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| Thread ID: 62345 | 2005-10-04 23:32:00 | The VCR just died... | Tony (4941) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 393413 | 2005-10-04 23:32:00 | Our rumpus-room VCR has just gone to that great recycling bin in the sky, so it is time for the old cascading upgrade (Living room VCR to rumpus, new gear for living room...) The question is, what to get? The options seem to be - either one or all in some combination - VHS play/record, DVD play/record, hard disk. The DVD part seems to be a no-brainer - we don't have one at present. It would be nice to have VHS as well, so we can record/play on both machines (living room and rumpus), but we could live without that. The big question in my mind is whether or not to go the hard disk recorder way. It is clearly the way of the future, but I don't know whether (a) the technology has settled down quite enough yet, and (b) the prices are still a bit up in the early-adopter range for me at present. As usual, all opinions are welcome - and suggestions for possible brands. |
Tony (4941) | ||
| 393414 | 2005-10-04 23:55:00 | get a combo HDD and DVD burner unit it covers both bases, and if you need a vcr buy a seperate unit, they are so cheap these days. Why not a combo vcr/dvd unit. Most likely the vcr will need to be repaired first leaving you without anything. |
plod (107) | ||
| 393415 | 2005-10-05 00:20:00 | I bought a Sanyo VCR from The Warehouse 3 months ago for $196. It has 6 heads HIFI Stereo, Plays back NTSC tapes on PAL TVs. Model number is VHR-VK910A/NZ. Trevor :) |
Trev (427) | ||
| 393416 | 2005-10-05 00:26:00 | Do as Trev says. Buy a basic one and eventally transfer your old VHS to DVD however I suspect that maybe the VHS tapes will last longer than some DVD media around.. | paulw (1826) | ||
| 393417 | 2005-10-05 00:46:00 | I bought a DVD/VCR recently - Panasonic - $300, to replace our VCR. Very nice except I can't dub DVDs onto video - well, not the copy protected ones anyway. :D Home use only - surely that is alright???? Powerstore in Invercargill had a nicam Sony VCR recently for $140. My last VCR was a Sony and worked well. It occurs to me that separate DVD and VCR units would allow dubbing, and wouldn't cost more than the combination unit. Personally I reckon that the HD recorders will be even better/cheaper in 18 months but it depends on how much recording of TV you'd do. We seldom record TV these days. Eeerrkk - just discovered that the Sony VCR normally retails for $249 and thats the price more or less everywhere now. Should have grabbed one. :( |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 393418 | 2005-10-05 00:57:00 | Macrovision, makes the picture jump,rock and roll when you plug a DVD player into a Video, same issue happens if they are a combo or seperate units. I even had it happen when I plugged a standalone DVD player into my computer. |
Metla (12) | ||
| 393419 | 2005-10-05 01:00:00 | Personally I reckon that the HD recorders will be even better/cheaper in 18 months.Exactly my feeling, which is one reason for the original post. The idea of a cheap VCR now with a DVD/HDD recorder next year is starting to sound sensible. | Tony (4941) | ||
| 393420 | 2005-10-05 01:03:00 | Why not buy a cheap VCR and a cheap DVD player and still upgrade when the next generation of DVD recorders come to market,A supermarket DVD player is only $60 and itself could be retired to the rumpas room. Audio and Video quality via DVD spanks any VHS no matter how much it may cost, especially if your running through a home theatre system, and considering how cheap they are everyone should have a 5.1 setup.... |
Metla (12) | ||
| 393421 | 2005-10-05 01:04:00 | Macrovision, makes the picture jump,rock and roll when you plug a DVD player into a Video, same issue happens if they are a combo or seperate units. I even had it happen when I plugged a standalone DVD player into my computer. Really? As an...........er...........experiment someone I know dubbed a commercial DVD from a TEAC DVD player onto an old Sony VCR. Slightly degraded pic but still pretty good. Having said that, I've seen dubbing where the video picture is streaky blue and not worth watching. |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 393422 | 2005-10-05 01:07:00 | Not all movies have Macrovision encryption, Plus some hardware can get around it. You can actually turn it off on some DVD players by accesssing the root menu. | Metla (12) | ||
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