recorded to my DVR but didn’t want to have on there permanently taking up space.

However, I’ve just now found a good deal on a combination VHS-DVD recorder, which should enable me to not only transfer homemade VHS tapes to DVD, but also hopefully archive the DVR stuff.

Tried it out last night for the first time on the former, and it worked fine. Will give the latter a shot tonight.

Some DVRs allow an external hard drive hookup. Since external HDs are now at about $50 per TB, you can probably get well over a thousand hours of VHS quality tapes per TB.

[ftg]

BTW, here’s the current sticky thread at AVSForum for current consumer DVR options.

Note that several of these (including the sleek new ChannelMaster model) don’t come with hard drives. A memory card or USB HD is necessary for serious recording.

But it is sort of a mess. Getting cable channels that are unencrypted (QAM) is a problem. (And using an IR blaster to a cable box is becoming a hazy memory.) Some models are poor quality, have to be upgraded to better firmware, etc.

Unfortunately, the rest of that thread isn’t as helpful as one might hope. E.g., there’s a lot of redundant TiVo bashing. We get it, you don’t like paying monthly fees and somehow you think a lifetimed unit still requires a monthly fee. :dubious:

There was a recent thread on Slashdot about what VHS player to buy! (For archiving.) Answer: Go to a thrift store and buy the nicest looking Sony/Panasonic they have for $5. (Assuming you can’t test it there.) Test it on a little used pre-recorded movie (which thrift stores also have). Doesn’t work? Try another one. Sure to eventually get a decent one for far less than one of the few DVD/VHS players Amazon still sells.

[DChord568]

@Wesley_Clark

Some DVRs allow an external hard drive hookup. Since external HDs are now at about $50 per TB, you can probably get well over a thousand hours of VHS quality tapes per TB.

Mine, from the cable company, does not. Believe me, I’ve asked!