The end of Xtra-vision?

Shogun Puca

With Blockbuster filing for Chapter 11; it made me think, if the inevitable happens and Xtra-vision is wound up, would you miss them?

In the era of torrents and streaming is the neighborhood video store just an unnecessary throwback to the days of Betamax or would you be inconvenienced?

landsleaving

I'll only be upset if Laser goes. Xtra Vision have a rubbish selection and charge way too much.

Riamfada

Overpriced and huge late fees for years. No

squod

Nothing beats browsing for flims. No online review can come up with the crap that's written on the back of a DVD case.

Chaotic_Forces

Grimes wrote: »

Overpriced and huge late fees for years. No

You mean the place that charges a tener for a 4 year old game to rent for a week? That's after renting five films...

No, it'll be a good thing.

Biggins

I noted one local Xtravision store closed today in our town.
I wonder is it related!
(I know they are known as Blockbuster Elsewhere)

Sykk

Who rents DVD's nowadays?! Last time I done that was before broadband became available in Ireland.

dr.bollocko

Sher they're making all their money from electronics anyway.

My name is URL

What they should do is put download kiosks in shopping centers etc. They could have a DRM protected disk where people can just put stuff on and deletes itself after a few days. I honestly don't see how any video rental store can survive only while offering physical sales

Shogun Puca

My name is URL wrote: »

What they should do is put download kiosks in shopping centers etc. They could have a DRM protected disk where people can just put stuff on and deletes itself after a few days. I honestly don't see how any video rental store can survive only using physical sales

But would you be arsed? Why not just stream from the comfort of your couch?

Even Blockbuster in the States have a streaming service, and thats up against the likes of Netflix. (who haven't filed for Ch.11)

Paddy@CIRL

Xtravision hasn't been a part of Blockbuster for several months ...

Biggins

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

Xtravision hasn't been a part of Blockbuster for several months ...

Good to hear if true.

I did note this in the Belfast Telegraph:

Management and its advisors are believed to have agreed the shape of a restructuring deal, which will put the US company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the hope of continuing to operate a slimmed-down operation.
Its UK stores are already a separate legal entity, and UK management have insisted a US bankruptcy would have "no operational impact on Blockbuster UK".

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/blockbuster-rental-chain-sinks-under-900m-debt-14956350.html?r=RSS#ixzz10N5dUASw

johndoe99

i use xtravision mainly for buying DVDs and Blurays here in Waterford City, if they did wind up, theres only Golden Discs left for new releases and they charge a bomb. Oh how i wish HMV would open a store down here, they'd make a killing.

Dravokivich

Grimes wrote: »

Overpriced and huge late fees for years. No

For years..? You should return'em sooner...

Sam Vimes

I sometimes use them whenever I want to watch a movie sooner than the "download->convert to DVD->burn" process allows but I wouldn't miss them too much if they were gone tbh

krudler

Renting movies lol how quaint.

OutlawPete

Xtra-vision holds many good memories for me.

I haven't been in one since in almost five years but even the name being said makes me feel quite nostalgic.

I remember the first shop opened in Swords around '88 and back then, it took six months for a film to go from cinema to video.

Before they arrived, the little family run video shops used to have feck all of a selection and you had to put your name down for new releases and could be waiting weeks for your turn to come round.

Although, they were better for porn flicks and usually had a little black folder full of the box covers to leaf through

When Xtra-vision arrived, there selection was amazing in comparison and I often spent two to three hours deciding which five vids I was gonna take out.

Course, I would then hook my video up to my mates and make copies of everything I ever rented.

Had a collection of a few thousand films at one stage.

The only issue was the 'tracking'.

Getting the tracking right when duplicating VHS tapes was a very tricky affair indeed and needed great skill.

Twiddling those buttons to the precise position so that the tracking lines would disappear just off screen was a rare art, one which I like to think I mastered :cool:

My 'tracking' adjustment skills were well known and discussed regularly, far and wide.

I was renowned for them for many a year, let me tell ya.

In the right circles today, people still discuss how I managed to adjust one very particularly tricky pirate copy of Big Trouble In Little China that had been amateurishly duped onto a Maxell 180 tape at, get this - LP Speed :rolleyes:

People like that should never have been allowed to own such complicated equipment.

Leave it to the pros guys :cool:

Kimono-Girl

My first memory of xtra vision was buying my first tomagatchi there!

i loved that thing!

Nerdkiller1991

johndoe99 wrote: »

i use xtravision mainly for buying DVDs and Blurays here in Waterford City, if they did wind up, theres only Golden Discs left for new releases and they charge a bomb. Oh how i wish HMV would open a store down here, they'd make a killing.

I'm kinda in the same situation...but its the ONLY video service in town. Which means if I want my Blu ray's, the only place I can go to is GameStop (which has barely any there). If I wanted a real selection, I would have to drive to HMV in Limerick. Oh how I yearn for HMV to come here to my town.

alex73

The way forward is online... Sure I can rent a movie on itunes and its just as good a quality as xtravision (with no late fees)

mikemac

Ah Xtravision, I remember when they threatened a fine if you didn't rewind the tape.

But realy, not everywhere in Ireland has broadband.
Many areas in Ireland don't

So Xtravision still has a market

Kasabian

candlelover wrote: »

My first memory of xtra vision was buying my first tomagatchi there!

i loved that thing!

You killed it, didn't you

Kimono-Girl

Kasabian wrote: »

You killed it, didn't you

many many times!

i just wasn't ready for that kind of commitment back then!

JONJO THE MISER

feelingstressed wrote: »

But realy, not everywhere in Ireland has broadband.

:eek: Im pretty sure everywhere now has Broadband, my cousin lives in remotest west cork and has broadband.

mikom

OutlawPete wrote: »

Before they arrived, the little family run video shops used to have feck all of a selection

Although, they were better for porn flicks and usually had a little black folder full of the box covers to leaf through


Course, I would then hook my video up to my mates and make copies of everything I ever rented.

Ah god, the memories.
The buzz of getting your hands on those hard to get porn tapes, and then the copying.
Tis all too easy these days.............. kinda takes away from it a bit.

KilOit

That reminds me i have to return some videotapes

fonecrusher1

I haven't rented a movie from xtravision in 5 years. Sure you can buy one for 7/8 euros. Rarely go into the place so i won't miss it.

Hope not too many people lose their jobs though.

bonerm

Kaidan wrote: »

That reminds me i have to return some videotapes

Jesus Kaidan. There's a lot more problems than videotapes. Take Sri Lanka for example. Not to mention apartheid and nuclear arms .....

PeterIanStaker

I was getting phone credit in my local Xtravision and noticed the huge amount of pre-owned DVD's for sale, they seem to be getting by on them alone.

As I left, I was confronted by a large cut out of Kick Ass, which was an Xtra Vision "exclusive", I couldnt help smiling because I'd downloaded it:D

OutlawPete

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

As I left, I was confronted by a large cut out of Kick Ass, which was an Xtra Vision "exclusive", I couldnt help smiling because I'd downloaded it:D

You downloaded a large cardboard cut out??

You have Wimax, don't you? :mad:

Shogun Puca

I'll take it then that the general consensus is "no" then.

It's interesting how many people use Xtra-vision for everything but renting movies?

mickydoomsux

I hope they don't close because they give the best trade in value on videogames.

about blank

OutlawPete wrote: »

Xtra-vision holds many good memories for me.

I haven't been in one since in almost five years but even the name being said makes me feel quite nostalgic.

I remember the first shop opened in Swords around '88 and back then, it took six months for a film to go from cinema to video.

Before they arrived, the little family run video shops used to have feck all of a selection and you had to put your name down for new releases and could be waiting weeks for your turn to come round.

Although, they were better for porn flicks and usually had a little black folder full of the box covers to leaf through

When Xtra-vision arrived, there selection was amazing in comparison and I often spent two to three hours deciding which five vids I was gonna take out.

Course, I would then hook my video up to my mates and make copies of everything I ever rented.

Had a collection of a few thousand films at one stage.

The only issue was the 'tracking'.

Getting the tracking right when duplicating VHS tapes was aricky affair and needed great skill.

Twiddling those buttons to the precise position so that the tracking lines would disappear just off screen as an art, one which I like to think I mastered.

My 'tracking' adjustment skills were well known and I was renowned for them for many a year.

In the right circles today, people still discuss how I managed to adjust one very particularly tricky pirate of Big Trouble In Little China that had been very amateurishly duped over at LP Speed on a Maxell 180 Min tape :rolleyes:

People like that should never have been allowed to own such complicated equipment.

Leave it to the pros guys :cool:

This should be Post of the day (tomorrow) :rolleyes:


Love it

OutlawPete

about blank wrote: »

This should be Post of the day (tomorrow) :rolleyes:


Love it

Cheers, but I don't think there are that many old people on Boards that know what the hell I was on about or what "tracking" even is

strokemyclover

OutlawPete wrote: »

Cheers, but I don't think there are that many old people on Boards that know what the hell I was on about or what "tracking" even is

I'm looking it up on my Atari 800XL........Take a minute!

Skinback

Shogun Puca wrote: »

With Blockbuster filing for Chapter 11; it made me think, if the inevitable happens and Xtra-vision is wound up, would you miss them?

In the era of torrents and streaming is the neighborhood video store just an unnecessary throwback to the days of Betamax or would you be inconvenienced?

I constantly wonder how Xtravision stays in biz considering the complete
****e that masquerades as films these days.
I could scan the shelves for an hour and not find a fillum I fancied as an adult who requires adult entertainment.

RoundyMooney

OutlawPete, God be with the days! (Certain people won't like me mentioning God, fcuk 'em)

My first dubbing efforts were with Ferguson toploaders (yes kids, that's where they got their name) co-ax linked.

Two RF converters, plus tracking differences made for a painful copying experience, but SCART was a godsend (ooh, there I go again!).

I also remember this on LPs (my teenage nephew asked me what I was doing with all those big black CDs the other day)

http://www.dreamfoundry.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Home-taping-is-killing-music.gif

about blank

Roundy & Pete

why not start a thread on this??

I would love to read peoples memories and such regards the old video 'tracking' days.


Mods : Sorry for the trolling

RolandIRL

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

:eek: Im pretty sure everywhere now has Broadband, my cousin lives in remotest west cork and has broadband.

i'm in rural sligo. no broadband exchange near us. all we can get is mobile "broadband" with speeds of up to....20kbps...that's right folks, 20kbps :cool:

HavingCrack

You can buy DVD's in HMV for as little as 3.00 (for In Bruges) these days so the market for rentals has just disappeared to be honest..

OutlawPete

RoundyMooney wrote: »

My first dubbing efforts were with Ferguson toploaders (yes kids, that's where they got their name) co-ax linked.

I was lucky enough to be the first of all my mates to have a vcr.

My Dad picked it up at a Garda auction of all things.

It a Telefunken, can't find a good pic but it looked a lot like this.

I remember the day he got so well, it was around 1984 (I was eleven).

It came with two VHS tapes, Outland and The Private Lives Of Sherlock Holmes.

I nearly fell over myself with excitement.

To actually be able to control the picture on your TV was hilarious.

I remember pausing the video and getting everyone around the TV to show them that I could control when the film started and when it stopped :cool:

The first trip to the video shop did not go well.

My mam drove me down and she went shopping and left me to pick some movies.

It was £20 to join :eek:

VHS tapes cost a small fortune back then, from what I remember.

I think it was something like £80 for each film, maybe that's bull, but that's what the guy in the video shop told us and I was too young to really check myself, so I guess I always believed it.

Anyway, I picked Mr.T The Toughest Guy In The World and Trading Places :cool:

Didn't happen.

He said he'd ask my mam and I said fine.

He then told my mother that Trading Places was very unsuitable for an eleven year old and had very explict sexual content.

/mortified

And he even asked her was the Mr.T video okay as it was PG and I couldn't rent it without her permission .. tosser :mad:

That was a minor mishap as I had older brothers and what they rented, I watched

Plus, there was another small video shop in Swords, upstairs in the attic of a doctor's surgery and they let you rent pretty much anything at any age.

Porkys, Revenge Of The Nerds, Confessions Of A Window Cleaner, Mad Max, Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre .. is it any wonder I'm not right in the head

There was only one rule with the vcr.

If we were gonna watch videos at night, we had to make sure it was rewound before my Dad went to bed as the noise of it rewinding, used to wake him.

Says it all really

RoundyMooney

about:blank, no bother, start away and we shall join in.

Here's a retro forum, but it's more along the lines of 70s/80s/90s pop culture

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=253

I just reread my post, and am slightly bewildered by the fact that I put forward Toploader as contemporary, when they were last in the charts seven years ago!

Back on video shops, as they were, anyone else remember going behind the velvet curtain (oo-er missus) or the reflective wall (one way mirror-so one could see the wife comin' atcha) for the real goodies?

flahavaj

strokemyclover wrote: »

I'm looking it up on my Atari 800XL........Take a minute!

Spectrum FTW.

bricky06

Chaotic_Forces wrote: »

You mean the place that charges a tener for a 4 year old game to rent for a week? That's after renting five films...

No, it'll be a good thing.

any game older than about 6 months is €4.95 for a week - exaggeration can be a good means of making a point but not when its blatantly incorrect!

bricky06

Biggins wrote: »

I noted one local Xtravision store closed today in our town.
I wonder is it related!
(I know they are known as Blockbuster Elsewhere)

Xtravision are no longer affiliated with blockbuster, they are separate businesses. Xtravision has also had large investment in the form of a new top end, nationwide computer system from their new owners.
i.e. they're not going anywhere for a while!

RoundyMooney

OutlawPete wrote: »

I was lucky enough to be the first of all my mates to have a vcr.

My Dad picked it up at a Garda auction of all things.

It a Telefunken, can't find a good pic but it looked a lot like this.

Ah, if it was like the Fergie, it had a wired remote, and cost 3 quid a week to rent. 3 quid would have got ya a pint or two, a bag of chips, and Sally O'Brien looking at you that time, for us, it would have bought a ball of Swizzers sherbet, and a sugar high, or indeed a weeks worth of 50p a night goodness.

Said wired remote was the talk of the town. Dad could freeze Rocky getting a punch from Mr. T, or the Terminator driving in the door of the copshop. More likely he freeze framed other scenes, but the joys of tracking bars and a curfew meant I never got to see 'em.

When he came in after a few and tripped over the trailing lead, he tended to forget the advantages himself.

Dave!

Good. I hope it burns down.

/disgruntled former employee

pappyodaniel

This morning in my old bedroom I found one of those gift vouchers they sell (you know the one's that look like an ATM card) and brought it down to extravision to buy a game. It was given to me over a year ago and i forgot about it. Anyway the guy at the counter scanned it and he told me it was out of date since May and it was no longer valid. I checked the card for a date of expiry but there was none. There was a list of terms and conditions on the back but it didn't mention anything about out of date cards. I mean if your atm card expires does that mean your savings are lost and go to the bank?

Raging over this, and pissed I didn't question the staff more. Has anyone any consumer advice for me?

imme

No, I shan't miss them, they did employ me for one week though, back in the dim and distant past.:o

Their place can be taken by the machine in supermarkets that discharges DVD's for 1 or 2 euro. Not stuff that's been released today, but pretty recent stuff and some older stuff.

RoundyMooney

ITT: People who don't remember videoshops dispensing videos. Or life pre Xtravision.

ITT (was what Nokia used to be).

bricky06

pappyodaniel wrote: »

This morning in my old bedroom I found one of those gift vouchers they sell (you know the one's that look like an ATM card) and brought it down to extravision to buy a game. It was given to me over a year ago and i forgot about it. Anyway the guy at the counter scanned it and he told me it was out of date since May and it was no longer valid. I checked the card for a date of expiry but there was none. There was a list of terms and conditions on the back but it didn't mention anything about out of date cards. I mean if your atm card expires does that mean your savings are lost and go to the bank?

Raging over this, and pissed I didn't question the staff more. Has anyone any consumer advice for me?

if you ring HO and tell them the story (try sound a little pissed about not being told) they will send you out vouchers or a replacement card to the balance of the original card. Happy shopping!

- a wiley employee