Is it worth getting a Laserdisc player for SW and IJ? (1 Viewer)

[Tim Bernot]

Eric, if you are interested, I still have an LD player that I would be willing to let go pretty cheap. It is a PIONEER MODEL CLD-M90 LASERDISC/
AND 5 CD TURNTABLE PLAYER.
I had it for sale on this forum a few months back with my LD collection which I have since sold.
$45.00 plus shipping if your interested.
Here's the original thread link:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=47552

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

The used LD market seems to be booming in Toronto. I was in Harmony Music on the weekend, and the LD bins were packed so full that the box sets were piled on top! I picked up Baraka and the extended Dances With Wolves, and my wife found the Criterion Lawrence of Arabia set there a few days earlier. Looks like someone liquidated a stellar collection, including a lot of westerns.

If you're looking for great presentation, particularly audio, LD is a fantastic format. On a 29" TV, the difference between LD and VHS is night and day. On a half decent stereo, the difference in audio is just astounding, and if you're a DD/DTS person, there are a good number of exciting titles that can be had for a song.

If you are looking for the best presentation of Star Wars for at least the next three years, and possibly the best presentation of the original, non-special editions that we'll ever see, LD is the way to go. If you're into classic film, a large number of catalog titles that have not yet found their way to DVD have been released on LD, with uncompressed audio and often excellent transfers. If you're looking for great presentation at bargain prices, it's hard not to be an LD fan these days.

 

[Tony_Faville]

I bought a LD player just for the SW and Indy trilogies last year. Since then I have also added about 60 LD's to my collection.

Unfortunately, the player I bought does not have digital output so I am on the lookout for one that does.

 

[Dave H]

However, we can buy used hardware and software and we can enjoy the collections we've already got.

Lars,

I wasn't arguing against that. You should have seen where I said that there are many programs available on LD that will probably never come out on DVD.

 

[MartinTeller]

Doesn't it bug you to have to get up in the middle of EVERY film to flip the disc over? That's the #1 reason why I will never get into LD... that would just suck me right out of the "home theater experience" every time.

(...or are there players which will play both sides without needing someone to flip it over?)

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Martin: many players will autoflip. Depending on the player, it takes three to ten seconds. My Pioneer D504 has a nice feature where you can tell the player not to read the TOC data when flipping the disc, shaving 4 seconds off of the startup time for the second side. What you lose are a couple of neat functions that are of no importance while watching a film: countdown of time remaining, random-play, program-play, elapsed time rather than elapsed frames for CAV discs.

 

[Steven_J_H]

I agree with Aaron. I have no problem waiting the few seconds for the flip. Who knows when SW and IJ show up on dvd. Enjoy those films now.

 

[MartinTeller]

Hmmm... I did not know that! I guess that blows away my #1 reason for avoiding LD.
However, my #2 reason is that I don't even have time to watch all the DVDs I have

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Stuff like laserdisc players only become obsolete for specific purposes.
For most of us, the purpose of an LD player is to view titles that are not available on DVD. From this perspective, LD players will be 'obsolete' when the thousands of titles that are on LD but not on DVD do finally become available on DVD, or at least the specific titles that we are interested in.
We are film enthusiasts. LD is not obsolete to us for this purpose (and for gosh sakes, we all own DVD players for the thing that LD is obsolete for; new releases). Hardware enthusiasts and those who only care about current film may feel differently; more power to them.
It is embarassing and outrageous that some people still feel the need to thread fart on LD threads with blanket dismissals of the hardware being 'obsolete'.
This is the Home Theater forum, not DVD Talk.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

However, my #2 reason is that I don't even have time to watch all the DVDs I have

I suggest that you quit your job to make more time for your home theatre. If you don't pay enough attention to it, the sound will become muddy and unsatisfying.

 

[Dave H]

It is embarassing and outrageous that some people still feel the need to thread fart on LD threads with blanket dismissals of the hardware being 'obsolete'.

Mike,

LD is obsolete in the context I mentioned. There is, however, a practical use for them. Don't take it so personal, geez.

 

[alan halvorson]

There is even one player, the Pioneer LD-W1, that will load and play all sides of two discs (one of the first players to offer autochange). I once owned one of these, many years ago, and it worked flawlessly, albeit the side change was rather slow and clunky. Not the ultimate LD player though, but it still will fetch an above average price on Ebay, the rare times one appears.

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Quote: "Lars,
I wasn't arguing against that. You should have seen where I said that there are many programs available on LD that will probably never come out on DVD."
No problem with that, Dave - I know and all who care enough about LD know that there is unique material.
My only point here was that this recurring discussion whether LD is dead or obsolete or not is really nothing but a discussion about semantics: What do the words "dead" and "obsolete" mean in this case?
Just to rephrase my point: I think a further discussion of LD's "dead-ness" or "obsolete-ness" is a dead end as long as we're discussing LD - not linguistics.

 

[Mattias_ka]

It is embarassing and outrageous that some people still feel the need to thread fart on LD threads with blanket dismissals of the hardware being 'obsolete'

May be my English is not so good but when I read that LD are obsolete I think that guy/girl is talking about something he/she don't know about.
Is there any more new LD's? NO
Is there any new laserdisc players? YES. In japan (that's still on planet earth) there are 3 models still in production, the superb HLD-X9, LD-S9 and the cheaper R5G (I think the name was). The high-end HLD-X9 and LD-S9 will stop it's production run in June/July this year, but the R5G will still be in production. So we can still get new players.

 

[MikeM]

I'm curious, being that I just got "back" into LDs (and yes, I have the SW and Indy Trilogies...woo hoo!), I wanted to know if there is a site (or list) that shows:
1. A list of LDs not currently on DVD
or
2. A list of LDs that have some content which is not found on DVDs.
That would be extremely helpful for someone like me who is now trying to add a few rare and interesting titles to their LD collection.

 

[alan halvorson]

Mike: If you find such a list or site, I'd sure like to know about it. To the best of my knowledge, there ain't no such animal. You'll just have to ask someone like me or other LD enthusiasts.