# VCR vs. DVD **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 28, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099 "2005-01-28T13:12:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/1 "2005-01-28T13:12:09Z")
I remember back when videos were so much more prevelant than DVDs. Now, it seems like DVDs are taking over. So what do you all have? Are you sticking with the videos? Have you switched to DVDs? Do you have both a video and a DVD player, like me? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/2 "2005-01-28T13:13:32Z")
I have a CD Rom in my computer but nothing otherwise, not even a TV. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/3 "2005-01-28T13:18:03Z")
Er. DVD Rom. I don’t know why I continue to use those interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/4 "2005-01-28T13:30:47Z")
My VCR gave up on me just before xmas. I already have a DVD player but bought a DVD player/recorder instead of replacing the VCR. Very happy about the move. I have DVD-R’s (1 time recording) for movies or programmes I want to record and keep and DVD-RW’s (rewritable disks) for recording things I just want to view and then record over. My next upgrade will be a DVD player/recorder with a hard drive. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/5 "2005-01-28T13:32:01Z")
I have a VCR and two DVD players hooked up to my television, and a DVD burner in my computer. I haven’t used the VCR in ages though. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/6 "2005-01-28T13:41:05Z")
We have a VCR that we use for recording programs we’re going to miss and as an archaic reader for the old VHS tapes we still have. But anything we buy or rent now is DVD. We’re slowly getting old stuff on DVD and donating the VHS version to the local children’s hospital. I don’t know what we’ll do when the VCR finally dies. I’d like to get a DVD-R or DVD-Rom, of course. But it seems too expensive at this point to have all my old high school and college plays transferred to DVD, and I’d really hate to lose the ability to see them. Not that I actually watch them anyway, but once in a while the Kid likes to take them out for a good snigger. He’s 12, so grew up knowing VCR’s, but I suspect his little sister, to be borne in June, may only know how to work a DVD player. (“You mean I have to WAIT while it fast-forwards?”) ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/7 "2005-01-28T14:06:03Z")
still keep a vcr or two around to play old home movies on, but I hope to have a decent DVD burner soon, with some sort of digital backup. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/8 "2005-01-28T14:10:38Z")
I threw my VCR out years ago, when DVD was first released. I hate VHS with a passion : crap picture, crap sound and crap tapes. Only 6 months ago I purchased me a nice DVD-recorder with a 160 gigabyte harddisk. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/9 "2005-01-28T14:11:18Z")
We recently got a DVD player/recorder/VCR combo. We plan to record our home movies from VCR to DVD. We always rent and buy DVDs, and have for a long time. I don’t think we’ll ever buy another VCR. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/10 "2005-01-28T14:20:09Z")
My parents have a combo DVD/VCR, though we rarely use the VCR portion. Everything I buy is on DVD now (and when I’m away, I only hve the DVD player in my comptuer anyways) and they rarely buy or rent anything. Heck, I think I use the thing more than they do, and I’m gone two-thirds of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/11 "2005-01-28T14:26:16Z")
> [@vinryk](#): > > I threw my VCR out years ago, when DVD was first released. > I hate VHS with a passion : crap picture, crap sound and crap tapes. > Only 6 months ago I purchased me a nice DVD-recorder **with a 160 gigabyte harddisk**. How many 2-hour movies is that? I’m guessing a lot, right? ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/12 "2005-01-28T14:33:10Z")
A hell of a lot. I had been programming it like mad, to record everything I had the least bit of interest in, but found that you could only program about 10 entries. I don’t think I have ever had more than 10% full. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/13 "2005-01-28T14:44:50Z")
> [@monica](#): > > I remember back when videos were so much more prevelant than DVDs. Now, it seems like DVDs are taking over. So what do you all have? Are you sticking with the videos? Have you switched to DVDs? Do you have both a video and a DVD player, like me? I don’t think DVDS “are taking over”. I think the revolution is about done. We JUST converted our household to DVD, and then got Tivo. I can never imagine using a VCR again. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/14 "2005-01-28T15:07:12Z")
The VCR is going in the trash soon. Tivo, DVD recorder, we don’t know what will replace it, but we already have a DVD player, and have converted 90% of the film library to disc. Once I can transfer some old BBC tapes to disc…bye bye VCR! ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/15 "2005-01-28T15:38:16Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > We’re slowly getting old stuff on DVD and donating the VHS version to the local children’s hospital. Now why didn’t I think of that!? I have about 400 movies on VHS that I’m never going to watch again. I think I’ll have to pack them up and donate them to a good cause. Thanks for the idea **WhyNot**! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/16 "2005-01-28T15:52:03Z")
DVDs are OK, but I’m going to stick the the VCR for taping and to see all the movies I already own on tape. We have a DVD player, but rarely use it. The DVD extras are hardly worth bothering with. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/17 "2005-01-28T15:53:38Z")
I don’t care much for the extra’s too. But the improved picture quality and cinema-quality sound sure do it for me. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/18 "2005-01-28T16:48:54Z")
I’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 VHS tapes, 99% of which I made from events on television, many of which have not been rebroadcast since. So I bought a $600 VCR (discontinued model, new for less than half of the list) so I’d always have a good one to use for transferring the tapes to digital. Well, that was 3 years ago. There may be 10 hours of use on the heads. I don’t have a single transferred DVD yet. Elsewhere, we have three other VCRs that almost never get used. We have a DVD player, and I have DVD writer in the computer. If there was not such a steep learning curve, and steep impact on the wallet, in doing properly-edited VHS to DVD transfers, I’d have lots more of it done now. It isn’t like audio editing at all (my 9-5 job). I haven’t come across any decent home video editing software that will let you do simple stuff like fade-in and fade-out, and remove commercial blocks or other unwanted material, without it being a giant, time-consuming hassle. You need three or four different programs, each with its own limitations and learning curve. I tried all this out with VCD and SVCD first, before I wasted a lot of DVDs on it. If such a program would be written, and not cost hundreds of dollars to buy, I’d certainly buy it. Who wants to buy a $700 video editing suite for a project that may take a couple of years, but then when it’s done, have spent $700 on something they’ll never use again, and can’t resell? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/19 "2005-01-28T17:08:06Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > Now why didn’t I think of that!? I have about 400 movies on VHS that I’m never going to watch again. I think I’ll have to pack them up and donate them to a good cause. Thanks for the idea **WhyNot**! Don’t feel bad. I didn’t “think of it” until WhyKid was in the hospital for spinal surgery last summer. They have about 150 tapes, but I think at least 50 of them are Elmo-based and the others fairly crappy Disney tapes. They’re quite happy to take anything up to PG-13 (those go in the teen lounge), and if I spare just one other 11 year old boy from having to watch Barney 'cause there’s nothing else, my work will not be in vain. They got my Star Wars tapes even before we were released. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099/20 "2005-01-28T17:12:16Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > If there was not such a steep learning curve, and steep impact on the wallet, in doing properly-edited VHS to DVD transfers, I’d have lots more of it done now. It isn’t like audio editing at all (my 9-5 job). I haven’t come across any decent home video editing software that will let you do simple stuff like fade-in and fade-out, and remove commercial blocks or other unwanted material, without it being a giant, time-consuming hassle. You need three or four different programs, each with its own limitations and learning curve. I tried all this out with VCD and SVCD first, before I wasted a lot of DVDs on it. If such a program would be written, and not cost hundreds of dollars to buy, I’d certainly buy it. > > Who wants to buy a $700 video editing suite for a project that may take a couple of years, but then when it’s done, have spent $700 on something they’ll never use again, and can’t resell? If all you want to do is cut out commercials and create SIMPLE DVD’s Tmpgenc Xpress and Tmpgenc DVD author are all you need (for less than a hundred dollars you can have both). I use tmpgenc Xpress to encode to high quality MPG 2 format, and typicaly use Adobe’s Encore DVD to author my DVD’s. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vcr-vs-dvd/287099.md?page=2)