The UK FF Recommends...

Gittes it was because it was all we had...

I don't give me the blurb about laser disc and that philips rubbish..because they were expensive and only a little better..and you couldn't rent anything on that format because the major studio's wouldn't back them...

DVD's are just a little pricer than video average cost for a DVD £16.99 average cost of VHS £12.99

 

I wont be replacing my video collection with DVDs. I still have my video and wont be getting rid of that.

And Arun and MOT, yous are looking at the vinyl argument from a DJing point of view too (which I agree with). You can't mix CDs and do all that fancy stuff (dont know technical jargon) that you can do with records.

 

you can mix cd's and in some sences they are more pliable form a dj point of view.

call us collectors if you like but vinyl will never die

 

Fair enuff. Didnt know that.

I'm thick when it comes to that

 

As MOT said it is far easier to mix CD's than vinyl..most DJ units have beat counters, scratch functions and other bits..
You can run two disc together press mix and viola..

I love vinyl asthetically if anything...

 

I think everyone's speaking from their personal bias rather than conclusive proof....I mean, imagine a DJ preferring vinyl.....

What I mean is, DVDs are still relatively new for 'normal' people - my point is that I don't enjoy a film anymore on DVD than I do on video - I usually watch them for story first. I then buy the ones I deem classic enough to buy....with the advent of DVD, it is, IMO, just another 'must have' that you don't really need - see Tyler Duerden's speech in the bar just after his aprtments been blown to fluck. I just find it hard to believe that in the course of about two years, everyone's got so 'media' about it all; I sense a certain snobbery about it all that's all....if you're happy with what you've got why try and enforce your taste on everyone else unless you feel that your possessions reflect how 'cool', 'trendy' and 'with it' you are?

I'm not saying anyone here is doing this, but it does seem a little snobbish all the same...

ED: I've NEVER paid an average price of £12.99 for VHS - I do this thing called 'shopping around' where you may find titles for offers.....apparently all the big stores do them; 3 for 2, 5 for £20, 5 for £30 ring any bells?

 

cant beat a nice cover or the weight of a 20 gram pressing, makes you feel alive

 

Snobbery no... if that was the case, why did CD take off? Why not stick with tapes, after all, it's the lyrics and stuff that counts, not the quality...

I'm getting DVD cos I appreciate the fact that the difference in quality between VHS and DVD is great enough to mean that I would enjoy a film shown in DVD more than VHS.. also, all the added extras make it worth the extra cost as well.
As for the "getting it cos it'll make me look cool" argument, that may have had weight about two years ago, but now it's a matter of course for people to be switching.. same with tv... more and more people are going to digital tv because it offers something that they will appreciate having.

 

I understand where you are coming from Gittes...but if a format can enhance your enjoyment why not give it a whirl..the features on a DVD are big bonus over VHS..if you like a film wouldn't it be great to hear the director talk about it while you watch it..or see how they made it and all this makes the product far more accessable..

It does look better than VHS even on a crap telly..

 

I wouldn't say it was common unless you're from a well off background; that's a beneficial viewpoint - I have mates who didn't have a video until Tesco's started doing 'em real cheap so I think you're speaking for a small percentage of the country - either the affluent or the technophile (probably too strong but couldn't think of a better term - sorry)

Also, cassette singles never sold that well and vinyl has maintained sales since CDs - which must show that either people don't prefer better quality/whatever or that they are all DJs - the latter being unlikely.

CDs became popular - as DVDs, VHS and every other consumer product - mainly through advertising and the fear of being left behind....When I started getting music for myself, CDs were just becoming the 'norm'; we bought them because they were there and were told that they were the nuts - then you get into a habit and it snowballs.
If this isn't the case, why are we so keen to distance ourselves from what was previously the standard so quickly if it isn't for the appearance of being 'with it' - VHS was perfectly acceptable for ages - I can't remember ever hearing someone say 'Ooh...this picture's ghosting a little' or 'the sound isn't quite what I hoped - a little too much treble methinks'....so how come it is now so very very old-fashioned and dated?!
Half the appeal is, IMO, the novelty value of having a new technology - and I think they're just luxury items that don't offer me anything that much better.

 

The only reason me and Jon got the DVD player is because it was £99 from Tesco and we wanted to treat ourselves.

If it wasnt for that - we wouldnt have bothered.

But its proving to be a pain cuz it uses the scart socket on the TV and so does the Sky box so we have to switch from one to the other...

Too much messing around for my liking!

 

That's fair enough, JG... fair enough indeed!Your argument seems to echo the thing of peer pressure... I know of that quite well cos I was on the bad end at school... if you didn't have the cool trainers, you got ridiculed.. if you didn't have your own TV, you were ridiculed or if you didn't have the latest games console or computer, you were ridiculed, so that's where the whole "look what I got! Ain't I cool!" attitude stems from, I think.
For me, I certainly ain't speaking as someone from a minority of people with bucketloads of cash.. you'd never get me spending £250 on a pair of antique shoes, for example!
However, I do seem to have this unnerving tendency to spend more money than is sensible!

Minxie... you can get the sky box to go through your video, so that the video will record stuff from sky... and then have the video connected via the normal RF aerial.. then have the scart for the DVD player... either that or when you change your tv due to the strange contrast problem it suffers from, make sure you get one with two scart sockets!

 

The reason tape singles didn't kick off is because the format is crap...even when that was the only recordable format I use to think they were crap...it's bad enough getting a home recorded tape eaten by your machine let alone one for a tenner...CD's and vinyl are more reliable...Vinyl format is still superior to CD but lets not get into that...

As for CD sales...the reason why they took off was because as I said earlier the record industry wanted us to buy the format because it's cheaper to produce. The record companies are owned by the companies that make the technology to play it on..Sony, Warners etc...

The reason why vinyl records have survived it because of people who want to mess about on turntables or hardcore vinyl junkies..

 

People took to CD when it came out because they considered it an advancement on vinyl, music buffs notwithstanding. It withstood rough handling better, and it didn't degrade with repeated use.

The reason why Gittes's parents have a perfect 35 year old stereo and a knackered 7 year old Sony is simply that stuff is made to be disposable these days. No more, no less.

 

We're a bit like that too.

And I was on the same end as you at school, Sam - I never had a pair of branded trainers till I left school and was working

I think thats why I'm more careful about buying stuff like that. I won't buy trainers just because they have a certain name and as for paying more than £50? Feck off...I have better things to spend my money on.

Poods - we've tried all the connections and I think (eventually) we'll get a better TV.

 

£50?? I still only buy trainers that cost less than £30! lol!

 

That's what I said....but do you not think that the argument of CDs being pushed by the music industry can be mirrored by the DVD explosion?! I fail to believe that they're doing it for humanitarian reasons.....

Poods - I wasn't accusing you of being a little lord fauntleroy mate! I just meant that I find it hard to swallow that the DVD revolution is that much better than the alternative - we review these machines and the discs and we're not allowed to write bad things!
Cass - Sorry m'dear - I know what you meant a couple of posts ago but I was too pre-occupied to get back on it!

Arun - Like you prefer vinyl, why is it imcomprehensible for someone to prefer VHS - these are only people's opinions so why should yours rate higher than others? That isn't a criticism my friend - you can't hear my voice so it sounds like it is - but that wasn't the intent!

ED: CA - that's capitalism though; if they made stuff that lasted forever, we'd never buy anything and the fabric of the economy, then society, would go - how it ever got to this stage I don't know but such is life - everything is made with a dollar value in mind to perpetuate the way we make money; the Film bosses etc don't REALLY care whether we get a good picture - they push the format for cash (like Arun said) I just don't find it inconceivable that the same could be true with DVDs...

Don't get me wrong - if I had the cash, I probably would buy a DVD player - but half the reason would be the status element; I don't actually NEED one.

 

Okay..I'm evil

I spend too much money on **** with flashing lights and brand names...

But let me say this...people didn't buy CD's because they were practical...they purchased them because the Sony etc flooded the market with them...the knocked the price up of vinyl so they seemed cheaper and better value for money...which they are still not..

If you believe you have choice in consumer land you are wrong...

As for DVD it is the first visual format since VHS had full backing from the Major Studios, rental companies and the manufacturers...

 

No probs JG... I do believe that DVD has a lot more going for it than VHS, even if it costs more to actually use those advantages. I'm willing to pay the extra, but I'm not telling everyone else that they should be too! Each to their own and all that! I held out two years ago when I was tempted to get a DVD player then... held out long enough that the tech is costing a lot less now! If only the bleedin' disks cost less as well though!

 

a few reasons DVD is better than VHS.....

widescreen
extra features
subtitle features (especially good when wanting to watch foreign films in the original language)
skip straight to the scene you want, no FF or RW
better quality all around.... no matter how you look at it



You can't beat that with a stick.

Besides DVD players cost half of what they did when I originally baught mine. They're almost as low as VCRs. Why WOULDN'T anyone get one?

 

Good point....

Most of the studios have ceased widescreen format on video...

And if you've got a widescreen telly...well you're up sh!t creek without a paddle..

They are forcing you to go DVD

 

Because every now and again I get fed-up with getting bled-dry by the Consumer War machine which dictates how I spend my money; if I'm happier sitting in the sun, drinking my beer and smoking the green, why should I feel the need to update a method of watching something when I've had X many years enjoying it, simply to keep up with the trend....most VHS films now come with the special features/deleted scene add-ons (both of which I ain't concerned about too much anyhow...'Oooh...another bit that didn't get in the actual film...') and as for picture/sound quality, I maintain the fact that a 'better' version wouldn't enhance my viewing pleasure; I can see the film on VHS, I can hear on VHS....I don't need to hear 'better' to get anything more from the story.

 

Kephs, recordability is what I reckon is holding DVD back from killing VHS off altogether.

And my Sony WS TV has two Scart sockets, so I don't have to mess around with switching the video and DVD leads.

 

They is also forcing you down the widescreen telly route... broadcasting stuff in widescreen all the time now... good job the Sky box has letterboxing as an option!

Good point, kephy... the DVD player I is getting retails at between £149 to £170 or so.. I'm actually getting it (as long as no-one outbids me at the last second) for £105... thus making the proverbial carrot look a lot tastier and a lot closer!

 

Gittes:

1. Features on VHS are a pain. Either you have to wind on to avoid watching them, or right to the end, depending where they are on the tape.
2. VHS inevitably deteriorates.
3. Have you ever seen a DVD film?