Posted by Brunetta--aka Badassfuckinetta at adsl-63-206-119-92.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net on March 27, 2002 at 11:53:25:
In Reply to: Question about Laserdisc Players... posted by Jonas. on March 27, 2002 at 03:05:01:
And it makes all kinds of noise occasionally, too. Matter of fact I actually took it in about 6 years ago to get it looked at before my three year extended warranty ran out and they took it apart and didn't find any falt with it.
It probably is just the way the player was designed. It's basically tin, and with a big spinning disc inside it it could probably create a lot of noise as air is running up against it (and with the vent being off to the side near the back of my player, that doesn't much help releasing all the air).
I've found that if you place something on top of it (like my VCR, since my laser disc player's fan is off to the side and not on top) it'll minimize the noise most often.
As for LD recommendations....
If you are a big fan of E.T. or JAWS I suggest finding the special edition sets. The JAWS set has twice the amount of documentary footage the DVD had and the E.T. documentary materials (which are pretty darn good) on the laser disc won't be recycled for the DVD release. Each ran about $150 when released (which basically made my Christmas list narrow to just E.T. or JAWS the years they came out) so I don't know how much they'd be on E-Bay or something (but for JAWS I'd imagine less since it's available on DVD).
As mentioned, the STAR WARS films were released in a couple box sets. One was called the "Definative Editon", with all three films (in CAV) and supplements. I didn't get that set though because it was $250. There's also the seperate releases of each film in CLV (with just Leonard Maltin interviews with George Lucas). But the "Special Edition" versions were released in a set with the same supplements from the cassette versions in CLV format (though I think STAR WARS and EMPIRE have the last sides of each in CAV). That ran about $125 and since it was a limited release it was instantly discontinued and most likely it's VERY expensive on E-Bay.