rhaynes@sunfun.DEC (Rae Haynes) (03/23/84)
I, too, am interested in places which rent/sell Laser Video Discs; although NOT in Westchester County, NY. I live in Southern California, and the only place I know of that rents Laser Video Discs is Verne's Magnavox in Westminster. For those of you that are interested, the info is: Verne's Magnavox 15266 Goldenwest Westminster, CA (714) 898-9561 It's a club; but it's a pretty good deal if you are going to take advantage. Membership is $120 per year, and you borrow as disc, just like you would borrow a book from the public library. You are only allowed to "borrow" one disc at a time (I don't know the details if you want to "take out" a second disc); but you can "borrow" an UNLIMITED number of discs. There is no minimum or maximum number of days you keep the disc. It's a great deal if you live near Westminster. Unfortunately, I live almost an hour from Verne's; which makes the club somewhat unattractive. If you live in the area, I suggest you check it out. Verne's also carries VHS tapes for "borrowing". They have the best LV disc collection of any place I've seen. According to the owner, if it's available through ANY distributor, he gets copies for the club. And they offer club members discounts on certain discs for a limited time only. For instance, "WAR GAMES" was 10% off during the first two weeks after it was released. Along the lines of LV disc sales, I have heard wonderful things about Starship (in Virginia) and The Instant Replay (in Mass.). I sent away for their catalogs earlier this week; so I cannot speak from first hand experience. The Instant Replay is supposedly the "Laserdiscs owners wonderland...in Waltham, Mass." They carry LV discs, CED discs, VHS tapes, and Beta tapes; all at "decent" prices. (Remember: this is all second hand.) The address and phone numbers are: The Instant Replay 479 Winter Street (off Rt 128 exit 48W) Waltham, MA 02154 (617) 890-9262 (800) VHS-BETA (Mass. only) (800) VHS-DISC (outside Mass.) Starship is a mail order place with an excellent reputation. The information given to me is "They ship the day they receive your check. They have a catalog and a message hotline giving any new laserdisc releases/pending releases and hardware info. They also give a 10% discount on all discs. Postage is $2.50 for the first disc, and $.50 for each additional ordered." The address and phone numbers are: Starship Audio-Industries 605 Utterback Store Road Great Falls, VA 22066 Phone info and orders: (703) 430-8692 or (703) 450-5680 Laserdisc hotline: (703) 430-0330 I'd be interested in hearing about any other stores which carry a decent selection of Laser Video discs (preferably below list price). I'm disappointed with the stores which carry a selection of half a dozen discs. Rae Haynes Digital Equipment Corporation Costa Mesa, California Thu 22-Mar-1984 10:19 PST Thu 22-Mar-1984 17:47 PST Fri 23-Mar-1984 11:38 PST
rivers@seismo.UUCP (Wilmer Rivers) (03/26/84)
I can vouch for both Starship Audio Industries (Great Falls, VA) & The Instant Replay (Waltham, MA) as excellent sources for LV discs by mail. Starship normally sells at 10% discounts; through April 15, I think it is, they're having an even lower sale price : 15% off. They also have second-hand discs for sale, & they buy used discs. They have an excellent catalog & a toll-free hotline with a recorded message of the latest releases. The Instant Replay has several imported LV discs which I have been unable to find anywhere else (especially recommended : Kate Bush Live at the Hammersmith Odean, one of the best mixtures of music & visual performance available). Both stores are quite prompt at filling orders. Incidentally, I just this week received from Starship a disc of special interest : The National Gallery of Art Videodisc. You can single-frame step your way through 3500 paintings, prints, & statues. It's the ideal vehicle for showing off your high-resolution video monitor. The list price is $95, but Starship is selling it for 15% off for a limited time. That's still over $80, but think how much a hard-cover book with 3500 paintings, reproduced at the size of a 25" screen, would cost.