Most of my chick flicks were really cheap at WalMart on VHS not so many years ago, so yes, we still use the VCR. I have to tape things for school and such as well, so the VCR comes in handy when I have to transfer something over.

Nice One   

We still have a VCR, still does all we need it to do. My wife is not a particularly avid film watcher, so all we use it for is playing back personal tapes or recording the odd show we would otherwise miss. There hasnt been any point in getting a DVD player for the TV, VCR has done all we need - any DVD films I want I will watch on the computer in the study.

The day is coming though as the trusty steed is noisily clanking and whiring a bit too much these days - poor soul (the VCR not the wife   )

The advent of the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) was what basically sealed the fate of the VCR for me.  I was plenty smart enough to configure and use a VCR, and heck, my DirecTV satellite receivers would automatically control the VCRs, then later Dish Network receivers that did the same, and finally later still more DirecTV receivers, but once I had moved into the Dish Network receivers I was working with DVRs -- Dish Players (a predecessor to Microsoft's Ultimate TV boxes, somewhat akin to their WebTV for Windows products, somewhat akin to Windows Media Center Edition, etc.) to be exact.

Even though the Dish Players could control a VCR and make it automatically record content that was coming through the receiver, the fact of the matter was that the Dish Player boxes had hard drives on board and could digitally record the stream that was coming down from the satellite so there was no loss of resolution, etc., that comes from the digital to analog conversion, or from the TV broadcast recording that is done back on VHS tape (which doesn't support the resolution that broadcast TV actually uses).

Though I bought the Dish Players because they were capable of controlling VCRs, I quickly learned that I didn't need VCRs to record content any more -- at least while the Dish Players were initially somewhat stable boxes, before Dish and Microsoft seemed to have conspired to make the boxes basically useless due to botched software upgrades, lack of software upgrades, etc., (which eventually drove me over to DirecTV and their DirecTV DVR's powered by TiVo).

Once I moved back to DirecTV and got the DirecTV DVRs with TiVo there was absolutely no going back to VCR.  And steadily DVD took hold in the market place at about the same time, so I wound up not even using VCRs to play back rental tapes and such from Blockbuster and other rental places.

As I said in the original article, I've not touched a VCR (for my own usage) in a long, long time.  DVD had better resolution, crisper pictures, better sound, etc.  And while I occassionally longed for the ability to make my own DVDs of TV content on my TiVo boxes, I really never missed the hassles of VCRs.

I spoke up a bit, recently, in Karma's thread about A different time, a different world.  In another few years there will be plenty of people that hear the term VCR and ask what the heck is that?!?  My children know what VCRs were, but their children (when they have them) will likely never know of them and may ask the question in a way that would be similar to someone reading Gid's comment above about Super 8 and go huh?!?

Yes, like you I have one TV with it built in, and a couple of combo decks.

But do you actively use them?

But do you actively use them?

My son does - to tape DVDs.  I dont.  Even Hollywood does not rent them any longer.

(And btw, please let me know if you see the message I set up for you with you as the private audience. Thx)

No.  If an article, I think I would need the AID.  I think there is a way to send emails from one of the forums since I have been sent them before from others.

Wait for the day when they say that about DVDs - then you'll know the grim reaper is near   

Anyway, it inspired the question of whether or not you (readers) still have a VCR yourself and/or whether you actually use it for anything if you do?

Yep!  still have two of em,  and use them for watching movies.  Some of my favorite movies are dirt cheap right now VHS,  ain't gonna replace all of my VHS movies with DVD's though.

I have one.  I may have two (don't remember) but I don't use them very often.  My daughter has a couple tapes she likes to watch, but everything else we have is on DVD now.