It seems VHS will never die, and this is generally welcome, as a lot of good movies aren’t still available on optical discs. In summer 2008, Panasonic released a VHS/Blu-ray combo, followed by Sharp’s Aquos BD-HDV22 that was pretty much the same thing. And today, over one year later, JVC anounced the DR-BH250 [JP], which is a VHS recorder, Blu-Ray Recorder and 250GB HDD rolled into one.

JVC also threw in 1080/60p/24p support, BD-Live and BONUSVIEW support, AVCHD support, a USB port, an HDMI CEC interface, and an SD/SDHC card slot. It’s possible to transfer material between DVD, VHS and Blu-ray, including copying video from a VHS cassette to a Blu-ray disc.

JVC plans to roll out the DR-BH250 at the beginning of next month in Japan for $1,400. The company hasn’t said yet whether VHS fans not living in Japan will ever get to lay their hands on the device, too.

Mitsubishi Electric organized a big press conference today in Tokyo, unveiling two new series of LCD TVs, three Blu-ray DVRs and a new full HD video projector. The two TVs of the BHR series are the world’s first featuring both a built-in Blu-ray recorder and an HDD. No announcements regarding release dates outside Japan were made, but here are the main details for every device, all prices and release dates and some pictures.

Mitsubishi Electric LCD-TVs (REAL MZW300 series [JP])

• 3 sizes will be offered (40/46 and 52 inches (pictured above) for $2,000/$3,000 and $3,500)
• all MZW300 models are full HD and come with 4 HDMI ports
• contrast ratio: 20,000:1 for the 52-incher
• “Diamond HD” technology for better picture quality
• “Diatone surround sound” (5.1)
• release date in Japan: October 21

Mitsubishi Electric LCD-TVs (REAL BHR300 series [JP])

• 2 sizes will be offered (32 and 37 inches for $2,000  and $2,500)
• the 37-inch model is full HD, while the 32 incher just features 1366×768 resolution
• built-in 320 GB HDD
• built-in Blu-ray recorder
• release date in Japan:  October 30

Mitsubishi Electric Blu-ray DVRs [JP]

• three models will be sold: the BZ330 (1TB) for $1,800, the BZ-320 (500GB) for $1,400 and the DVR-BV530 (320GB) for $1,200 (pictured above)
• all come with a combination of a Blu-ray recorder/player and HDD
• the DVR-BV530 also features a VHS recorder/player
• release date in Japan: October 21 for the model with the VHS deck, October 1 for the other two DVRs

Mitsubishi Electric video projector (LVP-HC6800) [JP]

• resolution: 1,920×1,080
• brightness: 1,300 lumens
• contrast ratio: 20,000:1
• two HDMI ports
• release date in Japan: September 15 (price: $2,500)

Credit top picture: Phileweb [JP]

We pointed out why gadgets were more expensive 30 years ago, but it is also important to note that many of these gadgets were hilariously huge. I’ve collected eight examples, I’ll leave it up to you to add the rest.

In other words, feel free to use our new comments system to add photos of any oversized retro gadgets you have access to.

In the ’70s and early ’80s, it was trendy to offset tiny, crappy screens with enormous and ornate wooden consoles. My family had one of these when I was a kid—looking back on it, I understand why my father chose to put it on the lowest level of our house. It would have seriously compromised the structural integrity of any floor it was sitting on. [TV History]
This is what passed for a widescreen television in 1978. However, the GE Widescreen 1000 really wasn’t widescreen at all. In reality this absurdly huge cabinet housed a small CRT screen that used “a vertical deflection reversing switch to invert and laterally reverse the image, and a three element lens within a light-proof projection chamber to re-invert, magnify and project the image onto a forward projection type reflective screen.” In other words, the image was artificially enlarged through projection. Oh, and that beastly monstrosity sitting next to it is an early VHS recorder. Back in the day, video players like this one could weigh 30 pounds or more. [Flickr and RetroThing]
Surely you are familiar with the DynaTAC 8000X—the first commercially available mobile phone. Seriously, is Dr Martin Cooper making a call to his wife or calling in an air strike? [Puremobile]
The Walkman portable cassette player made its debut in 1979, but if you wanted a more feature rich portable player, you risked a dislocated shoulder picking up one of these ghetto blasters. ['80s Rewind]
Today we have camcorders built into our tiny cellphones. In the ’70s and early ’80s you had to deal with beasts like the Sony SL-F1 Betamax camera. Before the advent of the Betamovie BMC-100P personal camcorder in 1983, the camera and the portable recorder were not integrated into a single unit. [Wikipedia]
The JVC HR-4100 was the first ever “portable” VHS recorder, but this woman appears to be in over her head. This is definitely a “team lift” situation. [Rewind Museum]
We bitch about gas guzzling SUV’s now, but get a load of this ’73 Thunderbird. Seriously, there is enough metal between the cabin and the grill to take on a locomotive. [Corral.net]
Microwaves in the ’70s were big enough to crawl into. According to the owner, this particular model weighed around 80 pounds. [Forty Two]
Bonus: Glasses are not really a gadget, but honestly, what the hell was going on in the ’70s? I have to admit though, Wonder Woman still looks great with those telescopes attached to her face. Anyway, thank God for contacts and Lasik. [Blurbomat]