VHS/VCR is back?

[letschat7]

Earlier this year I noticed some VCRs for sale so I picked up a nice old Zenith. When I started buying tapes they were .50 to a dollar apiece, then 4-6 for a dollar for a few weeks, and now $1-3 per tape because the sellers report a big demand for tapes.

I bought maybe 200 or so tapes this year plus accessories and another TV after my RCA stopped working half way through watching Jurassic Park. I guess the dinos got it.

I go to Egay and they can go for hundreds of dollars a new tape now and wikipedia says there is some underground market for them which I assume has to be flea markets or garage sales. I remember in 2016 you could still get a new Philips VCR for around $300 online but at the time it was a lot when I only wanted to watch a certain Brook Shields film.

Anyone else using VHS or even Betamax on here? Needless to say retro gaming and records are also very popular.

 

[vicv]

Nah I'm all in on digital content. I don't even have a dvd player anymore. I don't miss rewinding tapes and setting tracking. Or the horrendous picture.
Retro gaming I've always done. But I prefer piracy.
Records I don't get but each to their own.
For all of that though I hope you get a lot of enjoyment from your vhs machine.

 

[raggie33]

im weird i dont even like to watch blurays that are not 4k whats vhs 480p?

 

[vicv]

im weird i dont even like to watch blurays that are not 4k whats vhs 480p?

It's not even the resolution. It's the bitrate because it's in magnetic tape. 4k is important because we watch in 70" tvs. A 19" tube tv's 480 isn't that far off the pixel density of a large 4k tv

 

[raggie33]

wierd we used to think 19 was big lol. and my 32 looks so dang dang small now lol. but walmart had them for 99 bucks lol. i just use it for my doorbell and security camera. its a roku tv and my cams are roku so if bell is rang or senses motion i get alert on the tv. i want to pick up a 85 inch tv black friday i have a feeling they will be like 350 bucks for a 4k tv 85 inch.

 

[bykfixer]

I had a ProScan setup with a hifi VCR and whopping 26" monitor hooked to a Denon amp with Klipsch speakers. Gold plated RCA jacks and Monster Cable(s).

Now I have a tiny little 52" flatscreen with a soundbar using a store bought cable.

 

[orbital]

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[pnwoutdoors]

Anyone else using VHS or even Betamax on here?

Not anymore.

A handful of years ago, I ditched the old machine. Hadn't seen more than a handful of films I might be interested in, but wasn't going to have a platform for only a few films. Many films that were quite good didn't catch on, in terms of marketplace revenues, so they never brought the titles to DVD (let alone BluRay).

I suppose in the age of digitized everything, eventually it'll all get sucked into some monster streaming service, at which point most anything will be capable of streaming to a device.

In the meantime: it's mostly DVDs and BluRay for me, with occasional streaming of films that I just don't want to pay "big bucks" for. Many of those films, I'll get once the prices have dropped. I've got plenty of patience for such things, with no "burning" need to see a given film right now, or even a decade from now.

 

[raggie33]

for a hobby i like to take 70 gb of digital video and see how far i can shrink it and remain good viewing quality. i hope a new codec comes out ..

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Earlier this year I noticed some VCRs for sale so I picked up a nice old Zenith. When I started buying tapes they were .50 to a dollar apiece, then 4-6 for a dollar for a few weeks, and now $1-3 per tape because the sellers report a big demand for tapes.

I bought maybe 200 or so tapes this year plus accessories and another TV after my RCA stopped working half way through watching Jurassic Park. I guess the dinos got it.

I go to Egay and they can go for hundreds of dollars a new tape now and wikipedia says there is some underground market for them which I assume has to be flea markets or garage sales. I remember in 2016 you could still get a new Philips VCR for around $300 online but at the time it was a lot when I only wanted to watch a certain Brook Shields film.

Anyone else using VHS or even Betamax on here? Needless to say retro gaming and records are also very popular.

This is surprising. I can understand why vinyl has been making a comeback, but not VHS tape. The picture quality is hardware-limited to 640x480. What am I missing? Enlighten me please.

 

[thermal guy]

Nostalgia😁

 

[raggie33]

This is surprising. I can understand why vinyl has been making a comeback, but not VHS tape. The picture quality is hardware-limited to 640x480. What am I missing? Enlighten me please.

Im the same give me 8k lol

 

[aznsx]

Earlier this year I noticed some VCRs for sale so I picked up a nice old Zenith. When I started buying tapes they were .50 to a dollar apiece, then 4-6 for a dollar for a few weeks, and now $1-3 per tape because the sellers report a big demand for tapes.

I bought maybe 200 or so tapes this year plus accessories and another TV after my RCA stopped working half way through watching Jurassic Park. I guess the dinos got it.

I go to Egay and they can go for hundreds of dollars a new tape now and wikipedia says there is some underground market for them which I assume has to be flea markets or garage sales. I remember in 2016 you could still get a new Philips VCR for around $300 online but at the time it was a lot when I only wanted to watch a certain Brook Shields film.

Anyone else using VHS or even Betamax on here? Needless to say retro gaming and records are also very popular

I stream everything current now, but wouldn't take anything for my Sony SLV-R1000 S-VHS decks. I don't do movies or buy pre-recorded stuff, but do have a lot of recorded content I would not want to give up. Also, I watch a lot of F1, etc., and I'd give a lot to have crisp slo-mo / frame-by-frame w/streaming these days. I really miss that. :-( Tradeoffs. Always tradeoffs. That said, S-VHS is a lot better than 'standard' VHS. Really 2 different animals.

 

[raggie33]

Btw sorry if I offended vhs folks who am I to judge what gives you joy.

 

[bykfixer]

I had a dream last night about being in a record store and finding a really hard to find album on vinyl but they did not have the CD version. They had like 32,000 albums and about 65 (total) CD's, which were all children's music. Like 8 Barney music, 44 of Teletubbies etc.

In the corner where the cash register was there was a big box tv playing Thelma & Louise on a VCR. I asked the guy behind the counter who was wearing a WKRP t-shirt what year it was. He said "whatever year you want it be. Behind him was a 2024 calendar.

 

[bykfixer]

This week I found a WKRP type AM station as I travelled between two big cities. The station I was listening to got all static-ee as I was reaching its outter range so I hit the scan button and it stopped on a rock and roll station. It wasn't Johnny Fever or Wolfman Jack playing the songs but it was a happy sounding DJ who played Steppenwolf, Bad Company and other 70's classics most people have forgotten about.

It was in a place where giant cow farms lined the highway. The speed limit was 60 and most drove 50-55 mph. There was a pizza place and a farm supply store and an occasional house along the way. Maybe that's what prompted the record store dream. I wanted to stop at the pizza place but had to be back in the city for an appointment so I kept driving.

 

[raggie33]

I miss wshe in Ft. Lauderdale 96 rock in atl ga and Wmms is Cleveland Ohio btw I think wmms is still broadcasting rock as we speak 96 rock is gone or gone rap in atl we all had 96 rock tags on are cars upsides down a course

 

[PhotonWrangler]

This week I found a WKRP type AM station as I travelled between two big cities. The station I was listening to got all static-ee as I was reaching its outter range so I hit the scan button and it stopped on a rock and roll station. It wasn't Johnny Fever or Wolfman Jack playing the songs but it was a happy sounding DJ who played Steppenwolf, Bad Company and other 70's classics most people have forgotten about.

It was in a place where giant cow farms lined the highway. The speed limit was 60 and most drove 50-55 mph. There was a pizza place and a farm supply store and an occasional house along the way. Maybe that's what prompted the record store dream. I wanted to stop at the pizza place but had to be back in the city for an appointment so I kept driving.

There was a DJ in my town who was like that. He was a perfect example of the Boss Radio format.

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

I had a dream last night about being in a record store and finding a really hard to find album on vinyl but they did not have the CD version. They had like 32,000 albums and about 65 (total) CD's, which were all children's music. Like 8 Barney music, 44 of Teletubbies etc.

In the corner where the cash register was there was a big box tv playing Thelma & Louise on a VCR. I asked the guy behind the counter who was wearing a WKRP t-shirt what year it was. He said "whatever year you want it be. Behind him was a 2024 calendar.

It's a good thing it was only a dream. I think you found yourself in Hotel California .... You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

 

[orbital]

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Some 'classics' are only available in VHS 💋