1995 Laser Video Disc Companion

Guest · Posted: 01 Nov 2011, 23:55

Anybody have a copy of the 1995 edition of Douglas Pratt's Laser Video Disc Companion? 972 pages and jam packed with reviews of LaserDiscs. Reviews of over 8,000 Laser Discs with emphasis on picture quality & sound transfer ... what's not to love. :clap:

I believe that it was the most comprehensive review book of LD(s) ever released back in the day. Had my copy for a while and really enjoy reading the reviews. The reviews of picture quality & sound transfer have been spot on ... IMHO. 8-)

dwalterm · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 01:12

Got the Big Red 1992 edition - 5000 titles
and the smaller black 1987 edition. Didn't know there was a 1995 edition.
Also have Jeff Rovin's "Laserdisc Film Guide" 1993-1994 edition

laserdiscoking · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 03:10

I currently have the Red 1992 edition and once had the orange 1995 edition but sold it. The red one is great and has a wide variety of genres and obscure titles reviewed. You can't beat it for $4 on amazon. The Jeff Rovin paperback is putrid and I wouldn't pay 2 pesos for it.

Guest · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 03:19

For those who have never seen it .... this is what the 1995 edition looks like...

elahrairrah · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 03:53

Speaking of Doug Pratt and the DVD-LD Newsletter, whatever happened to the site, http://www.dvdlaser.com/ ? Front page is up, but every time you search for something, you get an error page. Did he stop maintaining the site?

admin · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 04:06

Looks like the updates stopped in 2004 (publication of the 2nd edition).

I contacted the site back in 2006 for a possible partnership (verbatim message below) but never got a reply.

Julien

Quote:

Hello Douglas!

Coming back to you again on the possibility to efficiently link the LD
detailed page on LDDb.com to their reviews on DVDLaser.com. Currently
LDDb only shows pure fact-based information, linking IMDb that shows
pure movie-related information.

But the missing like between LDDb and IMDb would a site offering
reviews... of this specific movie on this specific LD. Here's where
DVDLaser.com could find a perfect niche.

I gave it a try last year but the person supposed to "get back to me
soon" actually never did.

All I would need is a way to associate your ID numbering system with
mine, using either IMDb as a common reference, or the LD catalog
reference, or anything else that could be used to automate most if not
all of the process.

You would get LD fans visitors to check a specific review, and since
most if not all of them also collect DVDs, you can benefit from their
curiosity and drive them somewhere else on your website.

To make things more appealing, we could even imagine that I quote
let's say... the first 25 words of a review on LDDb.com with a "read
more..." link leading back to the full review on DVDLaser. Etc.

Tell me what you think and if, this time, some technical feedback
could be extracted and forwarded to me.

Thanks in advance for your kind attention.

bullruckle · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 04:36

This 1995 companion book looks like a great read. Anyone know how I might go about obtaining a copy? Amazon seems to be out of stock.

EDIT: Found one on eBay but $129 is a little more than I was wanting to pay :sick:

mikeystoyz · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 05:49

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDet ... D0%26y%3D0

33 bucks

Guest · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 07:25

I got mine from Half.com a year or two ago ... site is owned by eBay. I paid $40 for mine.

I believe that Douglas Pratt sells LaserDiscs on eBay under the name of upaithric. Holds auctions once a week.

There are detailed reviews from DVDLaser.com on all LD(s) that are sold under the upaithric account.

johan184 · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 10:54

does anyone know the isbn för the 1995 edition of Douglas Pratt's Laser Video Disc Companion? 972 pages ?

Guest · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 14:47

johan184 wrote:

does anyone know the isbn för the 1995 edition of Douglas Pratt's Laser Video Disc Companion? 972 pages ?

ISBN 0-918432-90-1

elahrairrah · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 14:54

I also was able to download all the PDF files of the DVD-LD Newsletter that he hosted on the site a few years back. Not sure if they're still up there (they might still be!) There weren't that many.

He had them coded so that you coudn't print them out, but there's probably a way around that.

johan184 · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 18:49

then it seems to be avaible att amazon ?

http://www.amazon.com/Laser-Video-Disc-Companion-High-End/dp/0918432901/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320256114&sr=1-1

Guest · Posted: 02 Nov 2011, 19:09

If anybody is interested, Here is a link to widescreen reviews LD database. It claims they have over 2000 reviewed discs. Although I don't agree with some of their picture quality grades it is kinda interesting to see what they had to say about certain discs.

http://widescreenreview.com/ld_search.php

kaosnews · Posted: 03 Nov 2011, 11:10

I have bought a copy from amazon.co.uk yesterday. Really expensive (never paid 100 euro for 1 book!) - but I think worth every penny (I hope!)

matome · Posted: 09 Nov 2011, 17:39

I have this book somewhere. I'll have to go look for it!

cessnaace · Posted: 10 Nov 2011, 05:11

dwalterm wrote:

Got the Big Red 1992 edition - 5000 titles
and the smaller black 1987 edition. Didn't know there was a 1995 edition.
Also have Jeff Rovin's "Laserdisc Film Guide" 1993-1994 edition

I have the red one too. I'll have to start calling it Big Red. lol. I knew about the 1987 edition, but have never seen a 1995 edition.

STAY AWESOME!

gandjrarities · Posted: 24 Nov 2011, 16:41

My copy is in excellent used shape (no tears, dog-ears, writing, etc.). It's still very useful in researching various laser release editions. I've always found what Douglas had to say about the movies interesting and often times insightful, though largely erratic from a cinemaphile perspective. Anyway, if anyone wants to make me an offer for my copy, if I decide to sell I'll donate 10 percent of the price to the LDDb site. Better than putting it up on eBay or Amazon for a bunch of heathens.

"J"

Guest · Posted: 25 Nov 2011, 04:52

I got to have a look at this book. Gotta get me a copy.
Is the book silimar to the Leonard Maltin LaserDisc books?

klausm · Posted: 04 Nov 2013, 16:42

Just ordered one of these (1995)...Will be delivered from the states...so it will take a while until I can hold it in my hands and look through. I am excited!

1995 Laser Video Disc Companion

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