boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (09/27/84)
> From: ritcv!jeh [Jim Heliotis] > Also, did you consider that maybe one machine should probably be > portable? Even if you never get a camera, I find it convenient to > carry over a portable VCR to a friend's house, bring a battery, and > leave the tuner/timer at home. This decision should not conflict > with the other one, though. Most portables are high-quality units > with lots of features (except for Hi-Fi?). Ah, have you ever hefted a Beta Hi-Fi SL-2700?? It may have larger dimensions than "portable" VCRs, but it's not really cumbersome, and its weight is low enough that I consider it as portable as any piece of audio/video equipment I have. *And* it has Hi-Fi! > As an extraneous comment, I'd like to blast the person who said that > Beta technology has been haphazard. The worst thing he/she said is that > BI BII and BIII speeds are not simple proportions. They are! Just like > SP, LP, & EP(SLP). An L-750 plays for 1.5, 3, or 4.5 hours, depending > on the speed. Perhaps he/she was thinking about the bizarre L-830 which > pushes BIII to 5 hours. But the L-830 is just as simple a proportion as the L-500 or L-750! At Beta-II, it yields 2n minutes, and at Beta-III, 3n minutes, where n=100. And the ratios of the numbers to tape lengths (in minutes) is the same: 830/500 ~= 200/120 830/750 ~= 200/180 750/500 = 180/120 (all time figures are at Beta-II speed). The numbers 500, 750, and 830 are derived from the length of the tape in feet. A good reason for the L-830's existence is that many movies are ~100 minutes long, so a tape length in 100 minute increments makes for optimal tape usage. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA