The Old vs. The New

[HellHammer]

Haha.

My friends meet weekly to play poker...and they bet VHS tapes.

[CRTGAMER]

Now that said, I do own CD players, DVD players, XBox 360, and Wii. But just because I have those things, why does that mean I have to abandon the old? I have a large collection of tapes, VHSs, and old games that I invested a lot of money into that I don't want to just get rid of. And why is it bad that I use them?

Am I crazy? Am I alone here?

Hold on to what you got - Ian Gomm
No reason to toss out what you enjoy. I also have older format video including CED, VHS and Laser Disc. Maybe nostalgia as well as your mention of footage only available in the older format. Laser Disc unique Remote Control Jog Shuttle and frame number search holds a special spot why I like those large shiny discs.

The better pic
I have bought DVD releases of some movies that I already have on Laser Disc, simply because of the better pic. DVD upscaled on my HD CRT more then adequate, no desire to go to BluRay even though its better.

[BurningDoom]

That's an unfair comparison. You're comparing the deprecated format with the current one.

Indeed. VHS movies were $100+ at first.

It may be unfair, but it doesn't make it any less true.

[RCBH928]

I like VHS too!
but lets be honest, other than nostalgia and super cheap price there is no reason to buy VHS.

-As far as I understand, VHS dies quickly due to dust or the player will chew the tape. Something always goes wrong.

-I have seen a lot of vhs players die, I yet have to see a dvd player that won't work.

- Compare dvd size to vhs size for storage, not to mention weight

-I too don't see much difference in quality(not hdtv owner), but dvd is certainly better

-Features of DVD is much better, scene skipping, special features, subtitles, and forwarding/rewinding does not hurt the physical media.

Although I love VHS, and it really gives me a feeling that what I am about to see is a "FILM" not just another viewing material, I don't know any one advantage for VHS over dvd.

Ok, it was the best to record tv material...but with youtube, torrents, dvds, its hard to miss anything now days.

btw, where do you get $1 vhs tapes?

[AppleQueso]

The thing with VHS is even if you take perfectly good care of it, you still have a day come when your VCR decides to be a bitch and mess up your tape. Only reason I'd even consider keeping a VCR around would be if I already had a really large collection of VHS tapes.

DVD is such a great format, I have a feeling I'll be sticking to it long after it's been depreciated. Nice picture quality that still looks really good upscaled. Plus they're very cheap for the most part, especially after-market prices, and they're only going to get lower.

Blu ray is nice, sure, and looks REALLY good, but it almost looks TOO good you know? It seems to have this eerie, almost uncanny valley quality going on... I don't know how much I like being able to see brush strokes on matte paintings for example...

[BurningDoom]

-As far as I understand, VHS dies quickly due to dust or the player will chew the tape. Something always goes wrong.

btw, where do you get $1 vhs tapes?

The film itself is protected by a thick plastic VHS casing. It's pretty hard for it to get ruined by dust, unless you're just treating them like crap. DVDs get ruined much easier by scratching. That is one of the few advantages VHS does have over DVD, more longevity.

The player can indeed chew up the tape, though. However, if you care for you VCR like you're supposed to and run a tape cleaner through it every once in a while, things will be fine.

You can get VHS for $1 almost anywhere: Pawn shops, thrift shops, the flea market, old video rental places, yard sales, eBay.

[RCBH928]

Well I have a vcr that has been bought recently
like maybe 2004, it hasn't been used much

how about you tell me how I should take good care of it?

[Bully]

Good content is good content...I own a lot of movies on DVD and VHS...as long as the movie, music, or game is good then who cares about format. I work with a guy that refuses to play anything that is not in HD. Its his loss, he is missing out on some awesome games because he is techno snob. Old or New good is good, and good is all that matters.

[darthmunky]

Well there's certain old things that I think should no longer exist. Cassette tapes and VHS for example, those are 100% uneeded now and I do look down on people that still use them. But I think everything else is fine. For me, it's all about quality and ease of use. VHS's are just a big, poor quality hassle

[Arbitern1]

I don't look down on something just because it's old. I look down on it if the new media has a visible superiority and the old has no redeeming factors. I love Vinyl records because on my technics turntable you better believe a good conditioned record will sound better than the CD/MP3 alternative. Other music formats like 8-Track and Cassette are just completely obsolete. There is nothing better about a cassette than a CD.

I like Laserdisks ...Well...Because they are Laserdisks.....But i absolutely despise VHS tapes. They suck beyond any shadow of a doubt. I love DVD's thought. Blu Ray is overrated in my opinion and doesn't offer that much of an improvement even on an HD tv fed through an HDMI cable.