Hi, my name is Elie Barnes 3, from windsor, ontario.

i have read about Laserdiscs on wikipedia, while i don't currently HAVE ANY, i am curious: is it worth it to sell 90% of my vhs tapes, get a 400 dollar laserdisc player off ebay and replace the sold vhs tapes with laserdiscs?

say getting one of the pioneer elite players.
also, i notice that laserdisc issues of early movies have a stereo track, while vhs counterparts did NOT. (example: superman the movie, original vhs was in mono, but the laserdisc had a stereo track)

then we have repair and wear on the laser, still more info needed.
i wish my mom had laserdiscs in the 80's!

this website is mega-cool.
is it me, or does laserdiscs not have the previews that you find on vhs tapes

I'm not sure of the nature of your question. Firstly, I don't know why you would be buying a "$400 player", when decent players (not the best possible, but perfectly OK) can be had for under $100, even in Canada. Second, to whom would you sell off your VHS tapes? I'm not sure it makes sense to speak of "replacing" tapes with LDs ; you would probably be more likely to buy some LDs, then get rid of the tape versions if you have them.

well, publius, i can answer that in steps

1) i like the pioneer elite series players, it's all in features (i'd pick the cld-99)
2) i would sell MOST of my vhs tapes and get them in ld format, for better sound and picture.
(say the laserdisc copy of back to the future vs the vhs copy)

i like the more expensive players, range about 200-600 bucks on ebay.
some movies have major laser rot, such as the cable guy, batman returns and last action hero. those i would keep on vhs.

next comes the issue of ebay or from one of the people selling it on this website.
and do laserdiscs normally have previews?

elie

I would recommend both places to look depending on the quality and content you are looking for.
As well as Craig's List, and local obscure places they may be hiding,
Ie, Pawn shops,thrift type re-sale shops,and your local newspaper from time to time.

Right across the river in Detroit there are several record stores and video places that still sell LaserDisc's in small quantity if you care to make the drive and go through the bother of customs declarations.

And yes, Some Japanese LaserDiscs have previews before the main title.
Not all of them mind you, and mostly later released titles.

Hope this helps some !!! Good fortune with your new hobby !!!!

I like previews more than most, but even I think they have been badly abused. You can't even skip over them on many DVDs and Blu-rays. You have to FF thru them, one at a time! Takes over a minute to get to the movie. They never became the fashion on LDs. Many LDs offer the theatrical trailer of the film you are watching at the end, which is definitely cool and a good touchstone for what sort of restoration has been attempted.

What else is it that attracted you to LDs? Was it the covers or the extras? Why aren't you just moving on to DVD?

"J"