Are VHS's gradually phasing out more in your area?

[Hasbro'sBountyHunter]

It's been a month or so since Circut City announced the stop of VHS sales. And I've noticed lately that commercials for DVD's/VHS's are now saying "own it now on DVD and Video." Wasn't it like a year ago that the statement was "own it now on Video and DVD?" I've also noticed a lot of stores in my area have a small section for VHS's and a vast selection of DVD's, where as a year ago it was like 50/50. How long do you think until VHS's are completely phased out? At the rate I'm looking, it doesn't seem that far off.

[Beast]

It will survive a few more years. DVD recorders need to drop a bit more in price to be actual affordable by most consumers. Not because people are buying alot of movies on DVD, but because people have amassed a library of VHS tapes with family events and things recored off TV. Until they can have a machine to transfer to DVD, that will sustain VHS.

The market is dieing though, it can't sustain it's self to much longer. DVD recorder prices are droping. And DVD players already outsell VHS machines every month. Soon the only sales you will have of VHS machines is for people that want a cheap method to record, or already have huge libraries of VHS tapes at home.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[bigbarada]

I'm hoping that VHS sticks around a little longer. Look at music, how many stores are still selling cassette tapes? I see new music releases on tape all the time at Wal-Mart (I think it's primarily for people who can't afford a car CD player, like me).

[wedgeA]

BigB,

Are you referring to a CD deck? If you want something cheaper, you can get a portable CD player, most come with 12v adaptors and a converter "cassette" that fits into your car's deck. You can probably a pretty good one for around $40-$50. I don't have any complaints about mine.

As for VHS, one reason I do mourn its passing is that it was a less restrictive format than DVDs. Since DVD's are region coded, many great foreign films may never see the light of day here. With VHS, they could easily be played on any deck, or at worst, a PAL to NTSC conversion was pretty easy.

[bigbarada]

After giving it some thought, the reason I think cassette tapes have stuck around is the same reason I believe VHS will be around long after DVD's are yesterday's hi-tech. Cassettes and VHS tapes have many characteristics that, in my mind, make them far superior to CD's or DVD's. Namely durability, versatility and price (yes, I know that tapes are supposedly much more expensive to manufacture than CDs and DVDs, but if this were really true, then no DVD should ever cost more than $5). Sure you can buy a $40 CD player for your car, if you don't mind your CD's skipping every time you hit your brakes. For a $10 tape player though, you never have to worry about skipping (unless you drive off a cliff, in which case your tapedeck is the least of your problem) and you can more easily customize tapes to fit your personal tastes. I know CD burners are getting cheaper also, but you still need to own a computer system to use one (this makes the minimum cost for a CD burner about $500).

Basically I feel the same way about VHS. In my mind the differences in picture quality aren't really clear unless you own a high-end TV set (another few hundred dollars to add to the cost of your DVD player and the more expensive discs). The only thing that DVDs really have going for them is the extra features (which like the bonuses included with early CDs, will go away when the medium becomes more mainstream) and lifespan. The DVDs will survive longer than VHS tapes, but only until the cheap, low-grade plastic used to make them, degrades.

[Beast]

BigB, seriously you can see the picture difference on small sized TV's. I have my DVD player hooked up to a piddly 19" at the moment, cause my 27" is in the shop. VHS has a much much shorter lifespan then VHS. Everytime you play/record a VHS tape, the heads remove oxide from the tape. Over time, the more you use that tape...the more it degrades and then your tape is ready for the trash heap.

The extra features are the nature of the beast, they won't go away. More and more movies that were released when the format launced as barebones are being re-issed with extra features.

DVD is already mainstream, if it wasn't you wouldn't be able to buy players or discs in stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart. Trust me on that, I was a Laserdisc person before DVD came. It was a niche group, you never saw players or discs outside of specilty retailers.

You're also forgetting that not only can DVD offer extra features, but you also can get things like alternate audio tracks. Spanish and french language tracks. That is just the tip of the iceberg. The plastics that they use in disc manufaturing are expected to outlast you. Most experts say that your children and their children will be able to enjoy your DVD's.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[QLD]

Oddly, I kind of agree with all sides in this situatiuon. I think all of the formats have their benefits.

[Jek Porky 2002]

Over here in the UK, there was a huge rise in the number of people buying DVD's around last September, with that it also caused a huge increase in the number of Video sales, so I reckon it's got a good 5 years left in it yet!

[Exhaust Port]

I haven't seen any significant changes in the amount of DVD's vs VHS's available at any of the local stores over the last year or so. I'm sure that won't be the case when the same question is asked in 3-4 years.

[bigbarada]

I guess maybe I've seen too many bad DVD transfers. The copy of American Graffiti I bought was terrible when compared to the old pre-THX VHS tape, and my parents have the TV mini-series Lonesome Dove on DVD (one of my all-time favorites) which still has all the film grain and "dirt" perfectly preserved all over the image.