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End of an Era as Last VCR Maker Ends Production
Fortune ^ | ly 21, 2016 | Aaron Pressman

Posted on 07/21/2016 8:28:29 AM PDT by Coronal

It’s been almost two decades since the DVD arrived, sparking the long, slow decline of video cassette tapes. But the tape era is about to come to a final close.

The last maker of VHS-compatible video cassette recorders, Japanese manufacturer Funai Electric, says its going to stop producing the devices at the end of the month due to declining sales. Sony said it would cease production of video tapes in its Betamax format last year, 13 years after it stopped making compatible recorders.

(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: electronics; japan; manufacturing; sony; theend; vcr
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
The Funai will NOT play the DVDs recorded from a Funai Magnavox recorder. Go figure!

Will the DVDs play on another player? Ideally, you should not be using the recorder as your main player.

My first DVD recorder was a Panasonic. After it wore out after years of use, I got one of those Magnavox ones that is really a Funai. Everything that I have recorded and finalized in either player plays in everything I put them in. DVD recorders are supposed to output the exact same sort of file as you would get on a commercial DVD.

21 posted on 07/21/2016 9:07:12 AM PDT by Sans-Culotte ("Come back David Dewhurst; all is forgiven!")
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To: Coronal

I tried to find a VCR about 10 years ago. Stores no longer sold them. A few years later, they did have a VCR-DVD, but IIRC, it would only play DVDs, not record to them.

DVRs replaced them. But DVRs were very poorly constructed. The first one, an iO brand, lasted just beyond the 90 day warranty before the drawer locked. I tried about 4 more. Samjunk lasted just beyond the year warranty. Magnavox DVR-HDD lasted about 2 years before it started having problems switching from the DVR to the HDD.

About 6 months ago, I went with a TiVo Bolt. It records to a hard drive and works semi-okay with cable. But it will record 4 channels at the same time, while the cable offering of about the same price will only record 2 channels.


22 posted on 07/21/2016 9:07:26 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Billthedrill
You can't put a whole movie on one of those little disks.

You can if you don't include all the movie previews...

23 posted on 07/21/2016 9:08:28 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Snickering Hound

LOL


24 posted on 07/21/2016 9:09:14 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Moderate Muslims are the fansf cheering for blood during a hockey game)
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To: Yo-Yo

None of the DVD players have a rewind button. It’s a pain in the ass to do it by hand.


25 posted on 07/21/2016 9:09:23 AM PDT by Rebelbase ( Pokemon is a dark evil bent on consuming our souls.)
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To: Red Badger

DVDs have already been replaced, by streaming.

I’m old, I like physical media. My kids will stream a movie with a copy of the same movie on disc, sitting in the player, not exaggerating!


26 posted on 07/21/2016 9:09:37 AM PDT by dangerdoc ((this space for rent))
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To: headstamp 2
I dunno, there’s just something quaint about the old porno VCR tapes.

LOL, a friend once returned a VCR to Sam's Club with one of his porn tapes still in the machine.

27 posted on 07/21/2016 9:10:30 AM PDT by rllngrk33 (Things will continue getting worse until at least January 2017.)
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To: Zarro

It’s still available on some microwaves.


28 posted on 07/21/2016 9:10:31 AM PDT by Rebelbase ( Pokemon is a dark evil bent on consuming our souls.)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

If the DVR is a DVR-RW [gold discs] rather than a DVR+RW [silver discs], you have to 'finalize' them to be read by other DVD players. The silver discs should play on any DVD player without having to be finalized.
29 posted on 07/21/2016 9:12:27 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Coronal
Yes, I think we got rid of our videos when the last VCR bit the dust 5 years ago. DVDs now seem old school, when most of what we watch can be done by Netflix ect.
30 posted on 07/21/2016 9:12:51 AM PDT by Sam Gamgee
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To: Lou L
I think the long-term direction is to have everything in a cloud.

And if you're very, very good boy or girl, your overlords will let you access it.

31 posted on 07/21/2016 9:13:10 AM PDT by Stentor (Free the Rosenbergs--Oh wait. Nevermind.)
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To: Rebelbase

You need to get one of those little machines [hand crank or automatic] that rewinds DVDs.

:)


32 posted on 07/21/2016 9:16:39 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: dangerdoc
DVDs have already been replaced, by streaming.

For a while, DVDs came with a 'digital' version of the product for computer play.

Over the years, I have collected many TV series and a few movies. I have them on a NAS [wireless] hard drive that can be accessed by smart boxes/TVs with apps such as PLEX.

The TV and computer technologies are finally speaking to each other. It took a decade.

My cable company now offers many of their 'channels' on android apps and pc/laptop brower access.


33 posted on 07/21/2016 9:22:30 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Lou L

anyone who relies 100% on “the cloud” deserves what happens to them when it dissappears.


34 posted on 07/21/2016 9:23:57 AM PDT by Mr. K (Trump will win NY state - choke on that HilLIARy)
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To: dangerdoc

When ‘physical media’ disappears, books, music and movie tapes, or digital equivalents, we are in BIG trouble. Then the elitists will control whatever they want you to see hear or read..................


35 posted on 07/21/2016 9:32:03 AM PDT by Red Badger (Make America AMERICA again!.........................)
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To: bert
I hooked it up and the my web account produced a graphic showing the stuff receiving and transmitting. There were 10 devices!
There’s just me and my wife.

You need to get some expert help with your router. If you don't lock it down, anyone nearby in the neighborhood will piggy-back off your ISP connection. Best way is by hidden router name that only you know and can type into your computer in initial connection, along with a strong password. Additionally, you can limit the number of connections allowed to a small number. Additionally you can only allow a small list of IP addresses to connect, that you type into your computer rather than have the router randomly assign an address (if you are real paranoid).

36 posted on 07/21/2016 9:32:56 AM PDT by roadcat
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To: Mr. K
anyone who relies 100% on “the cloud” deserves what happens to them when it dissappears.

I second that sentiment. I use the cloud for perhaps 5 percent of my content, for stuff that I don't care if anyone hacks and I have the content on my local backups.

37 posted on 07/21/2016 9:34:53 AM PDT by roadcat
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To: Sans-Culotte; TomGuy

The disks are finalized, but will not play on a Funai DVD player. They are the silver disks.

They seem to play OK on a Sony, not the best quality, and other Magnavox players.


38 posted on 07/21/2016 9:37:47 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: Rebelbase

Thanks, but doesn’t look quite right in the bedroom...


39 posted on 07/21/2016 9:37:51 AM PDT by Zarro (JAIL CONGRESS!)
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To: Sans-Culotte; TomGuy

I should mention that they play OK on my ASUS laptop and Curtis portable DVD player.


40 posted on 07/21/2016 9:42:08 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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