5 Reasons to Get Rid of the VCR

Some people just can't let go of the 20^th century. If you're one of the chosen few that still possesses and uses your VCR, it's time to let it go. If you go to most retail stores you'll notice that VCRs are dirt cheap and for good reason - they're hardly in use anymore. In some places they've become collector's items. It was great technology, don't get me wrong, but we've switched to a new medium. It's a new day, it's a new era, it is a new way of watching movies.

If you're still holding on to that VCR, here are five reasons you should get rid of it:

1. DVDs are in, VHS tapes are out.

Some people are giving away VHS tapes these days. Even in your retail movie rental places like Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, the majority of items in stock are of DVDs. Most people just don't use VHS tapes and VCRs anymore. It was instituted as a way to record things that you wanted to see later. Now we have things like TIVO that do that for us now.

2. If you have cable, you can record shows using your DVR.

Most, if not all, cable companies now have the option to add a DVR (digital video recorder) at a monthly fee to your cable package. DVRs are used in place of VCRs today. Your cable company provides them as an option for two reasons. The first is that since it is digital recording you don't have to store your shows on tapes and then try and figure out how much space is left or if you can get that half-hour show in without it getting cut off. More than likely you are going to have plenty of space on your DVR to record as much as you like, from whichever television you like. The second reason is that your DVR is supposed to give you incentive not to purchase a TIVO. TIVO was what came out before DVRs as a way to record shows from television without use of your VCR. TIVO isn't as popular now as it used to be, but it is still a way that people have considered for their recording needs.

3. Have you heard of Blu-Ray discs?

Blu-ray is a format used to record, rewrite and playback HD (high-definition) media. This format was created also to store large amounts of data. Currently it can store about 25GB of space on a single-layer disc, 50GB if the disc is double-layered. Blu-ray discs are what will take over DVDs in a matter of time, in my opinion.

4. DVD players are reasonable now. For a little more money you can even get a DVD-recorder.

You can find a decent DVD player for about $50, if not less, even from major retail stores such as Best Buy, or online retailers such as Amazon.com. Even brand names such as Sony or Phillips or Magnavox or RCA are available at reasonable prices. The reason is that DVD players aren't the main attraction anymore, Blu-ray is. The thing about Blu-ray is that it's most effective if you have a HDTV. If not, then DVDs are still the best option. Once the price of HDTVs comes down though, so will Blu-Ray players, and thus DVDs will begin to become obsolete. If you've noticed, you can find DVDs now for under $10 at most retailers like Walmart, Target, or previously rented movies from Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. If you don't have a DVD player, now is a good time to get one.

You can also invest in a DVD-recorder if you want to spring for the extra $50-100. DVD recorders allow you to write, and rewrite, to your DVD discs. You'll need special discs for recording on DVDs; they're called DVD-RWs. You'll need this device if you want to save the media that's on your VHS tapes. What you can do is play your VHS tape through your VCR, and then have it record onto your VCR. You don't even have to sit and watch it happen, just let it run for the length of the VCR.

5. You can store media on your computer as well.

With the size of hard drives reaching into terabytes (to break this down, think one million megabytes, or one thousand gigabytes, or perhaps a trillion bytes) saving movies on your computer is not hard to do at all. You can even buy separate hard drives not configured with your computer but attached either via firewire or USB plug-in. There are some websites that play back television shows and movies for free! There's no need to save it if you have easy access to it. In this day and age, your external hard drive can be your replacement VCR (or DVD player for that matter).

VCRs were great for their time. I remember back in the 1980s and 1990s taping shows from television, or cable, and going back to watch them during my free time. I remember taping over old shows so I could have room for the shows I really wanted to save. I also remember searching through old VHS tapes to see what was on what tape, and then organizing those tapes in a way that I could remember quickly finding what I needed. All of those days are over. Welcome to the world of DVDs, Blu-rays, and supercomputers. This is how we store media, and for some... memories.

Source for this Article:

Blu-Ray.com - What is Blu-ray?
http://www.blu-ray.com/info/