If your VCR (videocassette recorder) is coming to the end of its life, you may be wondering where to get a new one. You have no doubt noticed that no tech shops sell VHS players anymore, but can you still get them anywhere?
The short answer is, no, you cannot buy newly manufacturedVCRs. The last VCR was manufactured in 2016 by Funai Electric, the lastremaining VHS player manufacturer after all the other major tech companies hadstopped making them. They announced they were ceasing production that year dueto poor sales, and there have been no new VCRs on the market since.
However, that does not mean that they do not exist anymore.Here’s what you need to know about getting hold of a VHS player to play yourold tapes.
Where CanYou Get Old VHS Players?
Your options for a VHS player is to source an old one thatwas made pre-2016. While they are old, you may still be able to find unusedones still in their original boxes. Here are some places you can try to findVCRs:
- eBay
eBay is the number one place for buying things like defuncttech, as it is the world’s largest used marketplace. Check out the listings oneBay to see if anyone is selling a VHS player. Chances are, here is where youwill find unused VCRs that still come in their original packaging.
- Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is another online space where peoplesell their belongings. Unlike eBay, it is less of a business and more a placewhere people can sell things they own that they no longer want. So you may beunlikely to get a new VCR on Facebook Marketplace, but you could find a usedone that people are clearing out of their house.
- Car boot sale
If you prefer to buy things in person rather than online, acat boot sale can be a great place to look for a VHS player. As they are adefunct piece of tech and most people no longer use them, there are plenty ofpeople who want to clear them out from their attics and sell them at car bootsales.
- Charity shop
You could find a VCR in a charity shop, especially onededicated to electronics. However, this may be unlikely as most charity shopswould not accept donations of such out-of-date tech, so your best bet will begoing to people directly online or at car boot sales rather than trying to findone in a charity shop.
ConvertYour VHS Tapes
If you manage to find a VCR player to replace yours, don’t forget to do a VHS to DVD or video to digital conversion to preserve your video footage. Nostalgia is great, and you may want to keep watching your VHS tapes in their original format, but tapes are not built to last, and you can come into a world of problems that makes watching your home videos very difficult, such as:
- Tape deterioration
The sensitive tape inside VHS tapes can become easily ruinedas the magnetic particles lose their charge and decay. Your footage can becomeshaky and unstable, or the image will jump on the screen and experience a lossof detail, making the viewing experience less enjoyable. Even with properstorage and care, you cannot completely stop the natural deterioration of thesetapes over time.
- Digital corruption
Tapes like mini DVs and Digital 8 tapes can suffer fromdigital deterioration, where your footage is lost and cannot be recovered.These tapes were the steppingstone from VHS to digital before digital becamethe norm. They are susceptible to corruption, which can cause video pixilationand audio loss.
- Mould
VHS tapes can develop mould when kept in poor conditions.Mould grows on the tape, and the spores eat into the oxide coating, making thetape stick to itself. Some mould can be cleaned away if caught early enough,but it is not always possible, and the tape that has stuck together isunrepairable. Mould can ruin your video footage or make the tape completelyunplayable altogether.
- Tape slippage
Due to the moving parts of a VHS, things can go wrong thatdamage the footage or prevent it from playing. Tape slippage happens when thetape loses tension or has become warped; it requires a complex repair that isnot always possible.
DVDs and digital formats are much more reliable than VHS tapes. They have none of the deterioration problems of VHS, there are a wide variety of devices that can play your videos, and they are easier to share with friends and family. If you would like to learn more about how Video2DVD can convert your home videos into a better, upgraded format by transferring VHS to DVD, video to MP4 and more, contact us today.
