No more VCRS What do I do now?

No more VCRS What do I do now? (Full Version)

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MasterJohnSteed -> No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 5:11:09 PM)
I get basic cable, I do not want or intend to rent a cable box or get satellite. But as many of you know the VCR and the VHS tape has gone the way of the dinosaur. I want to be able to "Tape" shows when I am not at home, or when I am asleep. No I don't want tivo either. Somewhere out there has to be a stand alone product that has a hard drive that functions just like an old VCR. I mean you go into Best Buy and ask them for a VCR and blank tapes and they look at you like you have an extra head or something!

Baroana -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 5:15:58 PM)
DVD recorder. Welcome to 1998.

Baroana -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 5:17:36 PM)
Oh, and you can buy a Tivo, without paying for the service, and use it just like you described. I even think I have one somewhere.

blacksword404 -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 5:51:39 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MasterJohnSteed I get basic cable, I do not want or intend to rent a cable box or get satellite. But as many of you know the VCR and the VHS tape has gone the way of the dinosaur. I want to be able to "Tape" shows when I am not at home, or when I am asleep. No I don't want tivo either. Somewhere out there has to be a stand alone product that has a hard drive that functions just like an old VCR. I mean you go into Best Buy and ask them for a VCR and blank tapes and they look at you like you have an extra head or something! I'd go with what she said. But either way you need to digitize those tapes if you want to keep them. I used to have the movie skin deep with John Ritter with my favorite HBO intro and everything. It has sentimental value for me. 15 years from now you think they will still make blank VHS tapes? Or VHS digitizers? So if you wait ok long you might just be ass out.

Aswad -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 6:13:51 PM)
The DVD recorder option is sensible, and you can probably still find one that has a VHS VCR in it as well. Alternately, if your PC is a bit more modern than your TV setup, you can pick up a USB video digitizer and software for it, but I suspect this will not appeal to the "technological minimalist" in you. Please remember that all storage media have some degree of degradation, so making copies occasionally will be a good thing if you intend to keep recordings around for a long time. IWYW, — Aswad.

Anaxagoras -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 6:36:19 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MasterJohnSteed I get basic cable, I do not want or intend to rent a cable box or get satellite. But as many of you know the VCR and the VHS tape has gone the way of the dinosaur. I want to be able to "Tape" shows when I am not at home, or when I am asleep. No I don't want tivo either. Somewhere out there has to be a stand alone product that has a hard drive that functions just like an old VCR. I mean you go into Best Buy and ask them for a VCR and blank tapes and they look at you like you have an extra head or something! John, you should still be able to get VHS tapes - at least they still have them selling cheap in some big supermarkets where I am. If your old deck has given up the ghost, plenty of people are giving away (or flogging for almost nothing) their old machines, some of which are good quality hi-fi stereo models so arguably there is some life in the old dinosaur left. Best bet though is just to go for a standard DVD recorder for TV usage. It functions largely the same as a VHS deck but tends to have better quality at the higher video quality levels. Besides which the picture from VHS decks looks awful on the new panel TV's - probably because their low line rate just doesn't sit well on TV's optimised for HD content.

defiantbadgirl -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 7:46:54 PM)
OP, I hate to be the one to deliver bad news, but there's a good chance a DVD recorder won't work, at least not in the US. At one time, it was legal to record on blank DVD's for personal use. I think it still is in Canada. But because of a few people copying and selling DVD's, the stupid copyright laws in the US now treat everyone like a criminal. Now only temporary DVR recordings that you have to delete when the DVR runs out of room are legal. So even if it's for personal use, despite the fact that you're a paying cable customer, all stations are copyrighted and you can't legally make a permanent copies. You can try, but no DVD recorder will record "copyrighted" channels.

Aswad -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 7:52:33 PM)
Wow. That's pretty harsh. Around these parts, all the gear will do that. IWYW, — Aswad.

defiantbadgirl -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 7:55:48 PM)
Yeah Aswad, it really sucks. I asked a similar question awhile back and wasn't aware the laws had changed. One of the posters that's a paralegal informed me.

MistressDarkArt -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 8:20:57 PM)
Or if you don't care so much about picture quality, you can find VHS recorders in good condition for a couple bucks in thrift shops.

TreasureKY -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 8:32:58 PM)
http://www.silicondust.com/ quote: HDHomeRun is a TV tuner for computers - Ethernet attached. The HDHomeRun connects to your home router enabling you to watch and record TV (simultaneously) from any computer on your home network. Similar to how a network printer is available to all computers, the HDHomeRun serves high quality digital TV to your family room, bedrooms, kitchen, home office, even your backyard or garage - anywhere you have a computer. No opening your computer case to install a PCI card. No USB dongle tied to one computer. We use these in our home... with regular broadcast TV. We don't bother with cable as we have such a vast library of recorded programs, but this allows us to use our plain old antenna-provided programming as if it were cable. We can view programming schedule menus, pause programs, record one channel while watching another, program a particular program to be recorded whenever aired, etc... pretty much like any high-end cable package. Programs are recorded directly onto our server and can be kept indefinitely. Unfortunately, they still have commercials. [&:]

FirmhandKY -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 8:48:36 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: TreasureKY Unfortunately, they still have commercials. [&:] Working on a solution for that. Just have to install the software. [8D] Firm

littlewonder -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 9:28:01 PM)
If he's just taping from the tv, it will record. You are only blocked if you are trying to copy from one dvd to another. And op, if you decide to go the dvd way, do it soon. A few more years and those will be gone the way of vhs. Most people I know are now taping on T1 or larger hard drives. I'm currently doing this for Master for all his cds and dvds. If you want a copy of your vhs tapes, go to walmart and get the dvd for about $5.

defiantbadgirl -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 9:59:12 PM)
Recording on blank DVD's directly from the TV stopped working a little over a year ago.

littlewonder -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/21/2012 10:06:50 PM)
huh...still works for me. It still works for me. I just tried it a few minutes ago on Master's t1 drive. I have a flat screen tv where I'm just able to connect the drive just like to a computer. Master and I have also been talking about getting rid of cable all together and connect a computer to the tv and watching tv from the internet. We both have friends who have done exactly that.

Anaxagoras -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/22/2012 4:38:35 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl OP, I hate to be the one to deliver bad news, but there's a good chance a DVD recorder won't work, at least not in the US. At one time, it was legal to record on blank DVD's for personal use. I think it still is in Canada. But because of a few people copying and selling DVD's, the stupid copyright laws in the US now treat everyone like a criminal. Now only temporary DVR recordings that you have to delete when the DVR runs out of room are legal. So even if it's for personal use, despite the fact that you're a paying cable customer, all stations are copyrighted and you can't legally make a permanent copies. You can try, but no DVD recorder will record "copyrighted" channels. I remember that debate I think. I thought the law on copyright in the US since its inception in the early 80's was that it was OK to make temporary copies of programmes after legal challenges were made over taping. This would have applied to old VHS tapes as much as DVDs, and that it wasn't enforced unless one was duplicating them for distribution.

kalikshama -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/22/2012 5:39:46 AM)
What little TV I watch I get online from the show's website, on DVDs from the library, or occasionally from hulu or similar.

Baroana -> RE: No more VCRS What do I do now? (10/22/2012 4:16:03 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl Yeah Aswad, it really sucks. I asked a similar question awhile back and wasn't aware the laws had changed. One of the posters that's a paralegal informed me. Baroana, J.D. wants to know where the fuck your paralegal friend heard that.

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