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In Reply to: Best blank VHS tapes TDK or Maxell? posted by Keith H on April 19, 2001 at 23:06:19:
... it is hard to make recommendations because they keep changing them. I have some near 20 year old Maxells still recording well but that is not to say the latest Maxells are the same. I suspect the "superior" quality tapes of today equate more to the standard ones of yesteryear as, to meet firce competition, cheaper lines at lower prices are released.Contrary to what our resident cynic Rich states, there are obvious visual differences in brands. We use a projector on a large screen and this shows up differences in tape quality as well as deficiencies in broadcast program quality. We make some very good quality efforts from digital satellite transmissions (PAL remember) on Panasonic/National recorders and many are superior to NTSC laserdiscs played by a Theta Data III.
The worst run I have had has been with BASF. Their 5 hour tapes did not last long and their 3 hour versions have all gone from our shelves also.
Bottom line, buy good quality lines of either brand and you will not go wrong. We use both.
John
Follow Ups:
What SHVS tapes do you recommend ? And what's the best place to get them (price-wise)?
I agree with John below.TDK gets my vote over Sony.
Although I tend to buy their SC grade as it's cheap and good enough for time shifting movies off satellite and the ocassional LD/DVD dub.My Philips S-VHS recorder also has an ET mode, which enables S-VHS recording on standard tape. Picture quality using the S-Video out of my PAL satellite decoder is almost as good as recording onto true S-VHS, the only downside being a slightly noisier picture and the crap build quality and ergonomics of the Philips. If I was buying another VCR it would have to be a new JVC S-VHS ET deck.
cheers
michael w
Sorry but I can be of no help. When I purchased our Panasonic FS90 SVHS recorder some years ago I bought a heap of SE180 Panasonic S tapes. However I was disappointed with them - more drop outs than standard TDK or Maxell and the broadcast quality of material being taped looked no better on S tape than on quality normal tapes so I've never bothered with them since.However if making tapes of live material to be duplicated I concede S-VHS tape would be advantageous. When last in the USA I thought I saw S tapes available at a "Best Buy" store - TDKs from memory.
I've been satisfied with the better TDK lines for all our taping and the use of standard tapes has the advantage of ease of use in any recorder. However I do not regret purchase of the S recorder as it gives excellent results with good quality tape.
BTW I have tried Sony's tapes, both standard and higher quality, but judge them inferior to TDK.
John
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