ebay items for sale

weirdalfan1000000 · Post by **weirdalfan1000000** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:13 pm

Sorry, but what's the difference between a laserdisc, VHS, and Beta? Is a laserdisc an early version of DVDs?

Right before Al retires, he should release The Compleat Al, and AL-TV on DVD.

Post by **Mashed Potato** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:03 pm

If I'm not mistaken Laserdisc is a REALLY big DVD
Here is the comparison
Beta(max) was the Predecessor of the VHS.

jbracciante · Post by **jbracciante** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:57 pm

I will probably regret posting this here, but the laserdisc (of the Compleat Al) recently appeared on ebay this week. I'm gonna try to get it, wish me luck.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :middle:us

flusher5 · Post by **flusher5** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:46 am

the Beta is actually better quality then the VHS, I read Beta tapes have better sound, color, picture quality, and no tracking problems like some VCRs do.

Post by **Mystik Tomato** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:28 am

toin9898 @ Jun 20 2008, 10:03 PM wrote: Beta(max) was the Predecessor of the VHS.

Well, as far as I know, the BetaMax was VCR's main foe, like in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war.

Despite the Beta being better quality, the VCR won out because it was cheaper to produce, and therefore sell(?).

minnick27 · Post by **minnick27** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:33 pm

Beta's downfall was they initially only produced hour long tapes. It was actually derived from U-matic, which was a professional grade tape. Since news organizations didnt need tapes that lasted longer than an hour, they figured the average consumer wouldn't need longer than that either. When VHS tapes came out with longer record times, Beta struggled to catch up, but since their tape was smaller, they could not hold as much tape as a VHS. Betamax was always a joke, but it was a higher quality system, that was used by most news organizations until recently.

CatraDhtem · Post by **CatraDhtem** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:34 pm

minnick27 @ Jun 21 2008, 07:33 AM wrote: Beta's downfall was they initially only produced hour long tapes.

That, and also, internally in the industry anyway, that Sony wouldn't let other companies manufacture the cassettes or players. JVC, however, gladly offered the VHS licenses to whomever approached them, resulting in a veritable flood of blank tapes and machines on the market.

And really, the fact that something like "UHF" even came out on the format is quite odd, as Beta as a consumer format was pretty much dead by 1990.

jbracciante · Post by **jbracciante** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:34 am

hey Greg, how much did your laserdisc of the Compleat Al cost? Just so I have an idea of how much money this is gonna chip outta me.

Post by **Keir** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:30 am

I got mine off eBay for $10 not that long ago. A typical price is closer to $30, but I've even seen it go as high as $50. It turns up once every couple of months so if you're patient you won't have to shell out too much.

CatraDhtem · Post by **CatraDhtem** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:43 am

jbracciante @ Jun 22 2008, 09:34 PM wrote: hey Greg, how much did your laserdisc of the Compleat Al cost? Just so I have an idea of how much money this is gonna chip outta me.

I wish I could remember, but it was quite a while ago. Knowing me at around the time, I doubt I bid more than $20 for it, but that's just me (and keep in mind that this was around the time DVDs were becoming more mainstream and people were dumping their laserdiscs left and right). So, your mileage may vary.