DVD/VCR Combo players....... WHY?

Ok so I am going through my Sunday morning ritual, bowl of oatmeal, 2 eggs scrambled and a hot cup of JOE. I am looking at the Best Buy and Circuit City adds, and I see DVD/VCR combo players and I realize to myself WHY? I mean here we are, just getting over the HD DVD vs. Blu Ray format war. We see people post things about digital downloads, 3D digital movies and yet they still make VCR's. Why bother, hell I dumped all my VHS tapes a few years ago. Ok I know some of the combo players have DVD recordable drives (and they are not cheap) so you can copy a VHS tape to DVD. But who cares, every Sunday BB and CC compete to give us a large selection of DVD movies for 3.99, 4.99,5.99 etc. I mean can you even buy new movies on VHS anymore. To me it seems like a total waste of cash to buy something that one thread in here called completely DEAD. When I see products like this, I only wonder if HD DVD will be around alot longer than some critics predict?

Unbelievable IB!!!

Here's a clue... VHS - available since the mid-1970s!!

Ever considered how many people OWN VHS cassettes of movies, concerts, TV shows, weddings, home videos, home recordings (dubs off of TV etc)... understand -now- why VHS is still 'alive'?

Note: I still use a VHS tuner to time-record news/documentary programs to watch later. I don't do this enough to warrant a TiVo (or DVR) monthly subscription, so the VHS copies do fine. And it's easy to loan the recorded tape to a friend (and vice versa) for easy viewing.

Oh yeah... another factor for continued VHS use - some people have PORN collections on VHS too. -LOL-

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

It is just my opinion Hendrix and have you seen the prices of those combos especially the ones that have the DVD R drives in them. What a waste of time, I would never buy another VHS tape as long as I live. And I agree with you that a TON of people still own them, but why buy a combo player at say 100.00 when you can buy a plain OLD VCR for 19.99. Thats if you can find one.
Now you see where I am coming from?

And oh yea, long live TIVO!!!!!

One more thing the 8 Track Player has been around since those days also, but I don't see any combo CD/8Track plyers on the market.

[Post edited by InvisibleBiker on Apr 6, 2008]

Hey IB... that DVD-R drive is there to help the owner copy and preserve content form a VHS collection... -LOL-

It's not rocket science IB. VHS is the most widely penetrated home video format EVER released, has been widely available the world over for more than 3 decades. Combo players are made for convenience, and the DVD-R models to facilitate the dub/preservation of VHS content to DVD. And the price is excellent these days for available models.

It's not like we can go out right now and buy a 'cheap' (low-priced) HD-DVD or Blu-ray SA recorder, right? (although you can for a computer, around $200 at Fry's, for combo HD-DVD/BD drives - EDIT: these may be read-only drives, not recordable - can't remember)

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on Apr 6, 2008]

HAHA.... "8 Track/CD combo" -major LOL-

8-track units sold could probably fit inside a few dozen acres of land... whereas VHS units would take millions of acres. You are funny IB.

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

I bought one of these for my mother last christmas because she is a recording maniac. She probably has more vhs than a few of our dvd collections put together. I presented (very well)the benefits of recordable dvd by holding a 50 stack of discs in one hand and 3 vhs in the other. I said "look how much shelf space you will save!" and left feeling very good about the situation....SHE STILL USES THE VHS SIDE TO THIS DAY! Some people are just afraid of change.

Simply put, I have comedy performances/concerts/home videos/old sci-fi shows on VHS that will never see the light of day as either a SD-DVD or a download...

I keep two S-VHS decks in top playback condition and rip copies as I need them on to my SD-DVD recorder so I can watch the bejezuz out of them...then I just make another SD-DVD copy when I loose the original copy or it stops playing because I left it in the sun or something.

Yes, I am at the extreme end. But the simple fact of the matter is, we all have different needs and requirements from our electronic gear...if someone needs an all-in-one VCR/SD-DVD deck, then so be it...no one is making you buy one if it ain't your schtick.

Is it just me or are you embarrassed to have a VCR in your home theatre much less VHS tapes....Remember the days when the taller your rack was the better and the bigger the speakers the better.....I've got a cassette deck on top of my CD player my VCR is on top of my Amp and on top of that is my record player it measers over 5 feet tall how cool am I oh I forgot about my tuner

I still believe in "The bigger the speakers, the better". Infact at this momment I am mourning the loss of my precious Cerwin Vega At 15's...all 4 of them. Vintage 1988. They were simply the best suite of speakers I have ever heard. Not the cleanest mind you,but the most dynamic. I would trade my m/k's to have that sound back anyday....

Nothing says I luv you like the rush of a speaker with a large diaphragm to move the air around you