International Cathe Fans

A

ailie

New Member
Hello all,
I have been reading your words of encouragement for months and with the new videos and a change in financial circumstances I have decided that it is time to BUY!!
Problem is that I live in a PAL system area and don't know what would be the best solution - buy the NTSC vids and get them converted (am currently waiting for a quote back) or buy the DVDs and a DVD player (will they actually work in my region???)
Is there anyone else who has had this problem. Please any advice is greatly appreciated. I have watched the video clips so often I almost know them off by heart!!!!
thanks,
Ailie
 
Finnish point of view

Hi!

Almost all new VCR's sold in Finland have the ability to play both PAL and NTSC. When I first started to order exercise videos from USA I ordered only those few PAL's that were around. Boy were those expensive. To this date they still are the ones I paid most for and the exchange rate has since gone way up. Then I actually bothered to look at the manual of my then current VCR: Lo and behold, it could play NTSC too. I've since bought a new VCR and of course my main selection criteria was the ability to play NTSC and I found out that almost any basic model could do it. How to know which one can? My VCR is a Sony SLV SX-700 and at least that one has on the front panel the text: "NTSC playback on PAL TV".

Anyways, thus the selection of videos I could buy expanded dramatically, and incidently, so has my monthly VISA bill... :)

I hope this helped!

Tiina

BTW Cathe's DVD's are supposed to work all around the world.
 
RE: Finnish point of view

Thank you so much for replying.
I am going to investigate the range in the electronics store tomorrow. I can anticipate a huge increase in my credit card.

once again thank you,
Ailie
 
friend in the us

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Apr-24-01 AT 06:02PM (Est)[/font][p]Hey--Have you checked Internet stores? Perhaps you can buy one on the 'net from a US distributor and have it shipped? Of course, they would probably charge you extra to send it overseas. If all else fails, make a friend in America and get them to send you one. Good luck! Suzanna
 
Hi Allie,

I live in Israel and I have bought many of Cathe's exercise videos. Your best solution is having a multi-system VCR that can play both PAL and NTSC videos.
I have one like that here and I enjoy the tapes very much.

Good luck !

Ann.
 
A big thank you for replying, I actually went out and checked all the electronics stores in Dublin and they do stock players with NTSC playback. Excellent!!! I can see next month's credit bill being at the limit with the video player and all the new Cathe videos not to mention all the previous ones. I cannot wait.
thanks again,
Ailie
 
Hi Ailie,

I live in the Netherlands and have a multisystem VCR. My advice for tapes would be to get the NTSC system if you can choose between NTSC and PAL. PAL tapes are usually more expensive and they are harder to trade if you ever come to that point. I also find the image quality of PAL tapes to be slightly less because they have been converted.

I also have a dvd-player and I got a code-free one just in case. So far I only have cathe dvd's and they are code-free, but I believe living arts dvd or tae bo's are not. If you're in the market for a dvd-player and want to mix and match your workouts, get a programmable one that holds say 3 or 5 disks. So far, I have had no luck in this area. yes, they programm audio cd's but no dvd's.

As for buying over the internet: US players work on a different format!!!!!!!
We have 220 V and they use 110 V. Even with a converter you could end up ruining your expensive dvdplayer or VCR because the frequency is also different (50/60 Hz)(OK, I blew up a very nice mickey mouse sandwichmaker that I bought in the us, I do definitely not want that to happen to a dvd player)

Ilja http://home.hetnet.nl/~aliyah/images/fitnessmickey.gif
 
Hi Ailie,

My recommendation would be to go for the DVD because Cathe is bringing out all her new stuff on DVD, as well as quite a few of the older workouts. More and more things are available on DVD, and it is just the best for mixing and matching segments and really customizing your workout. CIA are promising to make all future workouts available on DVD, and many of their old tapes are available in PAL format at no extra cost! Several others are also doing this - eg. Jennifer Kries, Living Arts. So, I'd say DVD is the wave of the future, plus you shouldn't have the problems of defectives or tapes wearing out. Just my two cents :)
 
Hi ailie, I agree that the dvd is the wave of the future, however if buying a dvd player be careful that your player is able to play discs from the US zone. The dvd players in international countries have zones. If I buy a dvd player here in Australia, I have to have it converted to play discs from the US.
Currently I am having success with a multi system video player. It is NTSC playback on Pal TV. I too bought expensive videos in Pal format until I invested in a Multisystem.
Good luck and have fun. Cathe is great! Bella
 
I still think that buying a VCR is better...

Although Cathe is coming out with her DVDs, not all instructors do so. I love Cathe's tapes, but I also buy other instructors' tapes such as the CIA (they are also great !)and they don't have DVDs (as far as I know)...

Hey, but that is only my personal opinion - go with the multi system VCR...it's the safe choice.

Good luck with whatever you buy...

Ann.
 
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