My dad invested in CED quite a bit, and it was the right move at that time. We couldn't afford LD, and most CEDs were 19.99-29.99. The Bond films, the best westerns, Star Wars, Disney shorts, wonderful memories. Before that it was Super 8 shorts, which were enjoyable on a different level.
I converted our home movie super 8 films on DVDs a few years ago and I even had the convert some of the monster reels. They looked at me at the photo lab like I was crazy.
EC comic books, super 8 films, OTR shows on cassettes....it was a great childhood.