Anyone make a DECENT VHS/DVD combo?

[Jeffhs]

I wish I had known about this site while I still had my Panasonic VCR with VCR Plus+, and it was still working. Some time after the machine jammed on me, IIRC, the local newspaper had stopped printing VCR Plus+ codes. The Cleveland newspaper still prints them every day in their weekly TV listings magazine and also in the paper itself, in the entertainment section. Until I saw Electronic M's post, I had no idea VCR Plus+ was still in use these days, as most manufacturers of standalone VCRs (when such machines were still available and were built halfway decently, not like the offshore junk we are seeing now) stopped installing VCR Plus+ in their machines some years ago. The only remnant of my Panasonic VCR Plus+ VCR I still have is the remote, which I saved because it will work with my current Pana machine.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

VCRs themselves are obsolete, having been upstaged by DVRs -- who knows what may supersede those? My best guess is DVD recorders, although there are still copyright issues to contend with if VHS tapes of old (or not so old) network TV shows and the like are transferred to DVD.

How about Blu-ray?:

http://bswusa.com/DVD-Recorders-Play...000-P7422.aspx

A bit expensive yet, but really hasn't the trend shifted toward hard drive or memory chip or "cloud" storage? Are disks/tapes needed anymore for recording TV programs?

Not affiliated ,
jr

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

How about Blu-ray?:

http://bswusa.com/DVD-Recorders-Play...000-P7422.aspx

A bit expensive yet, but really hasn't the trend shifted toward hard drive or memory chip or "cloud" storage? Are disks/tapes needed anymore for recording TV programs?

Not affiliated ,
jr

I wasn't thinking about Blu-ray when I wrote my post, but after reading yours, I now wonder how long that format will be around. Hard drive storage for video has been around for some time, in the form of TiVo systems. Cloud storage is yet another possibility, but I don't know about memory chips. Video takes quite a bit of room on a hard drive and at least as much on a chip, so any ROM/RAM memory chip designed for video storage is going to need hundreds of gigabytes of dedicated storage space to archive any decent number of programs. I don't know how TiVo does it with a hard drive; I bet those run out of space after only three or four normal length TV programs. It might even be possible to use an entire TiVo hard drive to store a single movie, say three hours in length. Since I don't know exactly how much space a TiVo drive has, I'm only guessing; maybe these already have hard drives with storage space in excess of 100 gb.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Hard drive storage for video has been around for some time, in the form of TiVo systems. Cloud storage is yet another possibility, but I don't know about memory chips. Video takes quite a bit of room on a hard drive and at least as much on a chip, so any ROM/RAM memory chip designed for video storage is going to need hundreds of gigabytes of dedicated storage space to archive any decent number of programs..

Yes! Hard Drive storage really appears to be popular at this point in time. Very few people that I know are even interested in recording TV programs to tape, DVD or even Blu Ray anymore. It appears that "little shiny disks" are on quite a downward trend.

As the cost of computer memory keeps dropping, this trend will accelerate... 1 TB (1000GB) hard drives are down to slightly over $100 now, and memory chips are dropping quickly as well. For example, I have one 64GB SDXC card with several full length movies and many shorter programs stored on it. In time, hard drive storage may well be replaced by solid state memory, as prices of memory chips/cards continue to decrease.

just my 2 cents,
jr

[waltchan]

Orion-made DVD/VCR combos seem to be okay, usually under the Toshiba brand.

[Ronald1973]

I have an LG VCR/DVD combo but all I ever use is the VHS side as I have it hooked to an older Magnavox DVD recorder that for a long time saw daily use. I don't like the menu on the LG and find it hard to manage to be honest. It plays VHS tapes fairly decent, at least good enough to dub off to a DVD. I'm recording off-air programs from TV from 20+ years ago that haven't made it to DVD yet and it does okay for that. I would agree with others that you're probably better off to find a well-serviced stand-alone VCR from the time when they were built better and run it to a stand-alone DVD recorder or your computer.

[stromberg6]

Originally Posted by Celt

I've had this Emerson combo player for eight years. It gets about two hours of play every day and so far no problems.

I have a similar Toshiba that I use in the shop when not watching the vintage sets, and it has a great pic. Had the earlier model that bit the dust just before the warranty was up, and they replaced it no charge. Going to keep it until it craps out.

[soundman2]

I think Panasonic make the best ones. I would not consider (or be happy) with anything else.