# Wait .... WHAT'S Dead?



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

> *Sony finally kills Betamax 13 years after it last made a player*





> Still buying Betamax tapes for your sweet SL-HF 360 SuperBeta player? Well, brace yourself, because Sony has announced it's going to stop producing tapes for the failed format in March 2016.
> 
> Yes, apparently Sony was still producing Betamax tapes in Japan, despite players and recorders having been discontinued in 2002.





> Also being taken off the market alongside Betamax tapes are Sony's MicroMV camcorder cassettes, which were used by a huge range of its camcorders in the early 2000s.


http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/sony-finally-kills-betamax-13-years-since-it-last-made-a-player/


----------



## PCampbell (Nov 18, 2006)

I Loved my Betamax but that was 1980, DVRs are so much easier. I never was one for keeping recordings.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I know Dude111 loves VHS, wonder what his Betamax collection is like. If I remember correctly, it was a better system in some ways, though not in capacity.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dpeters11 said:


> I know Dude111 loves VHS, wonder what his Betamax collection is like. If I remember correctly, it was a better system in some ways, though not in capacity.


I sold my Betamax and bought a Panny VHS recorder. One of the dumbest things I've ever done.

Rich


----------



## PCampbell (Nov 18, 2006)

Better picture 5 hour max rec time. VHS 6 hour.


----------



## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

I realized that video production, news studios, local stations etc had continued using Beta for a while after VHS had won out in the home market but I had no idea it had lasted this long.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

PCampbell said:


> *Better picture* 5 hour max rec time. VHS 6 hour.


Yeah, I really did a dumb thing, selling that. The guy I sold it to wrecked it. Didn't have much money or access to info at the time and thought VHS was the way to go. The local video rental stores all had so many more titles on VHS than BM that I thought VHS must be better.

Rich


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I didn't get into the beta vs vhs thing, but I did originally choose HD DVD over Blu-Ray.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Rich said:


> Yeah, I really did a dumb thing, selling that. The guy I sold it to wrecked it. Didn't have much money or access to info at the time and thought VHS was the way to go. The local video rental stores all had so many more titles on VHS than BM that I thought VHS must be better.
> 
> Rich


Reminds me of a bit from Married With Children. "If the movie was any good, they'd have it for Betamax".


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dpeters11 said:


> I didn't get into the beta vs vhs thing, but I did originally choose HD DVD over Blu-Ray.


Betamax was so much better, but that time I've been writing about was before I started time shifting and just rented videos.

Rich


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dpeters11 said:


> Reminds me of a bit from Married With Children. "If the movie was any good, they'd have it for Betamax".


Every video rental store I went into had numerous VHS titles and very few Betamax titles. Not having the good sense to buy a VHS recorder and trying it out against the Betamax recorder was stupid. The Panny VHS recorder was terrible.

Rich


----------



## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

I remember the first Mitsi VHS I bought in the mid 80s.. . $700 and weighed a TON!


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dennisj00 said:


> I remember the first Mitsi VHS I bought in the mid 80s.. . $700 and weighed a TON!


I can't even remember what the first ones I bought cost. Couldn't have been that much, I was broke. I did buy a couple Mitsubishi VHS recorder much later on. Very impressive, the remote control was a wonder but the PQ wasn't that good. Finally, I ended up with 12 Sonys, I thought they produced the best PQ even tho they were so prone to mechanical failure I had to keep a couple new ones in the boxes to replace the bad ones. By that time, it was cheaper to replace them then to get them fixed, which never worked out well. I still have a couple left for some reason.

Rich


----------



## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

Rich said:


> I can't even remember what the first ones I bought cost. Couldn't have been that much, I was broke. I did buy a couple Mitsubishi VHS recorder much later on. Very impressive, the remote control was a wonder but the PQ wasn't that good. Finally, I ended up with 12 Sonys, I thought they produced the best PQ even tho they were so prone to mechanical failure I had to keep a couple new ones in the boxes to replace the bad ones. By that time, it was cheaper to replace them then to get them fixed, which never worked out well. I still have a couple left for some reason.
> 
> Rich


In my case, the PQ was only as good as the 3 or 4 channels we got with rabbit ears. Pre-cable in the condo that I had moved to in 1985.

Bought it at the local pre-Best Buy - Tart's electronics / stereo store from the best friend of my current wife.

The last VHS I bought was $42 and is in the box in the basement somewhere, I think.


----------



## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

dpeters11 said:


> I didn't get into the beta vs vhs thing, but I did originally choose HD DVD over Blu-Ray.


We bought VHS before DVDs were indroduced. I had a friend who wisely sold every VHS tape that she could when DVDs hit the market. I didn't ... and now I have a library of old VHS (and never play them) and a library of DVDs (rarely played). When HD DVD and Blu-Ray were introduced I chose neither. I have bought a couple of DVDs since but I decided not to invest in the next media to fill shelves. With the amount of content available online, on demamd and via satellite I do not feel that I have missed out. I get more content than I can watch without buying Blu-Rays.


----------



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

I have a small collection of 331/3 record albums with nothing to play them on.

I have a small collection of cassette audio tapes with nothing to play them on.

I have a small collection of VHS movies with nothing to play them on.

I have a small collection of 3.5" diskettes with nothing to read them on.

I have a small collection of CD albums and DVD movies and if it were not
for my $15 DVD player and my refurb laptop I have nothing to play them on.

:shrug:

Like James and many, if not most of us, with the amount of content available
streaming online and on-demand via cable I do not feel that I am missing out.
Today, I have access to more content than I have ever had without buying any
physical media.


----------



## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

I still buy CDs and rip them because I like the concept of hearing the entire album rather than downloading some one hit wonder.

Unfortunately, my vinyl library is gone but I still have an expensive player with nothing to connect it to. The magnetic cartridge is probably non-magnetic these days.

I just need to remember to not retire at least one CD / DVD computer.


----------



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Never had Betamax, as I favored VHS over Beta because of the higher recording capacity in the 1980s. It was a quantity over quality decision. Beta has something like 250i over VHS's 240i resolution. Both are quite antiquated now.

I understand the appeal of the streaming media, but a part of mine loves the physical media of an actual CD, DVD, or BluRay.


----------



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

Mark Holtz said:


> Never had Betamax, as I favored VHS over Beta because of the higher recording capacity in the 1980s. It was a quantity over quality decision...


The biggest factor favoring VHS over Beta for most people was reverse/rewindability. I also suspect that the maximum fast-forward speed might have been a little greater with VHS rather the Beta, but I never compared them.


----------



## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

Nick said:


> I have a small collection of 331/3 record albums with nothing to play them on.
> I have a small collection of cassette audio tapes with nothing to play them on.
> I have a small collection of VHS movies with nothing to play them on.
> I have a small collection of 3.5" diskettes with nothing to read them on.
> ...


I have a pretty good collection of vinyl AND something to play them on, though I rarely do. Same for cassettes, VHS, DVD, ZIP disks, SyQuest cartridges, 3.5" floppy (even some 5.25", but no drives for either). I usually do still buy CDs and rip them, especially now that Amazon has the autorip feature that gives you a digital copy free when you buy the physical disc.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

AntAltMike said:


> The biggest factor favoring VHS over Beta for most people was reverse/rewindability. I also suspect that the maximum fast-forward speed might have been a little greater with VHS rather the Beta, but I never compared them.


Everything about the VHS platform seemed better. Till I got one and saw the difference in PQ.

Rich


----------



## SeaBeagle (May 7, 2006)

Rich said:


> Everything about the VHS platform seemed better. Till I got one and saw the difference in PQ.
> 
> Rich


I agree. These DVDs sometimes will skip or even stop playing. I prefer WHS tapes over DVDs.

Sent from my iPad 4 128GB using DBSTalk mobile application.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

SeaBeagle said:


> I agree. These DVDs sometimes will skip or even stop playing. I prefer WHS tapes over DVDs.
> 
> Sent from my iPad 4 128GB using DBSTalk mobile application.


That's not what I meant, I was comparing VSH to BM. When that happens with DVDs or BDs, washing the disc with soapy water or Windex usually solves that problem. Happens a lot with NF discs and that's what they recommend.

Rich


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

SeaBeagle said:


> I agree. These DVDs sometimes will skip or even stop playing. I prefer WHS tapes over DVDs.
> 
> Sent from my iPad 4 128GB using DBSTalk mobile application.


That freezing and skipping is either a player has gone bad (and usually if it's starts to go bad it goes real bad fast for everything) or its people mishandling the discs.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> That freezing and skipping is either a player has gone bad (and usually if it's starts to go bad it goes real bad fast for everything) or its people mishandling the discs.


And NF not really cleaning their BDs as they claim. I've called them about it a couple times. Last time it was jelly on the disc. The guy I talked to asked me if I had just eaten a jelly sandwich. I just love intelligent questions. I don't eat jelly, ever and I certainly wouldn't have called about it if I thought I had smeared jelly on it. After telling him all that, he told me they're "supposed" to clean each disc, but I've been having the same problems with NF discs for years.

Rich


----------



## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

When I saw a turntable with USB output I wished I had saved at least some of the vinyl I gave/threw away several years ago when my changer died. I could at least have preserved some recordings which have never gone to CD.

I have copied a few VHS tapes to DVD but the video quality is so poor I can no longer bear to watch them.


----------

