Totally O/T -- VCRs and DVDs

[Guest Lindy]

I've finally replaced my ancient, broken VCR (with a corded remote!) with a new VCR. At the same time, I picked up a DVD player as well. (And yes, I have my reasons for wanting separate units as opposed to a combination DVD/VCR.) I got the VCR hooked up last night and ran a tape. It works fine. But now I can't figure out how to hook up the DVD player to the same TV. :-zhelp The VCR instructions don't mention DVDs, and the instructions for the DVD specifically say not to hook it up to a VCR and then hook the VCR to the TV. There must be a way to do this.... any advice, guys? Please keep in mind I am NOT a gadget genius or technogeek. None of my electronic is top of the line, fancy schmancy with bells and whistles. They are all middle-of-the-road priced, pretty basic units. They all have video/audio in/out connections.Thanks in advance for any help. :-beerchug-Lindy

[Guest Ken_Salter]

Does your TV have RCA input?Normally in your setup I would run your cable through the VCR. The hook the VCR to the TV via coaxial cable. The DVD could hook to either the VCR or the TV via RCA cables.Then, to watch DVD, just tune to the Aux "channel" or set the source input to whatever it is plugged into. Sorry, can't be more specific w/out having to look at your setup.If you want to fly me out there - I'll give you a discount rate ;-)http://saltydogfly2.avsim.net/images/avsim_sig.jpg"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

[Deaf Pilot 1]

The reason they say dont hook it up through the VCR is most likely because they know you have to do some button pushing to get the screen to come up, which most likely would cause frustration among customers. I have my dvd player hooked up through the VCR and it works perfectly fine. Give that a try and see how it goes. Todd

[Guest Ken_Salter]

So how did you get around the Macrovision encoding? :-)http://saltydogfly2.avsim.net/images/avsim_sig.jpg"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

[Deaf Pilot 1]

What do you mean?

[Guest Ken_Salter]

I had understood that you could not hook up a DVD to a VCR so that you couldn't copy a DVD to a VCR tape. Why you would want to do this is beyond me (other than having a inferior copy of a DVD), but DVDs are encoded with Macrovision, just like commericial VHS tapes. This was to prevent making copies.http://saltydogfly2.avsim.net/images/avsim_sig.jpg"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

[Deaf Pilot 1]

Well its not an issue unless I try to record a DVD.

[Guest]

Well, why would you want to do that?Unless you're a pirate of course and I don't think Avsim staff are pirates :-)The reason is indeed to prevent having to turn on the VCR as well as the DVD player to use the DVD player (which many people forget, calling tech support or returning their DVD players for repairs because they get a black screen or static on their TV).

[Guest Ken_Salter]

Arrrrgh shiver me timbers..[link:saltydogfly2.avsim.net]http://saltydogfly2.avsim.net/images/avsim_sig.jpg"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

[Deaf Pilot 1]

:-lol