European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 29, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Guidelines for buying that Var by Hans Fantel new York times nvom7 buying a video Cassetia recorder Var for Short can now choose from Ihrck dilute rent formats and roughly 200 fill Cronl models ranging in Price from less than $300 to More than $1.500 buyers May Well eel bewildered. Wilh a Lew Basic guidelines however you can have a Ian Chance Al culling through the video Hingle and winding up with a Var that meets both your requirement and your Budge i of first importance is to make Clear to the Salos clerk exactly How you expect to use your Var. What features you want and what options you can do without that Way you won t be paying Lor what you Don 1 need and you will be buying whal you really want not what the store wants to sell you the la Rel decision to be made concerns the Basic format Hal is the kind and size of cassette to be used the main contenders Are Beta and Ems and they arc Incampo Lilc this Means that Bela tapes won t play on a vh5 machine and vice versa. So you have to choose one of the other Beta has the better picture. Bui because of corporate rivalries and marketing schemes. Ems is the More widely sold. In fact video stores Hal rent or sell movies and other prerecorded features on Lape usually carry Only Ems for most users this is a decisive Laylor and accounts Tor the Ascendance of Ems in the Market. In addition to the familiar Bela and vh5 formats. There is a thud contender. This is he a millimetre Normal in Roduco Early last year. Its chit Virtues Are lightness and compactness. This appeals to video fans who like to roam about with portable equipment shooting their own tapes but lately the new formal which combines a very Goud picture Wilh excellent sound also made a bid Lor i Gular Homo use. Several companies including Sony Kodak Canon and Pioneer have introduced 8-Mill Meler Pablo lop Vars. And a number of major film studios Are now releasing their features on these cassettes. However it is still Loo Early to Tell whether the 8 Milli Meler format can successfully Challenge the entrenched vhf cassettes. Once you have picked the Basic format you must decide whether you wan a Standard Var or a i i Modet. The latter types which Cost at Lossl $200 More than Standard models will not give a belter picture. But icy provide Lull Range stereo sound important if the Var s to be part of an integrated audio video system is i i stereo sound on a Var Worth the Exra Cost keep in mind that More than 300 television stations and a growing number of Cable systems now feature stereo sound As do Many movies several companies have introduced 8-Mllllmeler table top a cats which Are popular with those who like to use portable equipment and shoot their own tapes. Available on cassettes. A i i stereo Var assuming it is connected to a Good audio system allows you to take full advantage of these innovations. The Bonolis of i i Sheroo in a Var will be most apparent in musical presentations or movies of the Star wars sort that rely heavily on multidimensional sound effects. If your taste runs in thai direction. A i i store Var May be Worth your consideration Bui it All you want is to Lape the latest episode of Dallas to watch at a More convenient time a Standard Var with serve you just As Well Tor less Money. It should be noted that some Standard Vars Are equipped to record and play in stereo thai is with iwo separate soundtracks bul nol in High Fidelity to help you decide about this ask the video Deater to arrange a direct comparison of a Standard and a i fiver. That Way you will get a Clear idea whether the difference in performance is Worth the difference in Price. The better vhf models also have whal is known As he for High Quality image enhancement. This provides sharper outlines within the picture. Again those he models Are costlier and the benefits of this feature May strike some viewers As rather slight. Serious vide philes of course will find any improvement in picture Quality world the Price. Again a direct comparison will help you decide. If you watch sports you May be particularly interested in special features such As slow motion or Stop action and single Frame viewing. In that Case consider a Var with digital circuitry which greatly improves these special effects. In the past still frames displayed on a Var were anything but still. They were jumpy and streaked with dark lines. By using. The latest digital circuits several companies including Nec Ria Toshiba and Hitachi have come up Wilh Vars with Rock steady displays. A Point for Cable subscribers make sure the Var is Cable ready and can be hooked up directly to the Cable. One final caution Don t leave the store without having the dealer show you exactly How to Hook up the Var to your to set and How to operate All the controls. Too often the instruction manuals Are gibberish. Erma Bombeck what has More drama than the miss America pageant More suspense than the Nobel prize for literature More heart than the Pillsbury bake Oll the Holiday newsletter s annual Barl off. We should explain what actually constitutes a Holiday jews Leller it s a once a year correspondence sent to everyone you have Ever known met briefly in a parking lot corned Nello in a Hospital bed Tor three Days or Shook hands with on a tour of Europe in 1973. They cannot be Handwritten or personalized in any Way. They Musl be mimeographed copied or done professionally. If pictures Are used they Musl be out of focus snapshots. They must capture the joyous spirit of the season in an individual creative Way that has never been thought of before. Last year s Winner As you May remember was a typewritten Sheet with three Black boxes listing the deaths in the family and describing in great detail How Box no i stiffened out and i believe died in my Page 16 the stars and stripes arms but the Hospital said  this year s entries did not begin to top that one. However the third place goes to a three Page single spaced Fetter with the fast Page listing All of the new cars bought by every member of the family a Dodge caravan Lor Missy and Fred a Dodge Aries for mom who passed on her dal Sun b210 to cafe and Tor Karen. A new Chevetta Etc. Second place goes o a travel log by a family who listed their entire year s travels by month and Dale including every mile. This covered a cruise to Juneau Glacier Bay in Alaska to the new Vork rapid excavation and tunnelling conference. Firs place went to a Man who at age 60 Lell compelled to Start his letter with a history of his life going Back to age 5 and bringing everyone up to Date including his future for the next 30 years. What a sharing experience thai was. Monday december 29,1986 there is a trend among Holiday blotter writers Worth noting. Those opposed to them Are Hting Back Wilh parodies and satire. There s a picture of a Amity from san Jose draped Over their new oils Royce. There s Bob and Betty Boring who Well to a tractor exhibition in the mat there was a report irom Nancy in Savannah a. Who bought her own Junior league while her husband was out buying $650 to shirts. There was the co Rig family whose children fashioned a Beautiful nativity scene out of halt chewed Walnet tos. You had to love the Hansen prefers whose new grandchild wanted a chemistry set and they bought him Dupont co. And who last year went around the world but this year Are going someplace where it Lan l so crowded Send in your entries for next year and remember our motto if you want to know How Good your Lile really is. Read your own Holiday newsletter. Cloi Anguluan times Syndicate