5. Widescreen/OAR: Ah yes. Thanks to laserdisc, movies finally came around to the proper aspect ratios. There are numerous pan & scan discs out there, but you can easily track down the proper widescreen version. These movies are letterboxed and not anamorphic so they won't stretch to fit that new widescreen TV (actually, a few do, but those are way out of the normal human beings price range and impossible to find). Then again, they shouldn't be hooked up to that new TV anyway.

6. Movies not available on DVD: Want to watch "King Kong" on DVD? Not tonight you won't. There's a brilliant laserdisc Criterion Collection set out there. How about the "real" version of "Star Wars" where Han shoots first? Not on DVD. That's one of the main reasons laserdiscs have seen a surge in popularity. Everyone is clamoring for that latter set (which has also pushed the price up) and must be grabbing a few other discs while their browsing. Either way, you can find quite a few movies out there that are not (and may not be) available on DVD.

Of course laserdiscs are far from perfect. They're insane size makes them hard to handle, their picture simply isn't as good as DVD. They're heavy, they suffer from "laser rot," the players can be loud, and everyone thinks you mean DVD when you say laserdisc (or they just think you're nuts).

For more detailed information, here's a great site with a list of FAQs about the format that can get you started if you find yourself interested in this great format. This little rant here is nothing more than a brief overview.