VCR's in general

[Tallulah]

Remember when VCR's first became popular in homes? Probably somewhere around the late 70's/early 80s.

I remember that our first video recorder - VHS - was a great big bulky thing that should really have come fitted with wheels to move it into place. Top-loader (of course) and a "remote control" which was attatched to the player by a not-long-enough wire which someone always tripped over during the course of the evening!

For some reason, my parents got conned into buying a "Phillips 2000" which was neither VHS or Betamax. There was only one supplier of the correct tapes for miles and we had to rent whatever was available in his shop at the time. We all know who had their head screwed on correctly that year!

Watching video's was a real treat - not something to keep your kids occupied whilst you got time to do some mundane household chore. It was a family event.

[Rains]

VCR's get a lot of stick now the DVD player is king. But it's so quick to put on a half watched tape and continue watching where you left off. I challenge any DVD player to load and go as quick. Press play and you're on your way.

www.fansofbritishtv.com

[Rodney]

My DVD player plays the DVD where I left off playing it. Just hit stop in the middle of the DVD, then pop it in at a later time and press play and you're off and running where you left off.

VCRs are another one of those devices that everyone "had to have" when they first came out. I think they had a pretty long life, technology-wise.

I think it was only last year that we decided not to hook up our VCR anymore to our home entertainment system because the thought of watching VCR quality movies just made us giggle.

[remember]

I remember our first VCR was MASSIVE too. It was a top loader with wood panelling on the sides (everything had wood panelling in the 70's) and weighed so much that my Dad could only just lift it. I remember him saying how expensive it was as well.

[Snakeystew]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't really see that much difference between video and dvd - and yes, I have a massive television. Of course my older videos are suffering from some wear and tear, but in general the quality doesn't really seem any worse than dvd.

Guess I'm the only one

[Tallulah]

Snakey - you're not the only one - we still buy vids off eBay (yes, I'm the mug!) coz the kids love certain films and DVD's can be so expensive - vids are the cheaper version today!

[Snakeystew]

Nice to know

[Precious Jewels]

I recently bought my dad and DVD-video combi so that he could have the best of both worlds!

My grandad still has a working Betamax vid that he just won't part with - it's great going round to his and watching classic tv from back in the day!

[pablo]

massive vcrs

blimey our first vid cost u nearly 800 pound from the catalogue!big massive ferguson.it didnt even have a search facility.still love watching vids though especially ones from the telly years ago,anyone remember the granada ones where the tv repair man whistles?and yes i still buy vids from ebay.not everythings out on dvd yet.

[Tomo]

I've got a Sanyo VTC 5000 Betacord - it's proper boss. Got a Duran Duran Beta tape as well, the qaulity is so much better than VHS. Not bad considering it came out 20 years ago, and the tape itself came out in '83!

[Superkav]

I remember the day we got our first VCR, I don't remember the manufacturer but it was BIG and silver. Top loading (of course) with big peg buttons that really clanked. The remote control had a lead of about 5' which was about 2' too short to actually use without having to get off the armchair to press the buttons.
I remember that when it came out, recording off the TV was something we did if we wanted to keep that particular program forever. I remember my parents thinking that it was illegal to record certain things and that you could somehow be 'tracked' if you did it!!

[Aidan]

Technology me a* - you can't record on your bogstandard DVDs ! Hopefully the VCRs & tapes won't disappear too abruptly for that reason.

[Lothar-gr]

I remember the first VCR we had ... a AKAI VS2600 ( i think the model number was 2600 ). It was in black color and quite huge for todays standards. The most weird about it, it was this: It had a mirror inside the cassete compartment and a small lamp in the compartment ceiling. the plastic in front was see-through also .. so you could see the cassete working inside the machine

[foxyminx]

dvd v vcr

dvds seem so slow to start up. and i still cant figure out how to find all the things on the dvd..at least with a vcr you just bung it in and play it and you know you`ve seen it all by the end!

[JEM]

In the early 80s, my parents would rent a VCR on special occasions...and I think they rented them from this furniture shop (kinda weird). We finally got a VCR around the '84-'85 holiday season, and boy that was a gift for us. Now I have a VCR/DVD combo and I still buy video tapes. Can't say the same thing for tape cassettes...