1. Once again pimp I take my hat off to your superior expertise gained during a saturday job in a high street washing machine shop.
Well thanks. I dunno why you always asociate Currys with washing machines, they sell a far bigger range of AV products then white goods.
2. Playback quality is only as good as the broadcast you are recording. SVHS is as good as most broadcasts, until HDTV is available anyway.
No. Playback quality can only be UPTO as good as broadcast quality, but how good it is depends on what you are using to record. I have never seen a recording on any £50 VCR that is as good as the original broadcast. And it will be even worse after its been viewed a few times. The other thing is the sound quality is nowhere near as good either. For example if you record a movie of the TV/SAT and play it back, full blast on your sound system, it will sound crap.
3. Most things you record are disposable. i.e. you only watch them once because you were out. Your 50p DVD example is thus redundant as you are not comparing rewritable DVD's.
Rewritable DVD's have a finite life as well, so are not as re-recordable as video tape.
So, do tapes not have a finite life as well? DVD rewritables might have a finite life, as do tapes. But how on earth are tapes MORE re-recordable? You can record on a RW many times before it will start to loose quality, whereas a tape will bite the dust after a few recordings.
Also, if you have a big family (like i have), then more often then not recordings are watched more then once. For example if eastenders was recorded, i will watch it when i finish work, my brother will watch it when he finishes work, my sister will watch it when she can etc etc so it will end up being viewed about 4 times. Then theres the hassle of having to find it on the tape each time.
4. Cross compatibility is important for home movies that you want to share with relations abroad. Obviously these are usually taken on digital video, so transfer to DVD makes sense, and costs less to send overseas.
Agree on that.
5. Wipe out VCR's for good? I don't think so. Have a look at the figures on VCR usage.
Well yeah, obviously the figures for VCR usage will be high, becuase they have been around for almost half a century so everyones got one. Durrr. Figures for audio tape usage were quite high at one point as well, but it still got wiped out once CD's got established.
6. They are primarily used to record off air and play prerecorded films. Neither of which requires a DVD-R.
Record off air, yes. But from personal experiance i know how much more easier it is recording something onto a DVD recorder compared to a VCR, regardless of cost of media. And by watching prerecorded films, i assume you mean movies. Go to your local Blockbuster, stand there for one hour and see how many people take out films on DVD's as opposed to tape. I haven't watched a film on tape myself for about 4 years. For films its more important now to have a DVD player rather then VCR, becuase the latest titles are mostly on DVD. And if you mean family footage when you say prercorded films, then again it makes sense to record and keep them on a DVD rather then tape. We had about 20 tapes of family footage, which we transferred to DVD when we got the dvd recorder. At least we know now that they are going to still be the same quality in 30 years time when the grandkids are watching it.
7. DVD-R on its own is not a replacement for a VCR, as you they are not easy to use yet, and have on going running costs on media.
I think it is. Just like audio tapes, the main reason people still have VCR's is to play back old tapes that they have already got. Just like people still buy record decks becuase they have old albums on record and need something to play them back. And DVD'rs are easy to use as well, and much easier to navigate around the recordings compared to tape, but this bit is i suppose down to personal opinion. Some people may find it difficult, some not. Again VCR's have been around for almost 50 years (i think), so obviously people will be used to using them. DVD'rs have only been out recently, it takes time for people to get used to the technology. Also 50p for a DVD-R which will give you upto 4 hours recording isn't exactly expensive, only a little bit more then tapes.
8. Sky+ will wipe out VCR's once they have a built in DVD recorder.
Agree with that, Sky+ with a DVD recorder built in is the perfect combination.
9. I'm not disputing how many idiots are being sucked into the propaganda, but they are not throwing their VCR's in the skip as a result.
I don't think they are idiots at all, its funny how its always the same old people on here who think they know best and everyone who doesn't agree are idiots. And the reason they are not throwing their VCR's in the skip is not becuase they want to use them to watch the latest movies or record off, its becuase through years of VCR use they have a number of tapes which they need a VCR to playback. Nobody is buying a VCR becuase its better/cheaper/better quality then a DVD recorder, its simply to play back old tapes.
10. Maybe the 15:1 ratio of DVD-R to VCR sales has something to do with the fact that everyone has a VCR so are unlikely to buy another. Durrrrr!
And obviously they are all idiots becuase they don't have the knowledge you do.
