Long awaited upgrade

Overnight, the regular radio shows that I generally back up and dump to CD-R and Minidisc, broadcast two extra hours - but I missed them. Today, option one involved re-imaging to Vista to even hear those broadcasts because the BBC Radio player doesn't work in XP. The second option just finding somewhere else to download them online within the seven days that you're allowed to listen to them anyway, I found somewhere else.

The unnamed website hasn't been shut down due to copyright reasons yet (even though a TV Licence fee makes some contribution to the royalties of the artists concerned - despite the non-existence of a radio licence fee). Whilst it's still viable, I'll get the three shows I actually wanted, but that decision means that every videotape I used to use for radio can be disposed of. Now I can get on with recycling at speed and searching for a DVD Recorder, and move this VCR to the PC to get on with video capture.

With the joining of this new site causing a change in my habits, just as the BBC are planning to change the day and time of my favourite shows, I'll make sure I obtain a recorder with a hard disk because day-to-day television isn't going to be kept and I don't want to waste the laser on it. However, it would be ideal to have the decision to watch the programme again and make sure. Now we're two months away from the What Hi Fi awards issue.

Both the VCRs due for replacement were recommendations from the annual awards issues, in one case, from 13 years ago. Naturally its video heads are long dead, thankfully the NICAM audio heads are still in good enough condition to obtain excellent recordings.

It's good to upgrade when technology's reached the end of its useful life instead of just because the Joneses have done it.