What's wrong with this picture?
By Kat Yares

Three years ago, for our anniversary, we broke down and bought a DVD player. Up until that point, we thought the cost of one of these newfangled machines too cost prohibitive. Besides, most movies were still coming out on VHS tape, so what was the big deal? VCRs were cheap.

Needless to say, we fell in love with the DVD player and decided we would never again buy another VHS tape. All our new movies are on DVD. Besides, we still had the VCR for all of our older movies and to tape the occasional television show for watching later. We had joined the DVD revolution.

We were happy we were content. We had both formats, and could watch all of our favorite movies. Because as much as we loved DVDs, we weren't about to go to the cost of replacing all of the tapes on the shelves.

Several months ago, our old VCR gave up the ghost. No longer would it play our movies, but we still had the DVD and figured we would get by for a while without it. No such luck, I'd want to watch one show, he wanted to watch another. We had to have another VCR just so we could tape one while watching the other. We were in for a shock.

Inside the local super center, and no there are no electronic stores near us, we looked at the slim array of VCRs available. Honestly, they only had three models. But, that wasn't the shocking part. Each and every one of those models cost more than the DVD players.

Now wait a minute. Everyone knows VCRs are on the way out, as are VHS tapes. So why were the machines more costly. Is this a way to force us to buy all of our classic movies on DVD? I don't know, but it seems strange to me.

My better half and I looked at each other. We both had that look in our eye - is it worth it? Finally, we settled on the model that was mid-priced of the three. Brought it home and hooked it up.

The picture is terrible and it doesn't matter how much you play with the tracking buttons, it doesn't play back well at all. Am I a happy camper?

This weekend, the VCR goes back to the store. We're calling it defective. Now the choice has to be made, do we buy the cheaper one? Or, do we buy the more expensive one? Or, do we look online? Or, drive a hundred miles to a store that may or may not have a large variety. I don't know yet.

What I do know is they have me. I can't do without either of these machines, the DVD or the VCR. We'll buy something; I just don't know yet what it will be. Any suggestions?