My precious came in...

[BigusSchmuck]

My Laseractive finally showed up today! I can't believe this seller gave me all the manuals and all sorts of things! So a few questions, is it normal for the pack release button to be so freakishly difficult to press to release a pac?  What are you guys doing as far as storage for Laserdiscs? I'm kind of nervous putting these movies let alone my 2 whole games near where they can be damaged from the sun, animals etc... I'm thinking I'll need a fairly large cabinet to store all this stuff! Last question for now, how hard is it to find a pce pack without the gouging price? Do I need to start learning Japanese to bid on Yahoo Japan Auctions?

[ProfessorProfessorson]

My Laseractive finally showed up today! I can't believe this seller gave me all the manuals and all sorts of things! So a few questions, is it normal for the pack release button to be so freakishly difficult to press to release a pac?  What are you guys doing as far as storage for Laserdiscs? I'm kind of nervous putting these movies let alone my 2 whole games near where they can be damaged from the sun, animals etc... I'm thinking I'll need a fairly large cabinet to store all this stuff! Last question for now, how hard is it to find a pce pack without the gouging price? Do I need to start learning Japanese to bid on Yahoo Japan Auctions?

Laserdisc need to be stored upright like records in a temp controlled environment. Laying them flat and stacking them will damage them over time.

[BigusSchmuck]

Thanks Professor on some tips on how to store these beasties! First impressions, so I fired up Pyramid Patrol and Rocket Coaster today, very interesting. I definitely had a lot more fun with Rocket Coaster, but as for Pyramid Patrol eh it was so so as far as rail shooters go. I did try sega carts and sega cd games, man those games were loud so I think the caps are okay for now at least I hope they are. My question is this, is Rocket Coaster's music supposed to be quiet? I mean the sound effects were pretty loud and such and I could hear the bleeps and bloops for the music (mind you only played a few levels) but it does concern me if I need to get the caps replaced to my pac that much sooner. I did get the Laseractive remote control for the unit, but I haven't managed it to open trays or power on the unit with it so I'm wondering if the remote is bad or if there is something else I'm missing (already tried two different sets of batteries)? Anyway, I am enjoying this for what it is and what Pioneer attempted to do by creating a machine that was your all in one entertainment center.

[SuperDeadite]

The remote will only work when the PAC is removed.  When a PAC is inserted, the remote is completely disabled, I believe it was meant as a safety feature to prevent accidental shutoff during a game.

[BigusSchmuck]

The remote will only work when the PAC is removed.  When a PAC is inserted, the remote is completely disabled, I believe it was meant as a safety feature to prevent accidental shutoff during a game.

Ahh thanks for that! Now I got to convince my wife to get a really good laserdisc player...

[xelement5x]

If you're playing movies you normally want the PAC removed anyway, as it seems to do something that reduces the output quality.  I think it has something to do with the native output of the Genesis being less than the stock LA, so when you have the PAC inserted it makes the LDs display in a lower resolution. 

You can use milk crates, but as for storage, I picked up a couple of these boxes:
http://www.sleevecityusa.com/ultimate-lp-storage-box-p/3strlpbox.htm

Not the best thing in the world, but they hold up well and are better than just leaning the discs around.  I've almost filled up my 2 with stuff so I may start weeding out movies.

Sleeve City is pretty decent from my experience, and if you want to get those plastic slips for the jackets they sell them pretty cheaply too. There is a 15% off coupon for them out there as well I think.

[TheClash603]

If you're playing movies you normally want the PAC removed anyway, as it seems to do something that reduces the output quality.  I think it has something to do with the native output of the Genesis being less than the stock LA, so when you have the PAC inserted it makes the LDs display in a lower resolution. 

You can use milk crates, but as for storage, I picked up a couple of these boxes:
http://www.sleevecityusa.com/ultimate-lp-storage-box-p/3strlpbox.htm

Not the best thing in the world, but they hold up well and are better than just leaning the discs around.  I've almost filled up my 2 with stuff so I may start weeding out movies.

Sleeve City is pretty decent from my experience, and if you want to get those plastic slips for the jackets they sell them pretty cheaply too. There is a 15% off coupon for them out there as well I think.

Thanks for the suggestion...  my stuff is in less than great storage right now and this will be a much needed upgrade!

I am going to put in an order right away!

[xelement5x]

Glad to help 

They are quite sturdy too and stack well, just be forewarned that when they are full with discs they are quite heavy!

[TheClash603]

Glad to help 

They are quite sturdy too and stack well, just be forewarned that when they are full with discs they are quite heavy!

I see there are two types of outer sleeves, one being more expensive than the other.  Have you tried either of these?  I am trying to determine if the higher priced sleeves are worth it.

[xelement5x]

They actually used to let you buy sample versions of each of the sleeves for like a penny the last time I bought something, so I have one of each, but there is a definite difference in the weight.  You might try emailing and ask if they still offer that. 

I will try and look at my stuff tonight so I can give a better comparison.  But from what I remember while the 2.5 and 5 mil ones are nice, I really like having ones with resealable sleeves so I don't have to worry about discs sliding out. 

[BigusSchmuck]

Ok next newbie questions... Whats the deal with Muse Laserdiscs? Can those be played on a normal Laserdisc player or do I have to get that uber expensive XO unit I have heard about? Whats the true resolution of these beasts? 1080i?

[ProfessorProfessorson]

Muse Hi-Def disc are HD laserdisc that require the Muse players.
http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/laserdisc_archive/muse_high_def_ld/Muse_high_def_ld.htm

You may also run into laserdisc that support AC3 audio. If so they should have normal audio tracks also so you wont be penalized. I never ran into one that didn't. If you do end up wanting AC3 support here:
http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/laserdisc_archive/pioneer/pioneer_cld-a100/pioneer_cld-a100_ac3_upgrade.htm

Laserdisc also supported DTS audio, you can google around if you want to know more on it, but it wasn't as prominent as AC3 if I remember right. I don't recall even owning any DTS laserdisc offhand. There is also a special widescreen version of T2 and a few other films that run in Squeeze LD. You can use a normal player to play them, but they have to be viewed on a widescreen tv basically to be displayed right.
http://www.mindspring.com/~laserguru/squeeze.html

[EvilEvoIX]

Laserdisc systems are fun.  Extremely High Quality Composite out which is Native for LD.  I suggest you find a quality CRT to fully enjoy it.  Sonic looks great too out AV, lot less blurring a bleeding. 

[ProfessorProfessorson]

Laserdisc systems are fun.  Extremely High Quality Composite out which is Native for LD.   

What in the hell are you even talking about. Composite video quality, hell even svideo varied from player model to player model. Laserdisc is analog signal based technology, and the quality of the video is largely factored by what player you use. Use a shitty player or lower end player and you will get a lot of picture noise, bleeding colors, linedrops, etc on laserdisc video playback. God, f*cking noobs, I swear....

[EvilEvoIX]

Laserdisc systems are fun.  Extremely High Quality Composite out which is Native for LD.   

What in the hell are you even talking about. Composite video quality, hell even svideo varied from player model to player model. Laserdisc is analog signal based technology, and the quality of the video is largely factored by what player you use. Use a shitty player or lower end player and you will get a lot of picture noise, bleeding colors, linedrops, etc on laserdisc video playback. God, f*cking noobs, I swear....

I've had a couple of LD players over the years and am quite familiar with them.  My Sony unit shit the bed and was quite poor before it literally fell apart.  Pioneer units were quite better and had superior Video out.  Based on the LD forums (yes I am EvilEvoIX there as well if you want to rant over there) it is know that most Pioneer units are superior and as far as the Laseractive unit which this thread was about and I was referring to, has superior AV out.  Before you flew off the handle on one of your rants, I'd like to point out that I was well aware of the different qualities but this thread is about the CLD-A100so it does indeed have superior AV out.

Why so angry?