Still looking for a new VCR

Post by Gary
Anybody have any recommendations for a new VCR? Just looking for a basic
VCR that has a tuner. It doesn't have to record DVD's. In fact I'd rather
it didn't. A combo DVD player and VCR would be okay but not necessary.

New stand alone VCRs are extremely rare. Call dealers in your area and see
if anybody has one in a storage room somewhere. Combo DVD/VCRs are a PITA,
IMO. Your best bet is too find a GOOD local repair shop, and buy an older
repaired/refurbished VCR. Good luck.

Gary

2008-09-24 13:58:41 UTC

Thanks for the reply. I guess that the demand for VCR's with a tuner is
down to about nil.
--
Gary
Visit Lucy & Gary and do the jigsaw puzzle at
www.under-1-roof.com/PuzzlePage.html

Post by Morph

GMAN

2008-09-24 14:17:05 UTC

Post by Gary
Thanks for the reply. I guess that the demand for VCR's with a tuner is
down to about nil.

I lost interest in VCR's mainly once i started using DirecTV and its Tivo
boxes. I have placed 500GB hard drives in my 2 Tivo units and i can record up
to 460 hours of SD television on each.

I will then only record to DVD those few shows i really ever want to keep.

Gary

2008-09-24 17:26:43 UTC

I still use VCR's for those rare times when there are three or four things
on at the same time that we want to record. My mother still uses VCR's
because she wants to be able to watch something she's recorded in one room
on a TV in another room. Hard to do with a DVR.
--
Gary
Visit Lucy & Gary and do the jigsaw puzzle at
www.under-1-roof.com/PuzzlePage.html

Post by Gary
Thanks for the reply. I guess that the demand for VCR's with a tuner is
down to about nil.

I lost interest in VCR's mainly once i started using DirecTV and its Tivo
boxes. I have placed 500GB hard drives in my 2 Tivo units and i can record up
to 460 hours of SD television on each.
I will then only record to DVD those few shows i really ever want to keep.

ovalking

2008-09-24 19:35:07 UTC

Post by Gary
Thanks for the reply. I guess that the demand for VCR's with a tuner is
down to about nil.

I've been monitoring VCRs on eBay for some time (specifically looking for
models that I already own, but watching many to see what prices they go
for).
There are many for sale, but many get sold too, so there must be a
demand. There seems less interest in the cheaper basic models, but high
end models (edit / SVHS etc.) appear to attract plenty of bids, even
broken ones.
G.

UCLAN

2008-09-25 03:43:08 UTC

Post by ovalking

Post by Gary
Thanks for the reply. I guess that the demand for VCR's with a tuner is
down to about nil.

Why am I attributed when NOTHING I wrote appears in your post?

UCLAN

2008-09-24 17:59:53 UTC

Post by Gary
Thanks for the reply. I guess that the demand for VCR's with a tuner is
down to about nil.

It's not that demand is down, it is that the FCC has mandated that ALL
video equipment that have analog tuners shall also have digital (ATSC)
tuners. VCR manufacturers decided that adding ATSC tuners was not gonna
happen because VCRs have a shrinking market (the February 2009 analog to
digital date and DVRs being the device of choice for digital SD/HD recording),
and cheap VCRs do not record HDTV.

I guess the FCC forgot that millions of viewers still have cable or DBS
satellite, for which analog tuning VCRs work just fine. Oh well...

Igor Alexander

2008-10-02 08:09:15 UTC

Post by Morph
Combo DVD/VCRs are a PITA,
IMO.

I picked up a Samsung combo unit a while back and haven't found it to
be a PITA at all. The way it's set up, it's like having an independent
VCR and DVD player, only housed in the same box. I'm glad they did it
this way because the DVD player really sucks (the VCR section,
however, is quite good).

--
http://igoralexander.wordpress.com/

UCLAN

2008-10-02 18:04:40 UTC

Post by Morph
Combo DVD/VCRs are a PITA,
IMO.

Talk to me when either the DVD or the VCR portion develops a problem,
and you are without them BOTH while having it checked out.

GMAN

2008-10-03 05:10:58 UTC

Post by UCLAN

Post by Morph
Combo DVD/VCRs are a PITA,
IMO.

Talk to me when either the DVD or the VCR portion develops a problem,
and you are without them BOTH while having it checked out.

Plus the worse thing IMHO about these combo units, other than the very true
problem UCLAN pointed out is the fact that they require you to have 2 seperate
video lines to the TV. Why oh why couldnt they send the VHS and DVD output
thru the Y/C cable?

Igor Alexander

2008-10-03 07:23:44 UTC

Post by GMAN
Plus the worse thing IMHO about these combo units, other than the very true
problem UCLAN pointed out is the fact that they require you to have 2 seperate
video lines to the TV. Why oh why couldnt they send the VHS and DVD output
thru the Y/C cable?

That's not the case on this Samsung unit (the V6800). On this unit,
you have one set of outputs and you toggle between VCR and DVD mode.
According to the manual, you can also record to the VCR while watching
a DVD, though I haven't tried this, since I have nothing to record,
and don't use the built-in DVD player because it sucks.

--
http://igoralexander.wordpress.com/

GMAN

2008-10-03 15:21:01 UTC

Sure, you can output both DVD and VCR thru composite but what the hell would i
want to do that. All my video editing gear uses S-Video (Y/C) connections. On
these dual decks (I picked up a VHS/DVD-RW unit made by Sharp for $5 at a
local salvation army store), you can only output VHS thru composit or DVD
thru S-video. There is no logical reason not to allow the vcr to output thru
the s-video outputs.

UCLAN

2008-10-03 18:36:51 UTC

The same reason stand-alone VHS VCRs don't even have S-video outputs, I guess.
For stand-alone VHS - for that quality - who needs it? But on combo units,
it's there for the DVD side, so why not let the VHS side use it, too.

I agree.

GMAN

2008-10-03 22:20:19 UTC

Post by GMAN
Plus the worse thing IMHO about these combo units, other than the very true
problem UCLAN pointed out is the fact that they require you to have 2

seperate

Post by GMAN
video lines to the TV. Why oh why couldnt they send the VHS and DVD output
thru the Y/C cable?

Sure, you can output both DVD and VCR thru composite but what the hell would

Post by GMAN
want to do that. All my video editing gear uses S-Video (Y/C) connections.

Post by GMAN
these dual decks (I picked up a VHS/DVD-RW unit made by Sharp for $5 at a
local salvation army store), you can only output VHS thru composit or DVD
thru S-video. There is no logical reason not to allow the vcr to output thru
the s-video outputs.

Even VHS benefits from a Y/C connection since even VHS records its video onto
tape in a seperated Chrominance/Luminace signal. OOOHHHH dont even get me
started on composites jaggies and mosquito noise.

UCLAN

2008-10-04 03:46:47 UTC

Post by UCLAN
The same reason stand-alone VHS VCRs don't even have S-video outputs, I guess.
For stand-alone VHS - for that quality - who needs it? But on combo units,
it's there for the DVD side, so why not let the VHS side use it, too.
I agree.

Yes, but VHS video quality is so poor when compared to SVHS or DVD that the
degradation of composite video compared to S-video isn't nearly as noticeable.
Still, the ability to use S-video on the VHS side would be a great convenience
addition.

GMAN

2008-10-04 06:54:43 UTC

Post by UCLAN

Post by UCLAN
The same reason stand-alone VHS VCRs don't even have S-video outputs, I

guess.

Post by UCLAN
For stand-alone VHS - for that quality - who needs it? But on combo units,
it's there for the DVD side, so why not let the VHS side use it, too.
I agree.

Yup!!!

UCLAN

2008-10-03 18:29:40 UTC

That's not the case on this Samsung unit (the V6800). On this unit,
you have one set of outputs and you toggle between VCR and DVD mode.

Are you saying that the *VHS* output of that combo *is* put on the
S-video (Y/C cable) ?? If so, it's a rarity. That's GMAN's point.
Many people use S-video or component connections for their DVD player.
On most combo units, the VHS portion is *NOT* available on this output.

GMAN

2008-10-03 22:18:39 UTC

Post by GMAN
Plus the worse thing IMHO about these combo units, other than the very true
problem UCLAN pointed out is the fact that they require you to have 2

seperate

Post by GMAN
video lines to the TV. Why oh why couldnt they send the VHS and DVD output
thru the Y/C cable?

That's not the case on this Samsung unit (the V6800). On this unit,
you have one set of outputs and you toggle between VCR and DVD mode.

Its some perverse thinking of antipiracy or something like that!!! It proves
that these manufacturers consider them seperate decks in a shell. Pisses me
off. I can see video from the vhs side on svideo if doing a copy from tape to
DVD-R but getting the tape qued up and tracking properly, you have to switch
over to composite on the tv, que the tape up, then switch back to Y/C to see
it dub!

UnF%$king rediculous!

Igor Alexander

2008-10-04 08:33:02 UTC

Post by UCLAN
Are you saying that the *VHS* output of that combo *is* put on the
S-video (Y/C cable) ?? If so, it's a rarity.

Boy, you know, I'm not sure. To tell you the truth, I've just been
running the so-called "antenna" output straight to the TV, which is a
cheap CRT that only has an "antenna" input, or I've been using the
composite output to transfer videotapes to DVD. I don't think I even
have a proper cable for S-video.

--
http://igoralexander.wordpress.com/

Igor Alexander

2008-10-03 06:49:33 UTC

Post by UCLAN
Talk to me when either the DVD or the VCR portion develops a problem,
and you are without them BOTH while having it checked out.

For the whoppin' $90 I paid for the unit, when it starts to crap out,
it's going in the garbage. I've never found cheap VCR's to be worth
the cost of fixing. I mainly bought it to transfer old videotapes to
DVD, so if it lasts long enough to do that, I'll be satisfied.
--
http://igoralexander.wordpress.com/

Worthless Leech

2008-09-26 04:51:09 UTC

I suggest trying a local thrift shop. I buy them almost for kicks now
at the local Goodwill. I mean, it's a joke. Today I bought a
Mitsubishi HS-U748, a very late model S-VHS machine that can sell on
eBay for up to $90, for $4. The mechanism is in mint condition and
the only cosmetic issues were handling/contact marks probably incurred
in the donation process.

Generally speaking, you can buy most Mitsubishis and Panasonic
Omnivisions without even testing them. They're extremely durable,
rugged machines. At worst, some Mitsubishis require a new capstan
belt. Omnivisions almost never need a thing.

JVCs are great machines but are somewhat riskier. Some models have
capacitor problems, and the S-VHS models are pretty notorious for
having mode-switch issues.

Only trick is the remotes. Rarely are they sold with the VCR in
thrift shops. So remotes are a separate undertaking. As it happens,
I have the remote for the HS-U748 because I buy any Mitsubishi remote
I can find for under $2-$3.

I can buy these things for years and never spend more than I spent for
VCRs I bought in the early-mid 1990s.

Igor Alexander

2008-10-02 08:02:51 UTC