wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (09/17/84)
I don't yet have a VCR; off-air reception is poor enough that I don't see much value in taping signals of this poor quality, and cable for my area is still years away, and I haven't wanted to rent tapes enough to justify the purchase of a VCR to play them. This will change when cable finally arrives, or I decide to start renting tapes. However, I know from my experience with audio taping that one machine is not enough. You ALWAYS want to copy something. So I envision buying two VCRs when I do take the plunge. The question is: should I buy 1 Beta & 1 VHS, both VHS, or both Beta? I also expect that I would buy one fancy and one simple model. If so, and the choice is to buy both Beta and VHS, which should be which? A fancy VHS and a simple Beta, or vice-versa? I solicit postings of opinion, advice, and experience for all aspects of this query. I will summarize and post mailed responses, but I think this is worthy of group discussion. It is in line with the basic VHS-vs-Beta debate now going on, anyway. Will Martin seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
jeh@ritcv.UUCP (Jim Heliotis) (09/19/84)
I feel that one machine of each format is definitely the best way to go. Then you can exchange and copy tapes with anyone. It does not make the "Beta vs VHS?" decision much easier, because you will want to decide which machine will produce your own personal library. That is the machine which should probably be the expensive one. 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?). 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. Beta will die someday, but it will be no sooner than VHS. Think of it... someday you'll be getting your 1/2-inch format VCR out of the attic and blowing the dust off to watch those old movies, same as you do with your dad's old 16mm projector now! Jim Heliotis ritcv!asgard!jeh
ables@ut-ngp.UUCP (King Ables) (09/19/84)
Re: Buying 2 VCRs
If you're going to buy two, do get one fancy and one very base one.
I owned two VHS VCRs for a while. I found that I'm picky enough about
my picture that even copying it once degrades the picture enough that
I wasn't pleased. However, I also use the 6 hour speed because I'm
too cheap to use any other. A one-time recording at SLP (6hr) is fine
for me, but a copy came out a little grainy. I also figured out that
I didn't use it to copy nearly as much as I would have thought (I also
own two audio cassette decks and copy with them a lot). But that may
just be me, not you.
The one really useful thing I can say is I would not buy one Beta and
one VHS. On the surface, it sounds logical, you can play any kind of
tape from someone else, if you need it in a different form you can
copy it off, it'll be great, right? Maybe. I think it will invariably
happen that you have something on VHS that you want to copy onto another
VHS (thus requiring 2 generations of copy rather than one, degrading the
picture even more). If you plan things right you can get around this.
If you tape a football game and want it on VHS w/o ads, tape it on Beta
first and then edit it onto VHS. But the unforseen can still happen.
The other problem is you have to keep twice as many tapes lying around.
Well, maybe not TWICE if you consider one of them to be your major VCR
then you keep more of those, I guess. It just seems like a lot of
trouble considering how widespread both formats are, I don't think there's
that much advantage to having both.
However, my needs/opinions may not be the same as yours, so consider
the source.
From someone who used to own 2 and now owns 1:
-King
ARPA:ables@ut-ngp
UUCP:{ctvax,ihnp4,kpno,seismo}!ut-sally!ut-ngp!ablesables@ut-ngp.UUCP (King Ables) (09/19/84)
> Think of it... > someday you'll be getting your 1/2-inch format VCR out of the attic and > blowing the dust off to watch those old movies, same as you do with your > dad's old 16mm projector now! And boy, won't you be surprised when those old tapes are blank! -King ARPA:ables@ut-ngp UUCP:{ctvax,ihnp4,kpno,seismo}!ut-sally!ut-ngp!ables
stassen@trwspp.UUCP (09/20/84)
[] I would recommend one of each (plus a plugboard-type device which lets you configure them easily). If you're going to buy a fancy one, I would suggest that you buy the Beta deck as your better one. Right now, you can get a really good Beta deck for less than a really good VHS deck, and the Beta decks are a *little* better. Eventually, one of these formats will phase the other out (or so it appears at the moment). VHS has sheer popularity going for it, and Beta has a slight lead in technology. You could (if you had both), store your tapes in whichever format you found convenient, and later (when one or the other is all but gone, move your whole collection to the format which survived. You would have the advantage of being able to borrow anyone else's tapes and play them; you could rent either Beta or VHS movies -- if you don't find the title in one section, try the other. As much as I think that VHS will eventually phase out Beta, I cannot see into the future. Had I the money, I would invest in one of each just to be safe, should Beta be the eventual victor (it is a possibility). And eventually, when format 'X' is gone, and your format 'X' deck ignites itself, you can replace it with another deck of format 'Y' and still have a great system. Of course, you stand to lose a little more if VHS takes over (your more expensive deck would become obsolete), but that is several years down the line, and anyone who is buying two of these at once can't be worried about losing a little money. A point that I'm not addressing (and I'm sure the Beta-philes will jump on it) is that VHS to VHS doesn't make the greatest copies. Beta to Beta does much better. Has anyone tried Beta to VHS or VHS to Beta? I would think that it would be acceptable as long as you don't make a living out of copying your programs from one machine to the other and back. (VHS to VHS is pretty good for one or two copies - you tape a program (0), edit it (1), and give a copy to a friend (2) - means two VHS-VHS copies). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The opinions expressed in this document are my own. They are not intended to reflect the views of my employer - TRW - or anyone else. Intelligent and responsible commentaries should be directed to me; Flames to the bit bucket. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Christian W. Stassen [decvax!trwrb,vortex,ihnp4!vortex]!trwspp!stassen "If we knew what the hell we were doing, then it wouldn't be research."
pvlm@hou2f.UUCP (P.LAMASTER) (09/20/84)
From what I've seen, the Beta recorders are capable of features not (yet if ever) available on VHS (like reverse play for instance), so I would guess that if you get both VHS and Beta that the Beta should be the fancy one. Unfortunately, I own a top-of-the-line VHS so I didn't follow my own advice. My plan was to get a camrecorder (camera and recorer all in one) so I wouldn't need a portable and I would have two recorders anyway. Now it looks like VHS camrecorders aren't going to happen, so I have to decide what to do. Friends of mine who have over 600 movies on tape own 3 VHS machines. I guess that's something to consider: if you're going to build a big library and you have 2 different standards, which standard do you build the library in? That might weigh in favor of 2 of the same type of machine. Lastly, I've heard that Beta degrades much less with copying than does VHS. If you plan to do much editing, that could steer you toward two Beta machines. I'll be interested in watching the discussion. Pete LaMaster NJ (201)949-5009 ihnp4!hou2f!pvlm
faunt@saturn.UUCP (09/26/84)
As someone who is thinking about the same thing, my first inclination, given what's available now, would be a good BETA HiFi unit, and a reasonable, portable, VHS unit. I'd like to know what other people think. One more piece of information- a lot of my friends have VHS units, and tapes that I'd like to watch, and perhaps copy. ....!hplabs!faunt