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Panasonic Blu-ray player + VHS: silly or practical?
I can't decide if Panasonic's DMP-BD70V, a combination Blu-ray player and VHS VCR, is akin to a bird and a fish deciding to get married, or is actually pretty practical.
While you're deciding, consider the deck connects to your HDTV via HDMI only and your old tapes will be upconverted to 1080. Panasonic didn't have a demo hooked up, so I don't know how good or bad old 240-line tapes will look boosted to 1080. It's also a BD-Live deck, and includes both a USB and an SD card slot in front.
Okay, I think this would have been a winner if the BD section could record on either standard definition recordable DVDs or even on Blu-ray blanks, although that addition would have raised the price far above its intended $500 price tag. It'll be out in the spring, so you have until then to decide its merits.
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By ausi1 at 7:10 AM ON 01/11/09
Wher do you buy VHS tapes for it
By james bates at 9:40 AM ON 01/11/09
one things for sure its fugly , and it is however becoming increasingly hard to find a supplier of vhs tapes and players.
By Traveler at 12:34 PM ON 01/11/09
very useful
By TEC at 3:17 PM ON 01/11/09
There is definitely a market for it. I work at Costco and a lot of people ask me if we carry something that will play both. Personally i think they need to just throw out the tapes but old people don't like to change.
By CJW at 5:34 AM ON 01/12/09
I dig it. I've still got VHS tapes on my shelf that never were released as DVDs. Home movies come to mind as well. At least it'd keep one less thing off my shelf. $500 is a lot to pay though.
By SeniorRacer at 10:42 AM ON 01/12/09
Hey,
Those of us that bought and paid for all the media changes over the past 30 years have converted and converted till we are worn out. Because this is endless, I stopped converting.
I think its smart for a manufacturer to soften the cost of moving to the next new media.
Those who call us "old folks" as we were called by a previous comment will chuckle when some time in the future that comment will again be heard.
I have tried to avoid the possibility that my old media will be unheard because a single player broke. I have attempted to prevent this by buying unboxed new "old" players.
So, go ahead and give the United States the recordable Blu-Ray you manufacturers now sell in Japan.
I have been patiently waiting for a recordable Blu-Ray combo deck. Maybe even one with a VHS deck even if the VHS is only a player.
Ready to buy in Tennessee.
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SeniorRacer:
Hey, Those of us that bought and paid for all the media changes over the past 30 years have converted and converte...More »