I have a DVD player.
And I have a MONO VCR player (which I thought was stereo when I bought it 4 years ago)

And I rent DVDs a lot, and occasionally some VHS tapes.
I'm thinking of getting a Toshiba 6 Head stereo VCR for about $170.

Should I?
Or should I just get a bunch of DVDs.
I don't know if I should even bother with VHS tapes anymore.

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-- I HATE dead people.
-- There's a reason why writers don't live very long. Yeah, people like you, 'cause you're the devil. Why don't you finally admit it? Say it! "I'm the devil!" Say it!
My Cheesy DVD List..., my webpage isn't done yet

me too wud like to know -
any comments on PANASONIC vcrs - esp the new line starting with PVV4620s etc or the older PV9662 ?
TIA

You already have a VHS player right?
Even if it is only mono ... can you live
with that a little longer?

I would wait (save $$) for the time when
recordable DVD becomes available (very soon now) ...

More and more things keep coming out on DVD ... I know it has a long way to catch up with the VHS catalogue ... but still ... what VHS tapes are you watching in mono that would sound so much better in stereo and that aren't on DVD?

Total VHS catalogue : 700,000+ ????
Total Laserdisc catalogue : 15,000 ?
Total DVD catalogue : 6,000+ ?
Total Beta catalogue : ?,??? ???
Total 8mm catalogue : ?,??? ????
Total VCD catalogue : ?,??? ????
Total Divix catalogue : 526+ ???

anyone know where I could find out exact figures ? I am curious ... Thanks

[This message has been edited by LightTrinity (edited May 11, 2000).]

quote:<HR>Total Divix catalogue : 300+ ???

anyone know where I could find out exact figures ?<HR>

There were something like 526 entries in the Divx catalog, with some being different versions of the same title (widescreen/pan&scan). Check out my Divx Titles List for details.

Cheers, RD

quote:<HR>Originally posted by LightTrinity:
You already have a VHS player right?
Even if it is only mono ... can you live
with that a little longer?

I would wait (save $$) for the time when
recordable DVD becomes available (very soon now) ...

More and more things keep coming out on DVD ... I know it has a long way to catch up with the VHS catalogue ... but still ... what VHS tapes are you watching in mono that would sound so much better in stereo and that aren't on DVD?

Total VHS catalogue : 700,000+ ????
Total Laserdisc catalogue : 15,000 ?
Total DVD catalogue : 6,000+ ?
Total Beta catalogue : ?,??? ???
Total 8mm catalogue : ?,??? ????
Total VCD catalogue : ?,??? ????
Total Divix catalogue : 300+ ???

anyone know where I could find out exact figures ? I am curious ... Thanks <HR>

I wouldn't hold my breath on Recordable DVD. It is out right now, but with media being like $25-$40, what's the point? I read a review in a mag (Sound & Vision, perhaps) and it was mixed at best. Record time is like 1 hour at best quality, and when you lessen the quality you get more time, but at the expense of looking like a half-assed VCD. Go for the VCR. There's no shame in it.


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<A HREF="http://www.dvd-o-rama.com"" TARGET=_blank>DVD-O-Rama.com
DVD Reviews..with an attitude

There's also TiVo, if you are interested in taping television shows... I haven't seen it in action but it sounds cool.
http://www.tivo.com/

Sony has a similar piece of equipment comming out soon, as well.

Just get a hifi vcr, you'll enjoy for at least a few more years. Stereo is a huge improvement over mono, and surround sound a huge improvement over stereo. It will be a long time before any device can touch the price performance ratio of a vcr for recording.

If you do a lot of taping, go for a s-vhs. Not too expensive these days and the video quality should rival tivo.

one simple query:

is panasonic: pvv4640 at 129 from onecall a good deal?

Specs:
Multi-Brand Universal Light Tower®Illuminated Shuttle Remote for convenient operation of the VCR plus most TVs and cable/DSS boxes
Home Theater Ready allows the VCR to integrate into your home theater as the width is the same as other standard audio components
Rapid REW/FF allows you to fast forward and rewind at incredibly fast speed
DynAmorphousTM Metal Head 4 for outstanding picture quality
Commercial Advance® allows the system to skip over 3 minutes of commercials in about 25 seconds
Movie Advance® lets you automatically skip over previews at the beginning of rented tapes and begin playing at the feature
VCR Plus+® GOLD for simple, fast programming
VCR Plus+® with Cable/DSS Box Control
ALLSETTM Channel Mapping
Auto Clock Set with 24-hour Back-up sets the date and time automatically
an more.........

DivxGuy, thanks. Update my figures.

DVD_O_Rama, you may want to learn that "art" of selective quotes ... where you just repeat from my thread the IMPORTANT info, instead of reposting everything ... If people are curious they can just scroll up a short distance to see what I originally wrote.

The point is that VHS tapes wear out (quickly depending on the amount they are used), while DVDs will last a very long time with practically zero degregation (for 50+ years).

Um ... VHS tapes are only best on a 2 hour content limit ... going to slower speeds (4, 6, 8, hours), like the DVD player, on a VHS recorder also equally poorer quality in sound and picture (noise).

A VHS tape also can not contain a DD 5.1 soundtrack, while a DVD can.

You need to rewind VHS tapes ... you don't have to with a DVD.

Anyhow ... I could go on and on about why it is best to forget VHS (even S-VHS) and move on to DVD (recordable and pre-recorded).

Tivo sounds cool ... but the problem is it's limited storage ...

I don't think (contrary to daledue) that it will take long for recordable DVD players and blank DVDs to drop in price ... early and quick adopters are what is needed ... and once the price is greatly reduced ... DVD will win out over VHS/VCRs.

quote:<HR>Anyhow ... I could go on and on about why it is best to forget VHS (even S-VHS) and move on to DVD (recordable and pre-recorded).<HR>

There is still plenty of material that is only available on VHS, though, like the TV shows from Columbia House, old out-of-print movies from the 1970's, etc. That's why I bought a new VCR from MobShop, even though I have a 58-inch widescreen and progressive scan DVD player.

Cheers, RD

Have a JVC SVHS and really like it. It is still too early to be able to live without a VCR.

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Aaron
My DVD Collection
My Rather Small Laserdisc Collection

If you have Dish Network you can buy their JVC Digital Tape/Satellite receiver model. It will record on to Digital tape to give you the exact quality of the source satellite signal. And it records DD audio track as well.

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My DVD/LD List
My Home Theater Equipment

quote:<HR>Originally posted by DivxGuy:
There is still plenty of material that is only available on VHS <HR>

Granted. I admit that.
That is especially the case with TV shows.
But once recordable DVD becomes available ...
start taping all your favorite shows from digital cabel, dtv, ... etc. ... which I guess/hope will be legal to do.

I am just interrested in films and seeing them in widescreen (of which there are not many VHS tapes compared to Laserdiscs and DVDs that are widescreen) and hearing them in full surround.

So VHS is still fine, and I think it will still be around for quite some time, I just don't see the need to upgrade from a mono VHS player to even a stereo VHS player.

Unless he is also getting a S-VHS player, which I WOULD recommend over a normal VHS player.