What can I do with old VHS video tapes?

Conshine

Registered User
Messages
488
I have spent many years taping various films from TV and built up quite a collection over the years. I have quite a few originals as well.

It pains me to do it, but the time has come to decide what to do with the boxes of tapes that have been gathering dust for the last few years.

VHS tapes are not the most popular purchase on eBay, so dont think thats an option.

Any ideas?

I would like to get a few €€€'s for them if possible.
 
Don't even think of selling those tapes anywhere. Unless you have bought the copyrights of the shows in question, your tapes are 100% illegal.

Time to declutter! Bring them to a recycling centre; www.dublinwaste.ie if you are in the Dublin area will help you find one.

This may be a bit harsh but... if they have been gathering dust for years, perhaps it's time to acknowledge that they are not very valuable at all. Just let go and you will feel better for it!
 
transfer them to DVD and hold on to them Never know may have a value someday and you can always relook at them
 
Any suggestions on how to transfer VHS to DVD?
I sent a VHS wedding video to a profesional transfer to DVD company. They returned DVD but it would only work on my computer DVD player and not on regular DVD player onTV.
 
Any suggestions on how to transfer VHS to DVD?
I sent a VHS wedding video to a profesional transfer to DVD company. They returned DVD but it would only work on my computer DVD player and not on regular DVD player onTV.

Have you tried it in a number of DVD players? You should explain the problem to the professionals who created the DVD for you. Failing that, it's reasonably straightforward to convert the DVD to another DVD that will work in your player.
 
I have spent many years taping various films from TV and built up quite a collection over the years. I have quite a few originals as well.

It pains me to do it, but the time has come to decide what to do with the boxes of tapes that have been gathering dust for the last few years.

VHS tapes are not the most popular purchase on eBay, so dont think thats an option.

Any ideas?

I would like to get a few €€€'s for them if possible.

Any cowboy films in that lot? A transfer to DVD sounds like the obvious way to go if you are interested in holding onto the content. However, if you want to retain the videos as a collector's item in the future, then you have a long time to wait I'm afraid.
 
Buy a dual tape to DVD player.Cost a few hundred but worth it
especially if you have home tapes that you want to keep.You
can transfer them on to your computer later.
 
However unless these are rare films, and with the price of DVDs falling all the time, the time and hassle of converting them may pale in comparison to just replacing them with cheap DVD versions of the same movies.
 
Ok, a few ideas here ... Will look into getting some on to DVD.

What about the actual cassettes? Any suggestions on what can be done with them? Seems wasteful throwing them in the bin.
 
The hard facts are, they are not worth anything and will degrade over time. In these days of high def and DVD quality no wants VHS.
 
If you list the videos on one of the free to give away websites www.jumbletown.ie or freecycle ( not sure of their web address) you might get somebody interested in a few of the titles. It's amazing the range of stuff people offer and want on these webites
 
Any suggestions on how to transfer VHS to DVD?
I sent a VHS wedding video to a profesional transfer to DVD company. They returned DVD but it would only work on my computer DVD player and not on regular DVD player onTV.

Sounds like they recorded it to r- whereas your dvd player only plays r+ or vice versa, most modern dvd players will play both formats, try making a copy of the dvd using your PC onto a fresh disk and use that in the player(or else get a new player nowadays you can get them for peanuts at places like power city)
 
Try offering them free on www.jumbletown.ie. I got rid of a load to a playgroup a few months ago. There should still be plenty of takers for them.
 
Likewise. Accumulated about 2,000 tapes [not including films / tv I bought] over the years and they're a bugger to store. Got a DVD recorder in the summer of 2006 and haven't looked back. One with a hard drive is essential.

Most of my tapes are boxed up or stored behind my CDs and DVDs as the shelves are wide. Periodically I will convert some stuff to DVD but in reality if I want to watch something that I taped I'll just play the tape.

One thing in their favour - they last - contrary to what aircobra19 asserts.

I have some tapes of programmes recorded in the early 1980s and they still play fine.

I have DVD-Rs of films I recorded a few months ago and a couple of them don't play.

The last thing I will do is dump them as I do not consider recordable DVDs a 100% reliable format.
 
Mind all started having problems, especially the ones I watched the most. Same with my Audio casettes. They'll obviously last longer if you look after them and don't play them that much.
 
If you are thinking of getting a Video/DVD Recorder Combi, do NOT get a FUNAI (from Argos). They are a heap of rubbish. The one I had broke down after 13 months (outside the warranty), and I subsequently found that this is a common Funai Combi issue.

I took the plunge again but this time with a Phillips combi and it seems to be fine.
 
Back
Top