I’ve had a Sony SLV-740HF VHS deck for… Gosh, How long? Since the late-'80s? Early-'90s? Long time, anyway. It’s been a good machine, but it was sounding a bit weird the last few of years. When the tape is fully rewound it makes a ratcheding sound because the motor doesn’t shut off quite when it’s supposed to. It stops after a second. I think it was last month, though it would have been in August, I put in a rented tape. I paused it so that I could get something from the kitchen. When I pressed the pause button again to start it, the image appeared to ‘fast forward’ and then the machine stopped. The tape wouldn’t come out. The next day I decided to take the machine apart to get the tape. There was a spring and a broken nylon lever clattering round inside. After removing them I was able to eject the tape. Why not try to play it? It played. It rewound. I have no idea what isn’t working, but I could still use it to view tapes.
But I decided to get a new one. I replaced it with a new Sony SLV-N900. No idea when it was made, but it was new-in-the-box. I haven’t used it yet other than to test it. The SLV-740HF? I gave it to a friend whose VCR broke and which he had taken apart and given away.
I buy used electronic/computer stuff all the time so maybe this doesn’t count…
I like to buy Beta VCRs at thrift stores and such but haven’t seen one in quite some time. Well over a year.
I haven’t bought a used VHS VCR in a really long time. I’ve got 3 working ones and a fixable one so I think I should be good for time-shifting use until PVRs come out that are Done Right.
The last new VHS VCR I bought was probably 15+ years ago.
Ten years ago? 12? It’s still working – somewhat of a miracle considering it was in the house during a very dust-intensive remodeling. But I barely use it for recording or playing. DVD has pretty much taken over the movie-playing role, and I rarely can be bothered to tape anything off the tube. The main role of the VCR is to act as a tuner for the cable.
Yeah, mine was in my L.A. apartment until two years ago. Being L.A., it was hot most of the year and the windows were always open. The back windows opened onto an alley where they would be a few feet higher than the diesel exhaust from the garbage trucks. Horribly dirty place to live, but the VCR soldiered on.
[wuote=Finagle]The main role of the VCR is to act as a tuner for the cable.
[/QUOTE]
I almost never tape anything. (Might have to, now that Survivor is on again.) I use mine to watch films that are not available on DVD.
Eight, nine years ago - a JVC 4 head Hi-Fi version that was then mid-to-high end. A VCR with similar features could probably now be bought at Wal-Mart for $30.
I bought one a decade ago or so. As far as I know, it’s still working, but the ex has it now.
I might have to buy a new one; what with hockey season starting I need something with which to record the games.
I have never bought one. I’ve inherited two “broken” ones from my mother. One had some kind of loose connection that got worse and eventually broke entirely. The other one wouldn’t eject tapes because the door was broken. I tore the door off with pliers and it’s worked fine since.
A couple of years ago, I bought a discontinued, high-end Toshiba VCR for about $300, with the intention of using it to transfer much of my videotape collection onto DVD. I’ve tried it, and it works, though I haven’t had the time to devote to it and do all the editing, etc. But when I do, I’ll have a kick-ass VCR to play the tapes on.
I bought my current VCR in '98. It was to replace one I’d bought the previous week that had been destroyed in a car crash on the way home from the store.
My parents never did see a reason to have a VCR. They watch TV, but they don’t care about missing TV shows or renting movies. So they rather go channel surfing for movies they might like than actually go to the Video rental place and get a movie they will like. Or wait months after the theatrical release to watch a movie on HBO.
I did have one in college. I prefer renting movies than buying a channel that I might not watch 90%of the time.
My parents bought a DVD/VCR combo when our old VCR finally broke (Thankfully, when Mom finally got around to the “How to play the harmonica” tape she’d bought. It was a noble sacrifice). That was a few years ago now. A couple years before that they bought me a TV/VCR combo for my room–I’d been hinting that I wanted a new TV, but didn’t expect I’d actually get one. I still have it, but rarely use it for anything besides video games.
The last time we bought just a VCR must’ve been…gosh, I was young. When I was 5 maybe? I vaguely remember us getting it. I’m not sure I was even in school yet. That was the one that sacrificed itself to save our ears. Lasted at least a decade.
I bought a Zenith–I’m not at home or I’d tell you the model–in early 1990. It still works beautifully, though it has not seen much use for the past several years. It was rather expensive, about $350, so I guess you really do get what you pay for.
It took to occasionally eating tapes a few years ago, but otherwise still works. We haven’t used it since we got the TiVo a couple of years ago, and a few weeks ago officially phased VHS out of the Giraffe household. There were a few movies we owned on VHS that we decided to rebuy on DVD, but otherwise it’s been quite painless. VHS is dead.
TV/VCR combo, bought 5-6 years ago when our previous TV-VCR combo died. We bought a replacement for our bedroom. We use it perhaps an hour a week, to record the occasional show (haven’t felt the need to get Tivo or whatever yet).
Most of what we rent these days is on DVD but it’s nice to have the option in case something we want is still only on VHS.
Just after i arrived in the US, i bought a bunch of stuff, including furniture, kitchen equipment, and electronic goods. The VCR was a Sony, and it’s still working fine. Never had any problems with it.
A few months ago I moved from a small house to an even smaller apartment. While paring down my possessions, I didn’t have enough reason to keep a VCR around anymore.
We bought one about 3 years ago for my husband to use while he was living on the boat. At the moment, there are 5 in this house, plus a TV/VCR combo. Two of them, plus the combo, were left behind by the previous owners. One other that they’d left was recently given to one of my coworkers who’s going through a divorce and let her soon-to-be Ex take theirs.
We still have the first one we bought about 20 years ago - it plays great but it’s iffy about rewinding. The one from the boat is living in the basement for now. The one we’re using in the family room was a gift about 12 years ago, and it’s a real pain to program for recording. We rarely record any more, but it plays just fine.