Depends on the purpose the use of the VHS. Copying something you brought home from Blockbuster would definitely qualify. Recording something off of TV to watch at a later more convenient time was just the precursor to DVR.
The image file you downloaded from someone's website without their permission in miles better in quality than the stupid VHS. It's more like the DVD/Blu-ray you ripped from your buddy that actually paid for it. Just because you can doesn't mean you should
Saving an image is very high quality. But so is DVR. Usually a DVR copy is perfect.
DVR sounds like a very good analogy to me. The website is showing you something, and you make a personal capture that you can replay at any time. It was distributed to you specifically, and you're time-shifting it. You're not taking a personal copy held by one person and making it two personal copies held by two people, which is what happens when you rip someone else's DVD. And the same way, you shouldn't take that image you saved and start distributing it around.
The image file you downloaded from someone's website without their permission in miles better in quality than the stupid VHS. It's more like the DVD/Blu-ray you ripped from your buddy that actually paid for it. Just because you can doesn't mean you should