Heartland

You have served us well, and for that we salute you.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/22/dixons_vcr/

I especially remember with great fondness Mark Bass-Smurph’s VCR which he brought with him when he came up here to Uni.

The remote control was actually on a long cable that plugged into the front of the machine, and after an evening 'chilling' would inextricably get lost and we have to follow the cable to find the control.

I remember those, the "remote" control on a wire

Someone I know still has a "first generation" top-loading VCR. It has no remote obviously, and I think it's coal-fired, but it still works perfectly (if a little noisily) after however many years. In the mean time, I've had two slot-loaders die on me

Did anyone have Betamax? Or the third format? (Phillips 2000 or something IIRC)

I have had 6 different VCR's during the years. The newest was bought this year. But I hardly ever use it. The kids stiil have their old tapes, but all new stuff we buy is on DVD,

RIP

my first model (rented of course, from D-E-R) was about the size of a small van

first video machine we had was a betamax top-loader with wired remote. It may still be in a cupboard somewhere, but I think the head is stuffed.

I love my VHS. While there is room in my hovel for a shiny new dvd player (should anyone want to buy me one ), there will always be a home for the vidieo.
I'd LOVE to get a betamax and/or lazerdisc player. just cos they look so goddamn cool

The top one looks far cooler

d00mw0lf wrote:The top one looks far cooler

Weirdo!

Watching some of the movies I paid £10 for a few years back on VHS now makes me think that we were ripped off by the awful quality. Some movies were nice sharp transfers, such as Jurassic Park: The Lost World but others such as Dark City are shamefull. It was smeary and blurred when it was new.
Dig that grave, give me a shovel.

James Blast wrote:

d00mw0lf wrote:The top one looks far cooler

Weirdo!

It's Classy. Like all that lovley black vaneer wood furnature in my room

Rivers wrote:Watching some of the movies I paid £10 for a few years back on VHS now makes me think that we were ripped off by the awful quality. Some movies were nice sharp transfers, such as Jurassic Park: The Lost World but others such as Dark City are shamefull. It was smeary and blurred when it was new.
Dig that grave, give me a shovel.

Yeah good point. I got a VHS copy of "Amadeus" that the sound is so quiet on, even at full volume on the TV you can barely hear it. And of course then you forget you had the TV at full volume, switch the video off and deafen yourself

Spiggy's hat wrote:You have served us well, and for that we salute you.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/22/dixons_vcr/

Very interesting website ... some cracking good articles on there. Particularly enjoyed the piece about Bill Gates/passwords and biometrics.

Oh sorry ... back to topic
I've had maningi (read: "s h i t loads" in Zulu) of VHS machines in my time, having once owned a video shop years ago. I still get asked if I can help people find Beta machines, which I still had a couple of last year but mysteriously, they seem to have disappeared.
Top loaders were such a pain in the ass, I was so chuffed when I got my first front loader with a remote the size of a shoebox. And those machines were so HEAVY! Always breaking down, mangling tapes left right and centre but I got quite fly at fixing them on my own.

My previous company (media monitoring) use VHS tapes to record all TV and radio stations onto - very costly and not at all efficient. We (ie my new company) record everything digitally, it's a breeze.

I've still got Beta tapes (my fave being a Bob Marley documentary).

Kinda reminds of me of whatever happened to the 8-track music tapes that were released in the Seventies? I had the whole gadget for the car and a couple of 8-track tapes as well but that all sort of fizzled out, to be replaced by a gadget that none of the record shops in SA (at that time) thought would take off - the CD.

Im gonna sound really nerdy but I have 2 betamax machines (a sanyo and a sony C5, stunning bit of kit, Oooh actually i ahve 3 I ahve a sony C40 too and its stereo).

2 Philips square tape format machines an N1502 and N1702.

A sony 1/2" domestica VCR from the 60s that uses real tape.

1 Pioneer laserdisc, that is used regularly.

3 Hifi Stereo VCRs and looks like i better but another couple.

oh and about 1200 video tapes!

I think the manufactures are jumping the gun slightly, as DVD recordsers are still in there infancy with compatibility problems, and some of them especally phillips dont work properly!

I think this is more that the DVD manufactures dont want people owning recordings of the telly but prefer to sell tv programmes on DVD.

Matt

allfear wrote:I think this is more that the DVD manufactures dont want people owning recordings of the telly but prefer to sell tv programmes on DVD.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

allfear wrote:Im gonna sound really nerdy but I have ...oh and about 1200 video tapes!

I think the manufactures are jumping the gun slightly, as DVD recordsers are still in there infancy with compatibility problems, and some of them especally phillips dont work properly!

I think this is more that the DVD manufactures dont want people owning recordings of the telly but prefer to sell tv programmes on DVD.

Matt

Heh, heh, that's probably about the amount of tape we chucked the other week in an attempt to "dejunk" our house Must have made a cracking noise in the bin wagon

I would like a DVD recorder I can plug into the telly tho'. If only so I can build up another useless collection of half-eaten films and dodgy scifi - and then chuck it all out agin when we get, ooh I dunno, them fancy crystal things that slide into a UV-lit panel and give you a hollygraphic display

In a year (or two) they will be flooding us with affordable Blu-Ray disc recorders and HD-DVD recorders; who can keep up at that pace.

www.blu-ray.com & http://www.hddvd.org/hddvd/

Some of those blue ray machines have the asthetics of the old Grundig CED video disk players!!

BTW Im after on if anyone has one (A CED player not a blue ray!)

I knew they'd dream up something new to punt to us
wish I could my Tales From Topographic Oceans on 8-track, I'd like to hear that one again

Your better off buying the CD of that one, though I do have an 8 Track player, AND an 8 Track recorder!

I still have a player allfear there is no known excuse for owning a recorder!

There is I bought the recorder for about 3 quid 20 years ago cause it looked good!!!

Actually you havent got Animals by Pink FLoyd on 8 track have you?

'fraid not allfear I have a very, very small 8-track collection

• Yes-Tales From Topographic Oceans (tape has snapped)
  Uriah Heep-Salisbury
  Genesis-Selling England By The Pound
  Genesis-The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (one tape has snapped)
  ELP-Brain Salad Surgery

I think you can guess where I was coming from when I bought them?