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Your points are all valid concerning lifetime guarantees etc, but I think you lot must be using the tapes a ridiculous amount! Ive got about 40-50 "blank" tapes (combination of no longer required films and tapes specifically for recording off tv) and ive only got one at the moment thats fucked and doesnt work any longer. You guys must be seriously using your tapes over and over if they are wearing out...or maybe im just not so fussy about the quality recording of some 30min prog ive missed first time round. Its like watching TV from a difficult angle - your eyes soon become adjusted and you dont realise any more, a bit like the quality

apparently Gerry Anderson did those Scotch tapes adverts with the skeleton. you learn something new every day eh?

Tesco's are doing JVC SX180's for ?7.99 for a pack of 10, along with TDK the nest tapes out there

The otherside of the equation is how often do you clean your recorder
if at all

I don't know wether this has a huge impact on the life expectancy but certainly would on the playback quality

As for playing tapes to the point of obscure viewing NEVER

I throw them out before then....as I have just done with 60 of the worst
just recently

No substitute for quality IMHO

cheers
B....OZ

Call me sad but I've just been weighing some tapes on the kitchen scales and older tapes are indeed significantly heavier than modern ones.
A 20 year old Maxell E-180 was 271g and a newly purchased Fuji E-180 was 200g which is an amazing difference.
I play the Maxell tape 3 or 4 times a month and I've not noticed any obvious dip in quality after all this time.
I play it this often bacause in Nov '83 I taped ZZ Top playing three songs live on 'The Tube'. Their performance was amazing and the sound was incredible.

The moral of the story is

Quality tapes are the Heavier ones...lol

Its no surprise that quality has gone downhill over time

What were the 3 songs?

Sharpe Dressed Man,Legs and Gimme All Your Lovin'?

cheers
B...OZ

Everybody must have a local Argos, they stock TDK, JVC, Maxell all at excellent prices.



Cheers CC.

i used a old JVC tape from 1990 to record a places of ones own,i wake up screaming last night i tested a few seconds out seems ok.

How did you decide on the worst Deuce? Did you organise a telephone poll?

On the point about life-expectancy, does anyone remember Unwearoutable socks and their 6 months guarantee?

Mart

Good guess - you got two out of three. They played -
Got Me Under Pressure / Gimme All Your Lovin / Sharp Dressed Man.
As good as the album versions were, hearing them live was something else.