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R.I.P. VHS

R.I.P. VHS, I'll never forget the moments when I recorded over something accidently and had to hope my parents did not watch that tape or even better, making me look like a genius when I could not only set the VCR and tune it into the TV, I could also get 'timer record' to successfully work even on Sky channels.

Goodbye old friend.
 
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I remember vhs as a kid. Vhs was great until DVD came out. DVD was amazing, there was always a clear picture no wazy lines and best of all chapters!
 
I remember when I got my first VCR. Was about $300. This was about two days before the space shuttle exploded and we had a blizzard going on that same day so all I could do was watch the news coverage and watch rental tapes.

I remember how 7-11 used to do video rentals too. I was working at restaurant back then and would spend some of my tips to go rent a few movies every night from 7-11 on my way home.

Still have lots of great concert videos on VHS, everything from U2, Pink Floyd, Twisted Sister, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and many more. Shame that one day once my VCRs quit working, I will never be able to play them again.
 
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JackieInCo said:
I remember when I got my first VCR. Was about $300. This was about two days before the space shuttle exploded and we had a blizzard going on that same day so all I could do was watch the news coverage and watch rental tapes.

I remember how 7-11 used to do video rentals too. I was working at restaurant back then and would spend some of my tips to go rent a few movies every night from 7-11 on my way home.

Still have lots of great concert videos on VHS, everything from U2, Pink Floyd, Twisted Sister, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and many more. Shame that one day once my VCRs quit working, I will never be able to play them again.
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Why not just transfer them to DVD? Not that hard to do.
 
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If you want to save those VHS tapes, best to transfer them soon, those suckers will decay in 5 - 10 years.
 
bobob said:
The title of this thread (and the title of the OP's linked article) is misleading.

The last major VHS Hollywood movie released was A History Of Violence over a decade ago.

The historical event occuring this month is the manufacturing of the last VCR.
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Yes, but most of those relying to this thread are not really discussing renting out movies on VHS (although some are), but, rather, the intricate art of home-recording.

Personally, I never once in my life rented a movie, although, for many of my fronds, it was a weekly ritual.

But re programmes broadcast on TV, such as the material recorded in our house, programmes such as football matches, STNG, and so on, it was an invention that allowed you freedom from the tyranny of TV schedules, and allowed you to live your life and subordinate TV to it, rather than re-scheduling your life around TV programmes that you wanted or wished to watch.
 
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grahamperrin said:
Somewhat amazing (linked from the BBC article): Sony says goodbye to Betamax tapes - BBC News – I'm amazed that the goodbye was in 2015!
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Not really.

Just as the date when something was developed - or invented - does not mean the date when it was rolled out, still less become accepted in the wider world, so it is with obsolescence.

A form of media may have been superseded by others; yet, it may remain used and useful in some quarters long after some had supposed that it even existed.
 
The only downside to VHS for me were the three incidents of a tape getting jammed and having to mess about with the unit to get it to eject. The third and last time that happened was when I rented out Mission Impossible 2, because the DVDs had been taken. I was chuffed that I managed to snag a VHS. I was grinning ear to ear. Watched the film a couple times during the rental period and managed to get it snagged on one last viewing a few hours before I had to take it in.

Also managed to copy VHS from a regular unit onto a build in unit (Panasonic TV) in the mid-late 1990s. I think it was a Jackie Chan film I copied. It was either the Russia/Australia one or the mighty druglord/kingpin one. I copied another film the same way, but I'm not sure what it was. I want to say Rambo, but I had the cassettes myself.
 
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chown33 said:
LaserDisc has clearly superior video and audio clarity. Tape is for losers.
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Didn't see this before 😀

I still have a Panasonic Laserdisc player and about 30 or so discs (some good stuff too, Raiders, Return of the Jedi, Criterion Kurosawa of The Hidden Fortress, Aliens) I keep meaning to connect it to the AVR that has upscaling, see how they look scaled and on a plasma set.
 
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image.jpeg
 
The good old VHS days. My parents still have the same Panasonic VHS player from c. 1986 and it still works. Even more remarkable is that it is still in their entertainment center cabinet.

My grandparents never quite mastered the VHS player. I remember them using a flashlight to find the buttons on it.

Are home movies still a thing? God we have boxes of those, most of which are on I believe Hi-8 8mm cassettes and probably should be converted.

Funny to think in my early days of middle school people were still doing linear video editing... Which sounds like a real nightmare. I was ahead of the curve with iMovie 2 and a Canon ZR-10 with Mini-DV cassettes, but I remember having to export the project to VHS. 🙄
 
A.Goldberg said:
The good old VHS days. My parents still have the same Panasonic VHS player from c. 1986 and it still works. Even more remarkable is that it is still in their entertainment center cabinet.

My grandparents never quite mastered the VHS player. I remember them using a flashlight to find the buttons on it.
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Not only your grandparents.

I am one of those people who never mastered the arcane details of programming these things, as they were incredibly - almost insanely - complicated. (Not unlike trying to rip and burn CDs on my old Windows computers, in the days before I got an iPod).

At the time, friends of my parents advised that the best possible sources for programming a VHS player accurately were 10 year old kids, who would be able to do it without difficulty and without condescension. Unfortunately, we didn't know any ten year old kids.
 
Ahhh. VHS. It was a solid run though! I still have a few tapes that I am transferring over to DVD. Some of them have um.... well yeah know.... on them and others are just movies that I haven't replaced with a DVD or Blu-Ray version.

The days of going into Blockbuster video or the local video store down the street to rent movies on a Friday or Saturday night. Ah the memories.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Not only your grandparents.

I am one of those people who never mastered the arcane details of programming these things, as they were incredibly - almost insanely - complicated. (Not unlike trying to rip and burn CDs on my old Windows computers, in the days before I got an iPod).

At the time, friends of my parents advised that the best possible sources for programming a VHS player accurately were 10 year old kids, who would be able to do it without difficulty and without condescension. Unfortunately, we didn't know any ten year old kids.
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Well my earliest memories of video were watching educational programs in primary school.
I don't recall any of the teachers knowing how to operate them. They always had a child do it.
I also recall our Betermax had a remote control on a wire. So as we didn't own a Tv with a remote back then, you could put the video channel on the Tv and change the channel without getting up. It sounds so dated now, but at the time seamed very modern!
Sadly it was a top loaded and one day I forgot to pull out the draw thing it used to sit on before hitting eject.
It got a huge crack in it, and I got into a lot of trouble.
 
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bradl said:
Funnily enough, I'm actually in the market for a VHS player.

Back in the days when MTV and VH1 actually played music videos (roll with it, Europeans; I know they still do over there, but in the US, they haven't since the 90s), I filled up 3 tapes of nothing but classic music videos that I'd love to have converted. I'd try to take them to Costco or somewhere, but hey not only only go up to a certain limit (2 hours at the most, while these are 8 to 10-hour tapes), but as the videos are contiguous, they could be cut off right in the middle of a clip. And seeing that the cost to have someone convert them would be less than the cost of a VCR, it would be cheaper to do it myself, and get it right.

So... anyone know where I can find a VCR to use for a couple of days? 🙂

BL.
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Check with the local library. They may even have a VCR to DVD burner.
 
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