OT: DVD vs VCR - AR15.COM

Posted: 8/4/2001 2:14:52 PM EDT

I am debating whether to get a DVD player or not. I have several VCR's and can't decide. The biggest drawback is that you have to rely solely on prerecorded material whereas a VCR can record things. Yes, I will keep the VCR's regardless, I am just undecided whether to spend the bucks on something that won't record. I hear that they have some record capable DVD's out, but kind of experimental and very costly. Maybe I should wait until they get the record capability ironed out and the price comes way down. Opinions please, especially from those that have DVD players and those that don't, why not?

Posted: 8/4/2001 2:21:46 PM EDT

[#1]

I bought a DVD player this spring. What I do is buy the DVD movies I really like and want around for a long time. 'Patton', 'Rules of Engagment', 'Last Man Standing', 'The Green Berets', 'The Searchers', 'Hamburger Hill' and any Star Trek movie. All John Wayne movies qualify, too. [:D]

I pick up new VHS if they're cheap enough. And I won't mind if they wear out someday.

Posted: 8/4/2001 2:26:43 PM EDT

[#2]

Larry,
I like the extra material that they put in the DVD. You can watch the movie and then check out deleted scenes, info about the actors and director etc, if that interests you.

Posted: 8/4/2001 2:32:01 PM EDT

[#3]

Buy player now. Can always buy dvd recorder later. DVD quality rules. CD-burner and seperate player in computer make for interesting pair, don't you think?

Posted: 8/4/2001 2:36:00 PM EDT

[#4]

The sound and picture quality of DVDs, plus the fact that neither will degrade due to use, is enough to buy a DVD player. They can be had for as little as $100, and nice ones for $200 and up.

There are lots of cheap, used DVDs available, and DVDs are quickly becoming less expensive than the same movie on VHS (note that DVDs are less expensive to mass produce). Clearly, DVD is not only the future, but more importantly, the PRESENT.

VCRs are still useful for recording and archiving, but they simply don't begin to provide the movie experience of a DVD player. And if you currently buy ANY pre-recorded VHS movies, then you should stop buying them on VHS immediately and start your DVD collection.

-Troy

Posted: 8/4/2001 2:42:38 PM EDT

[#5]

What's VHS?

You can buy a Panasonic DVD-RAM player/ recorder and make your own DVD'S.

[img]http://panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_recorder/images/DMR_E10.jpg[/img]

[url]http://panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_recorder/video_recorders.asp[/url]

Posted: 8/4/2001 3:32:27 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
What's VHS?

You can buy a Panasonic DVD-RAM player/ recorder and make your own DVD'S.

[img]http://panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_recorder/images/DMR_E10.jpg[/img]

[url]http://panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_recorder/video_recorders.asp[/url]

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I have a dvd ram in my pc. Works great except for 1 small problem. DVD ram packs are ungodly expensive. also due to the fact it's a cart instead of a raw disk it won't play in a standard dvd rom.

Anyone know where i can get cheap dvdr disks?

Posted: 8/4/2001 4:00:21 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
What's VHS?

You can buy a Panasonic DVD-RAM player/ recorder and make your own DVD'S.

[img]http://panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_recorder/images/DMR_E10.jpg[/img]

[url]http://panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_recorder/video_recorders.asp[/url]

View Quote

$1500 and up. Little much for now.

One more stupid question. I notice that some DVD models will play VCD and some won't. Big dummy here: what's the difference between DVD and VCD?

raf: you have your DVD player connected to your PC?

Posted: 8/4/2001 4:06:22 PM EDT

[#8]

The VCD format was designed to allow playback of movie-length video on PCs from CD-ROMs. It accomplishes this by using a much lower bit rate, which means less sound and picture quality. The primary market for VCDs turned out to be porn, which could be cheaply copied on CD.

-Troy

Posted: 8/4/2001 4:12:43 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
The VCD format was designed to allow playback of movie-length video on PCs from CD-ROMs. It accomplishes this by using a much lower bit rate, which means less sound and picture quality. The primary market for VCDs turned out to be porn, which could be cheaply copied on CD.

-Troy

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So whether a DVD player will play VCD or not should not be a determining factor? The quality sounds like some of the crappy VHS tapes that porno is on now.

Posted: 8/4/2001 4:15:21 PM EDT

[#10]

The poorest quality DVD will outshine the best VHS movie in my experience. Don't know about porn quality?

VHS runs 350 to 400 lines per inch horizontal resolution max. Mass produced VHS tapes might have half that on a bad day. Don't have the numbers on a DVD but they're better than that and the machines don't suffer with age.

The bit rate tends to be about 6-8MB a second which is about twice that of your Direct TV or Dish Network pictures. The compressionist (no really) that knows what they're doing can actively tweak compression ratios during recording. Broadcasters can use dynamic bit rates to accomplish the same thing but typically they set them and forget them.

At the broadcast facility that I work at we transmit 12 video channels to 166 countries worldwide with bit rates from 0.750 Mb to 5.5 Mb a second.

Posted: 8/4/2001 4:23:35 PM EDT

[#11]

Would the fact that a DVD player will or will not play VCD be a determining factor on the model to get? Is there enough out on VCD to worry about?

Posted: 8/4/2001 4:29:17 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
So whether a DVD player will play VCD or not should not be a determining factor?

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Well, I suppose that would depend on how big your current VCD collection is, and how important it is for you to watch it on your TV vs. your PC. [:)]

Just as the Porn industry was an early adopter of such technologies as home video (VHS and Beta), BBSs, the Internet, and VCD, they quickly adopted DVDs (and have dropped VCD for the most part), so unless you have a collection, it's a non-issue.

Well, ok, there IS another source of VCDs: pirated movies. This is a fairly small niche of high-speed Internet users, but some folks will go in and videotape movies the first few days they were released in theaters, or get their hands on a pre-release demo (like, say, for Blockbuster store owners) and copy THAT to VCD. They will then post the VCD, usually on Usenet newsgroups, and, in theory, you can download the movie and watch it. The reality is that actually getting all 8,000 parts of a 600 MB file isn't easy, and you then have to burn it to CD. Considering the abysmal quality of these pirated movies, I wouldn't bother.

-Troy

Posted: 8/4/2001 5:05:35 PM EDT

[#13]

Friends do not let friends buy VHS. Seriously, the VHS format is very close to dead. Tapes will continue to be produced for a few years due to the millions of VHS players out there, but DVD is the present and future, as a previous poster said. The sound and picture quality of DVD is much better than VHS, plus NO MORE REWINDING! I have not bought a pre-recorded VHS tape in almost two years. Buying new VHS now is just like buying new 8-track tapes after cassettes established their superiority in the marketplace. I predict you will be very hard pressed to even find a newly made VHS unit within the next three or four years. Recordable DVD will be the final nail in the VHS coffin.

Posted: 8/4/2001 5:14:20 PM EDT

[#14]

Free subscription for ar15.com users
[url]http://www.dvdtracker.com/[/url]

Here's my DVD collection
[url]http://www.dvdtracker.com/~weasel[/url]

Posted: 8/4/2001 8:07:08 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Friends do not let friends buy VHS. Seriously, the VHS format is very close to dead. Tapes will continue to be produced for a few years due to the millions of VHS players out there, but DVD is the present and future, as a previous poster said. The sound and picture quality of DVD is much better than VHS, plus NO MORE REWINDING! I have not bought a pre-recorded VHS tape in almost two years. Buying new VHS now is just like buying new 8-track tapes after cassettes established their superiority in the marketplace. I predict you will be very hard pressed to even find a newly made VHS unit within the next three or four years. Recordable DVD will be the final nail in the VHS coffin.

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I am going to buy a DVD player, but until they make DVD recorders at a reasonable price, VHS will be around. That is why most people still have VHS and most don't buy prerecorded tapes.

Posted: 8/4/2001 8:37:53 PM EDT

[#16]

I have both. With the current technology that's the way it's going to be for me until recordable DVD is reasonably priced

Posted: 8/4/2001 8:38:44 PM EDT

[#17]

Wal-mart has both in one. Best of both world's!!!

Posted: 8/4/2001 8:40:51 PM EDT

[#18]

DVD + TiVo = Best of both worlds.

-Troy

Posted: 8/4/2001 9:09:30 PM EDT

[#19]

Do you remember records?

Sure I even have some, but I don't listen to them anymore. The VCR is nearly dead already. If you want to record something to keep around a long time they are still the only economical option.

DVD sound and picture quality are so much better than any VCR, especially on a good TV with a surround sound receiver and speakers.

I just can't wait until all TV is broadcast HDTV and the equipment comes down to a more reasonable price range. Its getting close and the next time my 35" Mitsubishi misses a lick it is gone.

Don't invest any more money in a dying media. You might as well go stock up on 5 1/4" disks for your computer.

[size=6]B[/size=6]

Posted: 8/4/2001 9:50:47 PM EDT

[#20]

Get a playstation 2, they are a good DVD player and you can play sweet games like Gran Turismo 3, which has incredible grafics.

Posted: 8/5/2001 4:03:52 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:

Quoted:
What's VHS?

You can buy a Panasonic DVD-RAM player/ recorder and make your own DVD'S.

[img]http://panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_recorder/images/DMR_E10.jpg[/img]

[url]http://panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_recorder/video_recorders.asp[/url]

View Quote

$1500 and up. Little much for now.

One more stupid question. I notice that some DVD models will play VCD and some won't. Big dummy here: what's the difference between DVD and VCD?

raf: you have your DVD player connected to your PC?

View Quote

Yahoo shopping has them for considerably less.

Did Panasonic kill the link?

Posted: 8/5/2001 6:10:35 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Free subscription for ar15.com users
[url]http://www.dvdtracker.com/[/url]

Here's my DVD collection
[url]http://www.dvdtracker.com/~weasel[/url]

View Quote

i just signed up on your site. how do i get the free membership?

mike