Betamax..I had s Sony Hifi deck..it was boss.
Where to get rid of VHS tapes
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In terms of DVD, sites such as e-bay will only bring in £1 a disc, if your very lucky.
Nobody wants VHS tapes, and the ability to play them is disappearing fast.
Our charity shops stopped taking tapes some time ago (2 years or more).
So, it's time to take them to the recycling centre. Our one has a big box for all tapes.
Which means, u need to re-purchsse pre-recorded content, such as films, tv series, and so on....or sign up to some form of online streaming service.
For your own content, you may want to save these to DVD, or maybe to PC hard disc.
So you could buy a simple DVD recorder, and link it to your vcr with a scart cord and manually transfer to blank DVD.
A more convenient version of that is a combi DVD/hard disc/VCR machine. Simply put the tape and a blank DVD in the unit and press the transfer button. But these devices have never been that common, always expensive, and I think Panasonic are the only ones still being made.....it now comes with a integral bluray burner instead of a DVD burner.
A 3rd option is to buy a PC kit. It will typically connect your vcr scart through a dongle and into a USB port. The quality u get will depend on the kit and its software. The ease of use will depend on the software.
Once it's on the PC hard disc, don't forget you need to playback the content through HDMI output to HDMI on your tv (or simply view it on the PC screen). You need to make sure hard disc is backed up to a 2nd drive or even 3 drives (different drives, not just different partitions of the same drive) - in case of disc failure, software failure, virus issues - u don't want to loose those precious recordings because of a power spike or bad sector on a 4 year old hard disc. U could also burn your stuff to blank DVD or even blank bluray, if your PC has one of these (increasingly this is no longer the case).
I have done the process several times, using the option 1 + 2. Option 1 is cheaper, but a bit messy, cables etc. Option 2 is very easy and straightforward. The only problem is that once you have transferred your tapes to disc, you have a machine with a VHS deck on it that prolly won't ever get used again.
Nobody wants VHS tapes, and the ability to play them is disappearing fast.
Our charity shops stopped taking tapes some time ago (2 years or more).
So, it's time to take them to the recycling centre. Our one has a big box for all tapes.
Which means, u need to re-purchsse pre-recorded content, such as films, tv series, and so on....or sign up to some form of online streaming service.
For your own content, you may want to save these to DVD, or maybe to PC hard disc.
So you could buy a simple DVD recorder, and link it to your vcr with a scart cord and manually transfer to blank DVD.
A more convenient version of that is a combi DVD/hard disc/VCR machine. Simply put the tape and a blank DVD in the unit and press the transfer button. But these devices have never been that common, always expensive, and I think Panasonic are the only ones still being made.....it now comes with a integral bluray burner instead of a DVD burner.
A 3rd option is to buy a PC kit. It will typically connect your vcr scart through a dongle and into a USB port. The quality u get will depend on the kit and its software. The ease of use will depend on the software.
Once it's on the PC hard disc, don't forget you need to playback the content through HDMI output to HDMI on your tv (or simply view it on the PC screen). You need to make sure hard disc is backed up to a 2nd drive or even 3 drives (different drives, not just different partitions of the same drive) - in case of disc failure, software failure, virus issues - u don't want to loose those precious recordings because of a power spike or bad sector on a 4 year old hard disc. U could also burn your stuff to blank DVD or even blank bluray, if your PC has one of these (increasingly this is no longer the case).
I have done the process several times, using the option 1 + 2. Option 1 is cheaper, but a bit messy, cables etc. Option 2 is very easy and straightforward. The only problem is that once you have transferred your tapes to disc, you have a machine with a VHS deck on it that prolly won't ever get used again.
Consider the amount of plastic from food packaging that is sent to land fill or energy recovery. I doubt VHS cassettes compete. Also consider the value of your spare space, how much is it costing you to host obsolete storage media. One more thing, they are also a potential fire risk hazard, I would have though. Right that's it, all videos are going into bin !
Originally Posted by David (2):
“Our charity shops stopped taking tapes some time ago (2 years or more).”
“Our charity shops stopped taking tapes some time ago (2 years or more).”
Although you could be really naughty.
Post them one at a time through charity shop doors when they are closed...
Originally Posted by LuvJamTarts:
“10-15 yrs ago people were struggling to get rid of their vinyl records, now they are very collectable. There might be people interested, you never know. It was worth asking them if they wanted them as a donation at least before binning them in my opinion.
Thanks for your reply.”
“10-15 yrs ago people were struggling to get rid of their vinyl records, now they are very collectable. There might be people interested, you never know. It was worth asking them if they wanted them as a donation at least before binning them in my opinion.
Thanks for your reply.”
So store them in airtight bags, bung them in the loft and leave them in your will to your grandchildren. Don't forget to bung a VHS player as well though.
I recently took a VHS cassette of my children filmed 30 years ago to a specialist shop and got it transferred to DVD.
Originally Posted by TUTV Viewer:
“Although you could be really naughty.
Post them one at a time through charity shop doors when they are closed...”
“Although you could be really naughty.
Post them one at a time through charity shop doors when they are closed...”
Hahahahahaaaaa
Originally Posted by Toby LaRhone:
“So store them in airtight bags, bung them in the loft and leave them in your will to your grandchildren. Don't forget to bung a VHS player as well though.
I recently took a VHS cassette of my children filmed 30 years ago to a specialist shop and got it transferred to DVD.”
“So store them in airtight bags, bung them in the loft and leave them in your will to your grandchildren. Don't forget to bung a VHS player as well though.
I recently took a VHS cassette of my children filmed 30 years ago to a specialist shop and got it transferred to DVD.”
Sigh.....please read the thread.
Originally Posted by LuvJamTarts:
“Sigh.....please read the thread.”
“Sigh.....please read the thread.”
I have.
You have a load of old tapes nobody wants.
You think they may be worth a few quid to charity shops
They're not.
The advice is to dump them but....
You think they might make a "comeback" like vinyl and be worth something in the future.
So ...... keep them somewhere safe.
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