What's a good laser disk player?

[erehwon]

I picked up three star wars laser disks at a garage sale and I was wondering what I should look for in a laser disk player? What are the better brands and models?

[Zing]

You should be able to snag a decent Pioneer player somewhere online. I suggest making sure it has s-video out. Many players just have composite.

I actually have one that I sold on ebay (bought it back in 1990) but the buyer screwed me over. It is still sitting in the box ready to ship, but the cost to ship to the US is $29. ;)

[XboxHardcore.com]

Do they still make new LD players??

[erehwon]

Do they still make new LD players??
I don't know if they do or not, but if they do, they propably aren't cheap. I'm just looking for info on looking for a used one.

[uli2000]

Pioneer stoped making laserdisc players in 2001. They were the last manufaturer to make them. Pioneer is your best bet, especially if you can get a elite model. Look for something like a cld-79 or cld-99 if you can afford it. Find one that will do both sides, as flipping a disc is a pain in the but. And get one with a optical out. A AC-3 out is nice (for Dolby digital on some discs), but you have to buy a RF demodulator to get a DD signal off of your discs, and last time I checked, they are going up in price ($150 or so for a cheap one). Stay far away from Sony players. Very unreliable. Most of the others, except Panasonic, were rebadged Pioneers. Panasonics upper end stuff was great, but the low end stuff was pretty mediocre. Zing has some good advice, but you've got to have a good comb filter on your tv to run svideo into it. Otherwise, use the composite. Be careful having a ld player shipped. They are more delicate than alot of electronics, and not many people work on them anymore. A few years ago, I bought 4 in one year, and 3 arrived broken. First, check pawn shops in your area if you have any. Bring a disc to check them if you can. Next, Id look at A/V specialty sites like audiogon, AVS, or Home Theater Forum. The last one I bought (I would sell it, pm me if interested) I got off of audiogon. Alot of audio guys used to buy them as cd transports because they were less prone to disc wobble than regular cd players are. Last resort is ebay, but personally, Ive had nothing but bad luck with ld players on ebay.

Personally, I wouldnt get a ld player just for star wars though. They put the original ld cut on the 2 disc versions released last year. The 'faces' release is the best version on ld. Thought there is still alot of stuff on ld that you wont ever find on dvd/hddvd/bluray.

[erehwon]

Pioneer stoped making laserdisc players in 2001. They were the last manufaturer to make them. Pioneer is your best bet, especially if you can get a elite model. Look for something like a cld-79 or cld-99 if you can afford it. Find one that will do both sides, as flipping a disc is a pain in the but. And get one with a optical out. A AC-3 out is nice (for Dolby digital on some discs), but you have to buy a RF demodulator to get a DD signal off of your discs, and last time I checked, they are going up in price ($150 or so for a cheap one). Stay far away from Sony players. Very unreliable. Most of the others, except Panasonic, were rebadged Pioneers. Panasonics upper end stuff was great, but the low end stuff was pretty mediocre. Zing has some good advice, but you've got to have a good comb filter on your tv to run svideo into it. Otherwise, use the composite. Be careful having a ld player shipped. They are more delicate than alot of electronics, and not many people work on them anymore. A few years ago, I bought 4 in one year, and 3 arrived broken. First, check pawn shops in your area if you have any. Bring a disc to check them if you can. Next, Id look at A/V specialty sites like audiogon, AVS, or Home Theater Forum. The last one I bought (I would sell it, pm me if interested) I got off of audiogon. Alot of audio guys used to buy them as cd transports because they were less prone to disc wobble than regular cd players are. Last resort is ebay, but personally, Ive had nothing but bad luck with ld players on ebay.

Personally, I wouldnt get a ld player just for star wars though. They put the original ld cut on the 2 disc versions released last year. The 'faces' release is the best version on ld. Thought there is still alot of stuff on ld that you wont ever find on dvd/hddvd/bluray.

I wouldn't be buying the laser disk player for just star wars. There are some other stuff on laser disk I'd like to find. There's a harder to find Japanese LD version of Dune I wouldn't mind having. I don't think I'll be picking that any time soon though. If I could find one or had the money, I'd like to find a Pioneer CLD-A100 Laseractive system. I don't know if I'd want to play movies on that a lot considering their value and rarity. That's on my wishlist right now.

[uli2000]

JVC also rebadged that laseractive machine. I cant remember the name. They used to go for $150 or so back in the day.