Vcr

When it comes to videocassette recorders, two heads are still better than one.Go Video, a Scottsdale, Ariz., company, markets America's first working dual-deck VCR. With it, you can:* Tape two different TV shows simultaneously while you watch a third TV channel.* Tape a broadcast show on one side while you're watching a prerecorded tape on the other.* Make your own copy from any video source, even those protected by the Macrovision copy-guard coding, although you must pledge the copies are only for personal use.And the unit has memory programming with no need of a battery backup, even in a power failure.

Giving advice tonight is next to impossible -- because, in prime time, "Homicide: Life on the Street" is next to "Picket Fences." Competing for the same viewers -- the intelligent, discerning ones -- at the same time. And with episodes so good, both of them are must-see installments. But if you have no VCR, and must see only one, don't look for me to break the tie. Logic tells me to recommend "Homicide," because it might not survive long enough for a repeat viewing during rerun season. Buttonight's "Picket Fences," in which two characters from "Chicago Hope" are featured, is a truly terrific episode.

It's hard not to notice the billboards and TV ads heralding the arrival of the sequel to the most successful animated film in history.But unlike the 1994 box-office hit, which grossed nearly $800 million worldwide, Disney's "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" will not be opening at a theater near you today. It will make its debut at video stores."Lion King II" ($27) is following in the paw-prints of Disney direct-to-video sequels based on its animated musical features "Aladdin," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Pocahontas."

CLEVELAND -- A new Harris poll finds that America and technology seem to be having a little love spat. A whopping 60 percent of consumers polled say they will no longer buy the latest high-tech gadget. Nearly half think PCs are too complicated. And 28 million Americans say they have logged off the Internet for good. I don't know about you, but I think they're lying. I think Americans are swearing off technology like a drunk swears off booze when he's hung over. We're just exhausted, that's all. Half of us were just getting the clock on our VCRs to stop flashing 12:00 and now we have to buy DVDs.

When it comes to videocassette recorders, two heads are still better than one.Go Video, a Scottsdale, Ariz., company, markets America's first working dual-deck VCR. With it, you can:* Tape two different TV shows simultaneously while you watch a third TV channel.* Tape a broadcast show on one side while you're watching a prerecorded tape on the other.* Make your own copy from any video source, even those protected by the Macrovision copy-guard coding, although you must pledge the copies are only for personal use.And the unit has memory programming with no need of a battery backup, even in a power failure.

Kids these days. Here they are, tromping off to the wilds of New York for a weekend of mud, music and misbehavior when they could so easily snuggle up with their parents in front of the VCR and enjoy all the benefits of a rock concert with none of those annoying odors and half-naked writhing bodies.Indeed, several films relay the concert experience so sensitively, so poetically (and so noisily) that you'll be tempted to paint a flower on your forehead and fire up a Bic lighter right there in your living room.

Simon Says:People who smoke pipes are incapable of making quick decisions.*If this war leads to the drafting of Vanilla Ice, it wouldn't be all bad.*I can't believe that 80 percent of the people who own VCRs do not know how to program them. For $5 and mileage, I'll come to your house and do it for you.*You can't call yourself a cook until you've cleaned a fish.*Does Mel Harris have the cutest nose on TV or what?*Have you ever noticed how in books, as opposed to real life, no two people ever have the same first name?

SANTA WAS GONNA bring the household a new video cassette recorder for Christmas. But then Santa's tightwad helper heard about a cheaper gift.Instead of shelling out a couple of hundred bucks for a new VCR, I heard I could pay a few bucks for a cleaning kit and give the old VCR a bath. I could clean its heads.The old VCR was so dirty that when you put in a tape, for example, my holiday favorite, "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's 40 Thieves," more "snow" showed up on the screen than there was in Vermont.

RECENTLY, I'VE BEEN going through one of the more hellish experiences of modern life: shopping for a new VCR.In a lot of ways, buying a new VCR is like buying a new car, in that the sales field seems dominated by a lot of slick-talking guys with thinning hair, loud blazers and the remains of what appears to be a tuna sandwich caked at the corners of their mouths.The only difference is that when you're buying a new VCR, you don't consummate the deal in a cramped gray cubicle decorated with bowling trophies, cheap Automotive Salesman of the Year plaques and the Happy Hour listings of every bar in a 10-mile radius.

I have an old DVD/VCR combo. I use it a lot to record programs that I want to watch at my convenience. Also I have a large collection of purchased tapes. I know I will no longer be able to record more tapes. But ... will I be able to play the tapes I have? - Alice Roider Yes, the VCR will continue to be able to play all your tapes that it ever could play. I just got a new PC, and it came with Vista. Is there any way I can "upgrade" to XP? My printer and several software programs react badly, and I can hardly ever find anything.