Sly Bald Guys Forum

Various Non-Bald Discussions => Autos,Toys and Hobbies => Topic started by: Sir Harry on January 07, 2013, 05:30:53 AM

Title: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Sir Harry on January 07, 2013, 05:30:53 AM
Hey SBG's- Last New Year's Eve (12/31/11) I pulled out my old Sony VCR to check out some old home videos. When it asked me to set the date, the year wouldn't go past 1999. I told a buddy about this and he said that his VCR did the same thing and that he subtracted 28 years from the current year and the day, month and date would fall in line just like normal. I thought about this and realized that the 2000 calendar was the exact same calendar that was used in my birth year (1972)! So I set the year to 1984, and the calendar kept up just the same even on February 29th (Wednesday). So, the VCR is now reading MON 1/7/1985. So I guess (assuming the thing works that far) in 2028 I just have to go back to 1972. Anyone else still using VCR's or any other outdated electronics?
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: tomcj2 on January 07, 2013, 06:14:05 AM
I still have a couple of them and my wife looks at old stuff from time to time.  She was just given a shopping bag of brand new tapes; what she will use them for I have no clue.

As to the date and time it still blinks12:00, just as it did from day one.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: MikeM on January 07, 2013, 06:53:31 AM
Yep. We have two young kids in the house (4 and 6). The local public library still has some VCR tapes in circulation, although now the collections are mostly DVD (and digital download/subscription). But mostly we buy old tapes at the library sell offs for about 25 cents apiece. This way we have a nice supply of fresh things for the kids to watch (that we've selected), but at low cost. If a tape breaks or becomes unwatchable, oh well (so far this hasn't been a major problem).
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Ming the Merciless on January 07, 2013, 07:26:19 AM
Sure.  Why not?

I still have all the vinyl LPS I collected over about thirty years.  And I still own a record player, too.

I also have a DVD player and a CD player (and hundreds of CDs; not so many DVDs)..

The VHS?  Well, when the libraries and yard sale folks were dumping their VHS tapes, I got a lot of nice trash for less than a dollar each; sometimes for only a quarter.  What's not to like? 

You say there are no "extended versions" on tapes?  No "extra features"?  Yawn.

Trash is trash, and whether off a DVD or a VHS tape, I don't much care.  With a tape you can't succumb to the twitchy urge to jump to the next "Chapter."  It slows you down, and not in a bad way.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: -Doug- on January 07, 2013, 07:33:05 AM
We still have one. My kids still enjoy watching some of the movies that the watched when they were much younger.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: stasiu on January 07, 2013, 08:32:12 AM
VCR, vinyl LPs ( I play on direct drive quartz turntable), cassettes but no 8-tracks.  Yes ... I even have letters typed on manual typewriter and autographed ... yes autographed by .... LAWRENCE WELK !  who ???  I need to have a garage sale and raise some money to buy razor blades .... LOL !
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Mr Jules on January 07, 2013, 01:07:14 PM
VCR ?

Is that we called a video recorder ?

Have a I fallen through a window into the early 1990s ?  :D
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: TheSlyBear on January 07, 2013, 01:29:56 PM
We still have one. Haven't used it in years. Makes mw wonder why I'm letting it take up room in the closet.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Crusher0209 on January 07, 2013, 01:59:01 PM
Oh used to use a VCR until last week and it broke. I also play with the playstation 1 and I love to play it especially frogger
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Petunia on January 07, 2013, 02:30:59 PM
Yes.  We have a DVD/VHS player together.  Love to watch old home movies of when we were younger.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: imaginary on January 07, 2013, 02:55:29 PM
I have one, but the last time I watched a video on it, I received a phone call right afterwards saying I was going to die in seven days.  :P
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Switchy on January 07, 2013, 03:17:31 PM
Always will have one like some of the old VCR movies and have some also.  Many of them such as the God Father, Dirty Harry, etc.  I know the lines as well as the actors.  John Wayne,  can't remember my address but I know the movies !   ;)  8).
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: mrzed on January 07, 2013, 05:25:43 PM
Yes! We do, and we watch older favorite movies on the VHS tapes.

Also family videos that we have not converted to DVD yet. Last Christmas bought a recorder that would do the dubbing, but we've not done the dubbing yet.  Need to get to that.

Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: BBCnorthants on January 07, 2013, 06:43:22 PM
I haven't had one for about 13 or 14 years. I got rid of it (and all my video cassettes) when I converted to DVD's, and now I don't even have a DVD player. All my DVDs were copied into iTunes about 5 years ago, and now everything I have is on my computer.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Frontier Guy on January 07, 2013, 06:45:32 PM
Yup ... add another VCR to the inventory count.

I've never "moved up" to DVD or Netflix.

Not much of a video person.  For me, with "more and more to choose from" there seems to be "less and less quality" with well-crafted plots and dialog. When most of the office chatter is about "Honey Boo Boo" I'm comfortable with my decision.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Razor X on January 07, 2013, 06:57:40 PM
We still have one. Haven't used it in years. Makes mw wonder why I'm letting it take up room in the closet.



I think I have three of them in my basement, including the one that I got for my sixteenth birthday -- top loading with wired remote.   :D  I don't currently have a VCR that is hooked up; I'm sure the picture quality would be terrible on a flat screen.   And I'm not sure if it's even possible to record on them anymore now that all broadcasting is digital.

The only thing I really miss about VCRs is the ability to record something on a tape that can be watched in a different room of the house or loaned to a friend.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: BBCnorthants on January 07, 2013, 07:04:21 PM
You could do that with a self-recorded DVD too
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: TheSlyBear on January 07, 2013, 07:07:07 PM
Or a thumb drive!  O:O
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: BBCnorthants on January 07, 2013, 07:09:32 PM
Or you can record to an external hard drive, I do that sometimes. The thing I hated about VCR was the bulkiness of the cassettes.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Razor X on January 07, 2013, 07:11:43 PM
You could do that with a self-recorded DVD too

I don't think that there are any recordable DVD devices for high definition programming.


Or a thumb drive!  O:O

My cable box/DVR doesn't have a flash drive port.  I don't even know how to transfer the recording from the DVR to the flash drive.  I'm pretty sure they are deliberately designed so people can't do this.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: BBCnorthants on January 07, 2013, 07:18:52 PM
Yes I think you could be right about hi def/hi res.

Nice beard btw Razor X, I wish mine had some colour to it instead of being a boring browny blacky colour
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Razor X on January 07, 2013, 07:53:00 PM

Nice beard btw Razor X, I wish mine had some colour to it instead of being a boring browny blacky colour

Thanks.
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: Sir Harry on May 18, 2014, 11:39:17 AM
I know that this topic is more than a year old, but I just wanted to share it with you. Last Sunday, for Mother's Day, my aunts, uncles, cousins and nephew(who turned 14 the same day) got together at the house. We hooked up the VCR to my 50-inch TV.(you must use an AUX cable plugged into the USB cable port to play the VCR. We watched tape of Mother's Day 1991, the last Mother's day my grandmother was a live (passed away in January 1992). It was still playing just as well and clear...It was nice seeing myself with a low-top fade too! ;D ;D. Brought back some fond memories and even those who weren't around had fun looking at how we looked "back in the day".
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: 4fit on May 18, 2014, 05:52:12 PM
 Yes beta
Title: Re: Does anyone still have/use a VCR?
Post by: K5mow on May 18, 2014, 07:53:11 PM
Yes we still have one and my wife uses it sometimes.

Roger