This online reviewer I follow who specializes in retro things has posted some cool YouTube vids on Laserdiscs and BETA tapes.


The Laserdisc Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtP5QrzuPSY
The BETA Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhEXD_uJnJw

I remember walking into video stores back in the early 80's and they would be divided into two sections. The VHS section and the Beta section.

I remember walking into video stores back in the early 80's and they would be divided into two sections. The VHS section and the Beta section.

I have no memories of the BETA tapes but I do remember the Laserdiscs.

They officially stopped around the year 2000 and I do remember seeing them sold in places like The Wiz at one point. They were still not mainstream.

I also remember those small tapes that you had to get the machine to adapt it. We had that type of camera throughout the 90s.

I had a large beta collection and 2 Sony Hi-Fi betamax's. I'd put those units up against any standard dvd player out there today in regards to picture quality. I had several thousand music videos from the 80's but eventually got them transferred to DVD and sold the Sony's on eBay.

I remember the BETA VHS split at video stores, the BETA side at the video store I went to back then would get smaller and smaller- eventually it was just one rack while the rest of the store was VHS.

I have a huge laser disc collection. I lost a few lasers to "laser rot" which can't be repaired so you end up with a giant coaster. I still buy lasers if it's a rare movie that can't be found on DVD, I then transfer it to DVD since it is better quality than VHS(I did this for Eyes of Fire).

The prize of my laser collection-
Phantasm Limited Edition Box Set(even comes with the Phantasm soundtrack on CD) Signed and numbered by Don Coscarelli.

I also have the Tron and Aliens box sets.

^ how big exactly are the Laserdics? How do they compare to a vinyl record?

They're about the same size.

Ahhhh, BETA - state of the art back then, garbage today. Kind of like 8 tracks. (Just my opinion, of course.) :lol:

Ahhhh, BETA - state of the art back then, garbage today. Kind of like 8 tracks. (Just my opinion, of course.) :lol:

BETA though was far better quality than VHS, VHS just happened to corner the market.

Ahhhh, BETA - state of the art back then, garbage today. Kind of like 8 tracks. (Just my opinion, of course.) :lol:

8-track on the other hand was just crap.

I had a laserdisc player.

But I only bought a few discs- I rented them. Looking back I'm certainly glad that I did not go any further.

I had:

Star Wars
Goodfellas
Fantasia
A karaoke disc

Pretty sure that was it.

8-track on the other hand was just crap.
Totally - how long were 8 tracks made, anyway? It seemed they were out almost as soon as they were in! (Of course, cassette tapes helped hasten their demise!)

Totally - how long were 8 tracks made, anyway? It seemed they were out almost as soon as they were in! (Of course, cassette tapes helped hasten their demise!)

Late 60s to early 80s.

By the 80s they were mainly obscure but they officially stopped releasing 8-track format by then.

I had a laserdisc player.

But I only bought a few discs- I rented them. Looking back I'm certainly glad that I did not go any further.

I'm sure the people who didn't decide to go for the HD-DVDs "the new way to look at DVD" feel the same way.

I was one of the first people in my town to get a VCR back in 1983. It was a birthday gift from my parents; I agreed to pay half since it was a very large expense back then.

It was a Beta machine. It wasn't long before I realized I probably should have bought a VHS since most movies were in that format and it grew increasingly hard to find blank Beta tapes.

Great memories, though. At least in those days there were things I actually wanted to tape!

I'm sure the people who didn't decide to go for the HD-DVDs "the new way to look at DVD" feel the same way.

Though Blu Ray is prompting me to replace my DVDs.

What next? I build an awesome Blu Ray collection to find that everything is now released on another format and is 10 times better?

It's never going to end.

Though Blu Ray is prompting me to replace my DVDs.

What next? I build an awesome Blu Ray collection to find that everything is now released on another format and is 10 times better?

It's never going to end.

I have a pretty decent collection of Blu-rays now, but I am not planning on re-buying my whole DVD collection.

I also notice the difference in quality on playing regular DVDs on a Blu-ray player. I use my PS3 as my DVD/Blu-ray player and I do see the difference, but an HD-TV is required to see it.

I still have my Beta tapes and a working Sony Super Betamax (but I seldom
watch them because most of them I also have on VHS).

I mostly watch my VHS/DVD combo. But I have no burning desire to transfer
all my VHS tapes to DVD (too large a collection to bother). I've been down
that road once, when I transferred Beta tapes to VHS (that took at least two
years). No, thanks!

As for audio: I still listen to records, cassettes and CDs. It's good to have a
variety of formats because not everything is available on CDs (esp. some
obscure records from the '50s and '60s, for example). I also still have some
8-track tapes, but my 8-track tape player is totally worthless (wore out years
ago). As I stated on another post, 8-track is the Edsel of recordings.

"The 8 track is the Edsel of recordings" - I never heard that comparison, but it sure made me laugh. :rofl: Thanks!