Home > Guides and How To's > Laptops with VHS Player (Do Such Exist?)

Laptops with VHS Player (Do Such Exist?)

| Updated:

Several years ago, VHS (Video Home System) players were a staple in many homes. First rolled out for use in 1976, Video Homes System (VHS) garnered widespread acceptance and usage all over the world within a short span of time. Many users appreciated the fact that VHS players were the first of several devices of their kind to give them the opportunity to watch diverse kinds of movies and life events personally recorded on VHS tapes in the comfort of their homes.

Many years after its invention, however, the VHS player, whose manufacturing was pioneered by the Japanese company, JVC, suffered the fate that every technology device suffers – obsolescence, as the world moved on to more sophisticated technologies such as the CD and DVD players, the former plays audio compact discs (audio CD) while the latter plays videos stored on Digital Video Disc (DVD). 

Many laptops are fitted with these upgraded devices, but many people do not know whether any laptops were ever fitted with VHS players. This answer will answer that question and address possible solutions to the need for a VHS player on a laptop.


Laptop With VHS Player

If you are searching for a laptop with a VHS player, you might as well end your search here because not one of such devices was made. Laptops with an in-built VHS player are almost impossible to find, both in the 80s when laptops first became a thing and now when laptops are built with drives that have almost eliminated the need for the use of VHS players.

A likely reason why laptops were not built with VHS players is the sheer size and weight of a VHS player. Most VHS (Video Home System) players are some inches tall, several inches long, and weigh some pounds which will significantly increase the weight and size of any computer they are built with, automatically disqualifying such a computer from being used as a laptop computer.

However, the foregoing paragraphs do not imply that laptop computers, including contemporary ones, are built by their manufacturers to reject every means of allowing their users to watch VHS tapes through them.


Can I Play VHS Through A Laptop?

It is impossible to play a VHS tape on a laptop without an in-built VHS player because the laptop computer is devoid of the mechanism that will allow it to play the content of the VHS tape. 

However, it is possible to watch the content of a VHS tape being played with an external Video Home System (VHS) player through a laptop screen. This possibility is a consequence of technological advancement in the production of laptops. Besides possessing drivers that allow for watching videos stored in diverse types of external and in-built storage, most laptops are fitted with parts that allow for communication with external devices such as a VHS player to do the erstwhile impossible task of seeing videos on VHS tapes with a laptop.

Can I Play VHS Through A Laptop?


Can I Connect A VHS Player To A Laptop?

If you desire to watch a classic movie on a VHS tape, and you have all that is required to do so – a laptop, a VHS player, and an adapter – you should go ahead and connect the VHS player to your laptop using the adapter built for that purpose. Most laptops nowadays, in the presence of a right connecting accessory, would work seamlessly with a VHS player to play a VHS tape on their screens.

Besides, many years have passed since the first laptop was produced, and with each passing year, the sophistication of electronic gadgets such as laptop computers increases. Many are the things a laptop could not do when it was first manufactured that it does seamlessly now, and one of those things is connecting to a VHS player with an easily accessible accessory. 

So there is no doubt about the possibility of connecting a VHS player to a laptop computer. The only hindrance might be a lack of technical know-how. So how do you connect a VHS player to a laptop?

  • The first of two known easy ways to effortlessly transfer the footage or movies on your VHS tape to your laptop screen is to use a video capture adapter. A video capture adapter (VCA) goes for a few tens of dollars in the market, and it is a portable laptop accessory that allows you to connect your VHS to your laptop such that the video playing in your VHS is displayed right on your screen. The VCA is color-coded, which makes understanding how to connect it to your laptop easy to grasp. 
  • Another way is to acquire a Universal Serial Bus (USB) tuner. The job of a USB tuner will be to permit you to connect your VHS player to your computer. USB tuners also permit connecting a laptop to a DVD, a TV, and what have you. 


All you need to do is connect the tuner to your laptop. Get a USB. Connect one end of the cable to the USB port on your USB tuner and the other end to the USB port of the laptop. After successfully doing this, you will need to connect the USB tuner to the VHS player as well by getting and using an S-video cable. Connect one end of the cable to the right output port on the VHS player and the other to the right port on the USB tuner. 

Without a need for driver(s) installation, you have successfully performed the task of connecting your laptop to the VHS player. Go ahead and enjoy your footage thereafter. 


Final thoughts

A computer with an in-built VHS player, which allows its user to wield it conveniently as a laptop computer, is a device that never existed for obvious reasons, including the potential size and weight of such a device. 

However, this gap has been adequately catered for with technological advancements that have permitted the use of laptop computers with VHS players to watch videos on VHS tapes. Interestingly, easy and cost-effective is the process leading to the use of laptops and VHS players in combination.

A laptop with a VHS player to ensure no lover of classics and memories is denied the pleasure of seeing good old movies and immortal memories as they were originally recorded might not exist. But laptops that can be easily connected to VHS players to travel back in time with movies and relive memorable events now exist. And this is comforting enough for many.

Pigtou.com is supported by its audience. When you buy through the links on our website, we may earn a small commission.
Photo of author

Pigtou Editorial Team

A group of tech enthusiasts who find pleasure in troubleshooting and resolving various issues. When we're not engaged in writing, we typically enjoy playing table football or spending time with our office dog.
NEED HELP? Drop a comment below!

You can also post your problem to the PIGTOU FORUM.

Leave a Comment