A lot of my video collection (movies, stuff taped from the TV, etc.) is from the pre-DVD days, so when I want to watch it I have to use my VCR.
Also once in a while there’s something on my DVR that I want to keep permanently, and the only way I can do that is to record it onto a VHS tape. One day I might get a recordable DVD, but I don’t have one yet.
Ed
Does, uhmmm…“special genre” come out in DVD and you’re just re-watching your “classics”?
We bought my dad a DVD recorder a few years ago because he’s such a movie freak. He was able to figure out how to operate it and has recorded a couple thousand movies, I’d guess. He’s got around 6,000 in his combined collection.
He’s got an entire room full of tapes, though. All cataloged and filed in order. He never watches them anymore, but can’t part with them…just in case the movie never comes on again. When he dies, there is someone somewhere who would love to have all these movies. I’ll probably take out an ad and give them away.
Heh-heh…he does get a lot of the old ones on DVD though…mostly because he forgets he’s already got it on VCR.
I’d buy a DVR if I could get one without the subscription. Otherwise it’s VHS for recording the odd show now and then. Plus the VHS video collection is still considerable.
IME it’s not about the player, it’s about the disc: some DVDs allow the intro material to be skipped (you can hit the “menu” or “skip/next” button), some do not – but I’ve also found that any unskippable stuff can be fast-forwarded through.
You can. I just sold a Tivo box off to a friend who doesn’t subscribe to Tivo at all. The only things that Tivo gives you (aside from random features like access to some games, internet radio, etc) are TV listings. If you want, you can just program the thing like a VCR where you tell it to record 8pm to 9pm. I don’t know if all Tivo boxes are like this, but mine was.
DVR will never reach 100% until I die - or unless you can (in the US) buy one without paying for a service. I know how to program goddammit and I refuse to pay for someone suggesting shows I might like! Til then - I keep my VCR.
That about sums my usage up as well. Eventually I’ll transfer everything to DVD and be done with it, but until then, my “Greatest Hits” tapes keep the VCR in play.
There are no-fee alternatives, such as myth TV for Linux boxes, and Windows Media Center for Windows boxes. WMC, of course, does have a one-time cost in that you have to buy the OS. I don’t know about myth TV, but WMC doesn’t make suggestions, a big plus in my book.
I put together a Windows Media Center box a couple years back, using an old motherboard, cheapo PCI NTSC/cable tuner card (for analog cable channels) and a HDHomeRun (networked dual ATSC/QAM tuner device) for recording local HD channels. It works brilliantly; I’ve got a terabyte drive so I can store a couple hundred hours of HD programming or a thousand hours of SD. Last month, I slapped a Blu-Ray recordable drive into the box, so I can now watch & record Blu-Ray movies.
All told, I probably spent about $1000 on the system, which would be comparable to the cost of a Tivo and a Blu-Ray player.
We have home movies that we haven’t transfered to a swisher new format yet that we use our VCR for.
We have tons of VHS tapes that Grandma still watches. She also tapes shows on the VCR, and is very worried about whether it’ll work with the HD converter box. Since we don’t have cable or satellite (she thinks it’s a total waste of money when there is plenty of stuff to watch for free), the VCR is what we use.
Same as most above. We have an extensive Disney and other kids’ movies collection on VHS, and the local library had very limited DVD selection for quite some time. Now they have more DVD than VHS, but still quite a lot of oldies on VHS which are not available on DVD.
I don’t have a DVD-R or any service. The units I have on both of my TVs are DVD/VCR, and I use the VCRs exclusively for recording. They do everything I need done, work just fine and I know how to operate them.
Why on earth would I change just because there is a new technology I could buy and learn how to use?
I keep one around for two reasons.
For one, my DVD won’t work directly with my TV set. I need the VCR as a sort of adaptor.
For another, I have a ton of movies on VHS. I like them too much to stop watching them, but I don’t love them enough to replace them with DVDs.
We have a couple. One DVD/VCR combo in the living room, VCR in our bedroom, VCR/DVD combo in the oldest daughter’s room and I think my MIL has one in her suite. Like others, we have a lot of old Disney VHS tapes that I don’t see any reason to buy again in DVD format.
GuanoLad, I’ve just recently started playing with the AppleTV for just that reason. My daughter has already scratch 2 or 3 movies to hell trying to put them in the DVD player. So now I’ve ripped most of my kids DVDs to a Network drive and play them from there. Much easier for her to scan the movies and no chance of her scratching anything.
Anyone who uses a VCR to record shows is probably going to have a problem come February 2009. I don’t believe that VCRS will be able to change channels any more, unless the digital receivers do something to address that.
I have some VHS tapes (like Pulp Fiction) I wouldn’t mind watching, but I haven’t had a working VCR in years.
VCRs connected to (analog) cable hookups will work fine.
And I believe that if you plug the digital converter box into the VCR before plugging it into the TV, it will work fine with antennas as well.
Yes, if you’re on cable it shouldn’t matter. Only people who are on antenna will have problems.
How would the VCR change channels on a digital converter box, will the digital box somehow emulate an old NTSC signal? And would it do anything with the sub-channels (29.1, 29.2, etc.?)
You’re right of course. I guess I’m still a little confused that the government’s whole “Your television won’t work after 2/2009” ad campaign didn’t even mention the deal with cable TVs until recently.
I just kind of assume that every digital TV thing ignores cable while confusing cable-users about what they’ll have to do.
Occasionally I need to digitise something on a VHS tape; lately I’ve been borrowing a VCR to do this. I use the roundabout method of playing the VHS into my mini-DV camcorder and recording the video on its mini-DV tape. This digitises the video. I then play the mini-DV tape back in the camcorder and transfer its contents to my computer using FireWire.
I have two VCRs of my own, neither of which I trust to play back someone else’s tapes. One I was using for its cable-ready tuner; the other I lent to my father and got back with the works all gummed up by tobacco smoke.