I LIKE VHS- I have a ton of movies on tape that you can’t get on DVD. And they are watchable at 20 years old, try to find a DVD disc that is playable 20 years from now. One scratch or blip and they are useless.
VHS tapes were made to last. DVD discs are planned to be obsolete and unusable with the least amount of damage. I’ve got VHS player/recorders and backup machines. When all my favorite films are available on DVD at REASONABLE prices, I’ll buy them. The picture quality is better, but you can’t record to a disc inexpensively yet either; and I like taping from tv.
So- I have no problem with technology marching forward, I’m very ‘geeky’ that way, but don’t take away my choice or make good equipment I have completely unusable. It’s not necessary- and it makes me M-A-D.
“One scratch or blip and they are useless.”
I also liked VHS tapes better, I am so sick of renting DVDs and having them “freeze” one or more times during the movie.
DVDs are finicky and don't often play right when they are scratched, but I've found that often, if the disc is cleaned with liquid soap and water, it will play correctly.
“but you can’t record to a disc inexpensively yet either”
You used to be able to. But the industry backed away from that road.
I had a DVR/DVD-recorded. It had an internal drive with hundreds of hours of storage. You could edit the commericals out, add chapter stops, menus, etc.
You could set the record speed and it even had TV Guide’s free alternative to Tivo, no registration or subscription needed.
It could even record dual layer DVDs (although you couldn’t set where the layer change occurred).
90 minute compression was good. 2 hour was too. Obviously the 60 minute/DVD (or layer) was the highest quality.
But you can’t find them on the market today (I bought mine for $400 2 years ago but it ran into a booting problem).
All you can buy today is something that will record live to disc (and if there is a problem with the burn you have a drink coaster and lost the program) OR a DVR box (but no way to output those programs TO disc).
The technology to replace a vcr exists, the industry is withholding it from market.
I have a Sony DVD/VHS combo player/recorder that I purchased about 5 years ago. It can record on either VHS tape or DVD off the cable or antennae, or dub either one to the other, it also has a fire-wire input so I can record directly onto DVD from my video cam. The DVD portion can record in 30 minute, one hour, two hour, four hour, and six hour modes ... although anything recorded in more than the two hour mode is virtually unwatchable. DVD and TV output is upconverted to 1080i via component cables. The only problem is that it has no digital inputs, hence no HD capability.
And for the financially challenged,i.e. poor, VHS tapes are plentiful at yard sales and thrift stores at $1 or less each and used decks for $5.So the family can enjoy classics and some newer films for several years for very little money.
Just another thing that the next generation will never enjoy...A rewinding charge!
All my movies are burned onto my hard drive.
I don’t have too many but on occasion I’ve bought a used VHS (like an old cartoon series, the Houndcats) via Ebay or
something and converted it to DVD by hooking up my VHS
recorder to my DVD recorder.
A friend of mine sometimes records long radio shows on VHS
tapes though he can admittedly do the same on his DVD rec.