Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - DVD or VCR for recording?

Up until now, I've always had a DVD player to watch movies on, but a VCR that I use to tape shows on a daily basis.

VCR has quit working. I'm trying to decide which is more suitable for daily taping. VCR's seem to last for years, and tapes are so cheap.

What about DVD recorders... Can you use the CDs over and over and over and over? Are they practical for daily taping? or should I stick with a VCR?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

p.s. I don't care too much about picture quality. It's only to tape a couple shows such as Oprah every day. :)

Why no go with a DVR? DVD's can get costly and it's a slow process to record.

You can get a combo unit, if you really like VCR's. Between the two, I'd get a DVD orver a VCR, it's faster to ff and reverse. If you're just taping TV shows, I don't think recording speed matters and you can buy RW's which are erasable, so you can tape over and over. They can be pricey, but you can buy 25 pack specials (check out places like Office Depot and Bestbuy) that are pretty reasonable. Just my 2 cents. :D

Our DVD has a hard drive. Wife's soaps and some weekly shows go to it. Holds about 30 hours worth. If we want to watch a rental movie, we just switch to DVD and watch. We can also record to and rewrite DVD's. Not the cheapest, but works great.

We are also needing replace our vcr. In checking we have found that most do not come with a tuner like the one we have. We want to be able to watch tv and record another channel. We do not have a cable box, etc. Just the cable straight to the tv.

Any suggestions how to handle this?

Thanks

Jim:wall:

Thanks for the replies. I ended up buying a DVD/VCR, but the DVD part is not a recorder. Just the VCR is. The main reason I didn't get the DVD recorder was cost. The DVD/VCR was only $65.

I checked out a few DVD recorders, but they were too expensive for now.... Perhaps I'll get one in the next year or two when the price comes down.

Thanks muchly for the replies!

Marie, are you sure your new DVD/VCR has a built in tuner for the VCR? Most combo units in that price range ($65) do NOT have built in tuners anymore. You have to look close when you buy these....they usually say "line-in recording only" and will not record directly off the air/cable.

Really? Why would they even make something that you can't use to record off the air from? That seems crazy to me...

Yikes. I'll go check it out. (Just bought it, so it's still in the trunk of my car.)

Remember that next February all tuners which are used to pick up over the air TV broadcasts will go dead unless they are the new HD type. You can get around the problem with an HD converter box. If you haven't done so, send for your government coupons.

It is digital, not HD.

A manufacturer has to include a digital OTA tuner, or no OTA tuner. They save bucks by including no tuner at all.

Now I'm really confused... lol

What I bought is a magnavox DVD/VCR player CMWD2206. It can record tv programs while I am watching other channels...

How can I tell if I will be able to use it to tape tv programs next year? Will I have to buy the HD box you are referring to?

It has an NTSC tuner in it. It will do what you want it to do.