chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) (12/20/85)
It seems that the Beta format is going away on the West Coast. It used to be 1/5th to 1/6th of the market and now is only 1/8th to 1/10th. Many stores have stopped carrying Beta tapes altogether. One store that does carry it does so only because they are near a Naval Air Station, where people have VCR's that they have bought abroad. Most stores carry 8 or 10 VHS systems and only one or two Beta. One video store dealer explained to me that "VHS people" did a big promotion on the West Coast and that swung things their way. Most stores cannot move enough volume of Beta tapes in order to pay for them. If you get Beta in California, you are REAL lonely. Beta is still recommended if you are primarily taping off TV, since it is still the best quality, but if you want to rent tapes, having Beta is a handicap here.
kolling@decwrl.DEC.COM (Karen Kolling) (12/22/85)
> It seems that the Beta format is going away on the > West Coast.....Most stores cannot move enough volume of Beta tapes in order > to pay for them. If you get Beta in California, you are REAL lonely. > Beta is still recommended if you are primarily taping off TV, since > it is still the best quality, but if you want to rent tapes, having > Beta is a handicap here. Well, I have no trouble getting Beta tapes in the Palo Alto area, 10 (?) miles away from Sunnyvale. The video store I go to most, Movie World on Crane and also Avy in Menlo Park, tells me they carry more Beta than VHS tapes. But, who knows what goes on in the boonies in Sunnyvale :-)