Old school tech you thought had died out ...

Beano

Walking along Henry street on saturday i seen a guy put something into his inside pocket. It looked like the worlds biggest MP3 player until i realised it was a walkman (or a walkman clone at least). I thought these had died out years ago. Anybody else see people using old tech that they thought had died out?

rubadub

There was a thread a year or so ago with a lad complaining about how hard it was to get decent VHS copies of films nowadays. Think he was saying how he reckoned it was better than dvd or maybe even blu-ray.

There was a tape revival day or week going on a few months ago. Some bands only releasing stuff on tape, they like the fact it forced people to listen to songs in order, and can't easily skip by tracks.

Beano

I must have a look for that thread, i've got boxes of VHS films that are just taking up space. Free to a good home.

rubadub

here it is
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83411148

Beano

cheers.

nlgbbbblth

I use a discman if I am taking the bus or train.
Don't have a smart phone.
Buy records and CDs. Never buy downloads.

endacl

I used a pencil today. Hard to beat a pencil to do the job of a pencil!

L1011

rubadub wrote: »

Think he was saying how he reckoned it was better than dvd or maybe even blu-ray.

And he's insane, and possibly partially blind and deaf too.

VHS has 240 lines of resolution, meaning it has less than half the quality of broadcast analogue TV. Low bandwidth analogue stereo audio - usually mono if recorded off TV compared to digital stereo on broadcast here.

There wasn't a circumstance, ever, where VHS was better than DVD in terms of audio or video quality.

super_furry

But but but, it just 'feels a lot warmer'.

Nonsense I know.

gouche

Theres something to be said for vinyl, particularly older stuff where it was the target medium.
But saying VHS is superior to DVD is just nonsense.

endacl

gouche wrote: »

Theres something to be said for vinyl, particularly older stuff where it was the target medium.
But saying VHS is superior to DVD is just nonsense.

There's a hell of a lot to be said for vinyl. But really only through a decent system. Lack of digital compression and the harmonic distortion inherent to the format really does make all the difference.

I don't miss VHS though...

I remember we had no VCR and rented a "Videobox" back in the day

L1011

super_furry wrote: »

But but but, it just 'feels a lot warmer'.

Nonsense I know.

If you find black and white sparkles warm, I'd associate them with a night sky :pac:

What I hated about VHS was having to rewind it for the next person

nlgbbbblth

Agree re VHS. It was a clunky inferior format. Good for recording off-air programmes. I still have a couple of thousand tapes that I play every so often including a complete run of Only Fools and Horses on VHS. The Christmas special A Royal Flush is severely edited on DVD. John Sullivan's decision.

GerB40

My ould lad found his old record player in the granmothers house and I can't stop listening to it. There's some good stuff like Simon & Garfunkle, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison there.

Even shyte like Donny Osmond and Eddie Cochrane doesn't sound too bad because that crackling sound is close to hypnotic..

demanufactured

[Deleted User] wrote: »

What I hated about VHS was having to rewind it for the next person

Remember when you rented them....you would be fined if it was returned without rewinding it?

Beano

demanufactured wrote: »

Remember when you rented them....you would be fined if it was returned without rewinding it?

yep. 50p per tape.

madmaggie

I use my grandparents old 1960's Pye radio. It's a valve radio with a wood cabinet, and the stations with old names like Third, and Light. It takes a while to get going, and buzzes like crazy, but not bad for a 50 year old peice of tech.

Esel

MYOB wrote: »

And he's insane, and possibly partially blind and deaf too.

VHS has 240 lines of resolution, meaning it has less than half the quality of broadcast analogue TV. Low bandwidth analogue stereo audio - usually mono if recorded off TV compared to digital stereo on broadcast here.

There wasn't a circumstance, ever, where VHS was better than DVD in terms of audio or video quality.

Maybe, but S-VHS ... :pac:

nlgbbbblth

madmaggie wrote: »

I use my grandparents old 1960's Pye radio. It's a valve radio with a wood cabinet, and the stations with old names like Third, and Light. It takes a while to get going, and buzzes like crazy, but not bad for a 50 year old peice of tech.

Great location !:)

Rotunda Shill

Deleted User wrote: »

What I hated about VHS was having to rewind it for the next person

...and you use to get fined for not doing it.

Capt'n Midnight

MYOB wrote: »

If you find black and white sparkles warm, I'd associate them with a night sky :pac:

Remember analog satellite with the sparklies, and they'd encrypt the picture but not the sound ?

L1011

Esel wrote: »

Maybe, but S-VHS ... :pac:

Ooh, NTSC broadcast quality (just).

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Remember analog satellite with the sparklies, and they'd encrypt the picture but not the sound ?

Perfect for when BBC R5/Talksport weren't covering the matches Sky were.

rubadub

Remember this?



I had a great technique over the years, I would spin the tape on the pencil, rather than twist the pencil itself.

endacl

rubadub wrote: »

I had a great technique over the years, I would spin the tape on the pencil, rather than twist the pencil itself.

Good technique, but the wrong tool. A bic pin provided a more secure fit.

rubadub

endacl wrote: »

Good technique, but the wrong tool. A bic pin provided a more secure fit.

I think thats what I actually used! I remember having a dodgy walkman and having to do it regularly. You would hear the song going a bit odd and have to quickly stop the tape, then you opened it up and it was like one of those joke cans of peanuts where the springy snake pops out. You'd be sitting on a bus with reams of tape everywhere!


Or they would get wound up around the mechanisms in the tape player.

Beano

I used to know somebody who always rewound his tapes that way. He said rewinding them in the ghetto blaster would wear out the motor.

imitation

I went to the Guggenheim in Bilbao on holiday for a look see, the most interesting thing I saw was an old Sony Triton tv from the 70s that was actually some footage from a rooftop camera exhibit style thing yoko one had. Says a lot about me, but personally I preferred the nostalgia of an old CRT to yoko onos jazz wailings.

Ruu

There is a lady who power walks by me every morning and she has a walkman in hand, suppose it works well for a weight as well, bit of resistance.

madmaggie

rubadub wrote: »

Remember this?



I had a great technique over the years, I would spin the tape on the pencil, rather than twist the pencil itself.

Remember?? Still doing it.

DMcL1971

My car doesn't have a CD player, so I'm still playing cassettes everyday.

telecinesk

Had to, yes I have boxes of them.. Still work .)

Jenda

Probably doesn't count but I was very surprised working in an office when a company would only receive (one / two page) documents by fax, not by e-mail!

endacl

Jenda wrote: »

Probably doesn't count but I was very surprised working in an office when a company would only receive (one / two page) documents by fax, not by e-mail!

You were told when you brought it up at that staff meeting.

We bought the feckin' thing. We're using the feckin' thing!

:mad:

door

MYOB wrote: »

And he's insane, and possibly partially blind and deaf too.

VHS has 240 lines of resolution, meaning it has less than half the quality of broadcast analogue TV. Low bandwidth analogue stereo audio - usually mono if recorded off TV compared to digital stereo on broadcast here.

There wasn't a circumstance, ever, where VHS was better than DVD in terms of audio or video quality.

VHS never skipped

endacl

door wrote: »

VHS never skipped

And trailers/copyright bollocks wasn't mandatory...

L1011

door wrote: »

VHS never skipped

Only damaged DVDs skip, damaged VHSs don't play.

endacl wrote: »

And trailers/copyright bollocks wasn't mandatory...

Player issue rather than video quality issue. Higher end kit usually ignores the UOP flag; if you're pretending that VHS can be made watchable (or better, as our loon here...) with high end players etc you can get a non-29.99 DVD player.

Ridiculous that it was ever part of the format to begin with, though.

rubadub

Jenda wrote: »

Probably doesn't count but I was very surprised working in an office when a company would only receive (one / two page) documents by fax, not by e-mail!

I have heard this is possibly some legal thing. Or following old procedures to the letter.

door wrote: »

VHS never skipped

it just got mangled or had tracking issues, or magnetic damage, or was worn out (especially where breasts appeared for some odd reason;))

I remember all of them then had autotracking, which often did not work, so you were totally helpless in fixing it. I had a JVC ancient yoke with manual tracking that let you watch even the most messed up tape.

copey

I saw a Walkman CD player the other day

door

MYOB wrote: »

Only damaged DVDs skip, damaged VHSs don't play.
.

Not the case for me. I never had a VHS that didn't play. If the video heads of a VCR were dirty, you might get a lot of fuzz and snow but it was like they were in for the fight of their lives to show you some images and sound. Poorly kept VCRs damaged VHS while DVDs can sometimes come damaged to begin with. I have come across a few dozen DVDs over the last 14 years that were straight out of the box, perfectly clean, new and not scratched that would skip, making it impossible to watch any further and usually just refusing to play any more. VHS might have had tracking issues (usually due to the VCR) but you could often still see the picture clear enough behind any fuzz to know what was going on until it sorted itself out. DVDs are amazing in quality but I still found VHS far more reliable and easier to fix. There's nothing you can do to fix a skipping DVD that has no grime on it.

Professey Chin

My turtles 2 VHS used to keep unwinding in the player

nlgbbbblth

VHS is reliable as an archive medium.

I have tapes with off-air recordings as far back as 1981. They all play perfectly.

In 2006 I started using a DVD recorder with hard drive. I would then transfer programmes from the hard drive to DVD-R. A number of them won't play anymore.

Antenna

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

A number of them won't play anymore.

have you tried them on different players ?
DVDs which have somehow deteriorated might still play on some players but not others
Does it seem to be related to brand of disc used?

I have seen a DVD, nearly 10 years old, which would only play intermittently on one player and not at all on others! but when it did play the whole thing played OK! - I made a copy (albeit via SCART)

Yes VHS and audio tape stored in good conditions (dry air etc) play OK after 3 + decades . You'd wonder how long-term reliable archiving stuff on DVD and CD-R etc is ! , a lot of differing opinion about this on the net.

nlgbbbblth

Antenna wrote: »

have you tried them on different players ?
DVDs which have somehow deteriorated might still play on some players but not others
Does it seem to be related to brand of disc used?

I have seen a DVD, nearly 10 years old, which would only play intermittently on one player and not at all on others! but when it did play the whole thing played OK! - I made a copy (albeit via SCART)

Yes VHS and audio tape stored in good conditions (dry air etc) play OK after 3 + decades . You'd wonder how long-term reliable archiving stuff on DVD and CD-R etc is ! , a lot of differing opinion about this on the net.

Think it might be disc related. Sony and Verbatim seem to be most reliable but I didn't always use those.

I think the dub mode/speed might also be a factor. I always burn discs at the lowest possible setting.