Ok people, if you want your tapes with your favorite shows on them to last, you need to follow some instructions, and care for them as your own child.

Here's some tips:

#1: Never leave your tapes where it's hot. The tapes can melt and get fuzzy if they are left near your lights, or outside.

#2: Trynot fast fowarding too much. This can wear out the tape, and can get jammed.

#3: Try not stacking your tapes. You should keep them in a nice row, sideways.

4: Don't put stickers all over the tape, or try not writing on them.

#5: Make friends with your tape. Talk to the tape, and tuck in in it's case at night.

#6: The most important thing is that you don't carry them around with you from country to country, or even street to street. Blank tapes are very cheaply made.


These are the tape brands that are best to use:

Maxell Bronze is the best.
Fuju Film tapes the super bowl moments, and it lasts.
Sony tapes are good.
TDK are the only ones that I worry about. the t-140's brake the easiest, although they are expensive ones.

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Andrew Carden

thanx for the tips dude!

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See ya~The T
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Jo: And the Beer

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[b]Jo[b/] I got beer!^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Or you could burn your old tapes to VCD format, and watch them on your DVD player. They last alot longer that way, no tape to break!!

as soon as i get enough money i want to put all in the family and archie bunkers place on recordable DVD. still to expensive for me yet.

I agree, DVD-R is gonna be sweet when it gets cheep enough for the average person!!

Another tip:

Set your VCR tape speed to the highest setting to use more tape. On my VCR theres 3 kinds:

SP: Real basic to me; it only allows you to record 2 hours of program

LP: Slightly better: allows 4 hours

SLP: The Best http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/biggrin.gif it allows 6 hours of recording. For a 30 minute sitcom you could record 12 shows! And if you're lucky enough to be near the VCR you can pause at the commercials or stop the tape for 2 minutes. Or fast forward if you wish to not pause constantly.

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Riches & Glory are in the vow of faith! Send a check or money order for at least $1000, preferably to my account in Zurich; I have a ski lodge up there!

Originally posted by Robert Tilton:
Another tip:

Set your VCR tape speed to the highest setting to use more tape. On my VCR theres 3 kinds:

SP: Real basic to me; it only allows you to record 2 hours of program

LP: Slightly better: allows 4 hours

SLP: The Best http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/biggrin.gif it allows 6 hours of recording. For a 30 minute sitcom you could record 12 shows! And if you're lucky enough to be near the VCR you can pause at the commercials or stop the tape for 2 minutes. Or fast forward if you wish to not pause constantly.



Robert, you've got it all wrong. SP mode is the greatest quality, and it lasts longer. LP can stay in a fairly good condition, although it can wear out because of all of the fastforwarding. SLP is only if you want your tapes to look like a sheep jumped on the screen.



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Andrew Carden

I don't really care about quality. I just want to watch the show...like if I'm out of town...so I always tape in SLP

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~Meg~
*Opportunity does not knock, and then ring the doorbell, and then knock again, and then leave a note that says, "Sorry I missed you" and then call you on the phone.*
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Originally posted by Meg07945:
I don't really care about quality. I just want to watch the show...like if I'm out of town...so I always tape in SLP



That's the time. In fact I've always been able to use an SLP setting with no problems. It gives you more tape for quick watching. So use SLP when you'll just watching. But if you plan to trade tapes with a friend especially a hard to find episode (well like the ones Nik skips) use SP. Its shorter record time but better quality. I like using SLP cause you don't have to keep buying tapes & you have more shows on just a few tapes.

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Riches & Glory are in the vow of faith! Send a check or money order for at least $1000, preferably to my account in Zurich; I have a ski lodge up there!

Or better yet get you a Tivo.

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Riches & Glory are in the vow of faith! Send a check or money order for at least $1000, preferably to my account in Zurich; I have a ski lodge up there!

Or better yet get you a Tivo.

[/QUOTE]

Rock on, Tivo Rules!!

I disagree! SLP (also called EP) does last! I record all my shows in that format. All of them have lasted in good quaity. Only one episode I have recorded did not come out right-and that's because there was a bad reception.
Any way, I don't have LP mode. My family has 3 VCRs. One is from 1986, but you can't play recorded tapes on it, because it makes the show all fuzzy on the screen and with bad sound. The second one is from 1999. It has SP, LP, and EP (SLP). The one I have inmy home (to record Three's Company and so I can watch TV cause of my brother who hogs the main television) has SP and SLP mode.
I also skip commercials.

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Jack: I'm surprised at you. Where would all the great women of history be if they thought like that!? Look at Joan of Ark and wht she accomplished. And, and Florence Nightengale and Madam Curry.
Chrissy: And Lucretia Borzok.
Janet: She posioned people.
Chrissy: Yeah, but she was very goo at it.

i agree with u Sean Snow. I use SLP/EP and i have lots of tapes from over 5 or 6 yrs ago and they are great condition




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Big Dream: To meet Nancy McKeon!!!

#2: Try not fast fowarding too much. This can wear out the tape, and can get jammed.

#3: Try not stacking your tapes. You should keep them in a nice row, sideways.

4: Don't put stickers all over the tape, or try not writing on them.

Thank you!!!


I love VHS .. I love analogue so much!!!!

I have heard about stacking tapes.. I try to keep mine level,etc.....
They ARE stacked (some of them) but seem to be ok....

Does anyone know why they say stacking isnt good??

I HATE PEOPLE WHO PUT STICKERS ALL OVER THEM!!!!!!

When I buy one from ebay (or find one at salvation army) and its got stickers I try to cleanly get them off!! (Which sometimes doesnt always work)

Sometimes spinning the tape all thru can re-align it so it plays better.... (fast forwarding and then rewinding (IF ITS BEEN SITTING AWHILE THIS CAN REALLY HELP SOMETIMES TO GET THE TAPE BACK IN THE RIGHT SPOT))

I have beta tapes from the 1980s and they still play fine (on someone else's player...the only player I have now is VHS).

Dude...you really dug up an old thread but it's interesting!

Im glad your tapes play fine :)

As long as you take care of them they should be ok....


The first tape I ever had in the 80s is still a good tape thankfully ... I try to take good care of em :)

I would like to find an expensive but good way to transfer my Vhs tapes to a more current format. Dvd or something. I hate feeling I have save a device I had 30 years ago to see something. I only want to keep the home movies I made over the years. Any suggestions?. Anyway I could do it?.

My brother still has some Beta tapes and a Sony Betamax player from the '80s, with a corded remote...! LOL

Ya the first VCR we had in the 80s had a corded remote..... I think it was a
panasonic but I dont remember.....

Videocassettes should last a long time as long as the tapes are of good quality. Videocassettes should also be kept in a cool dry environment. Humidity and dampness are not good for video tapes.

On the subject of VCR's, the first one I had was a top loader made by General Electric, it also had a corded remote. It was a nice machine and I got a lot of use out of it, I hated to part with it but it wasn't playing tapes anymore and parts to repair it were no longer available, so I let it go. :(

Nowadays I use a Panasonic VCR, I have two extra ones brand new/unused still inside the boxes in case the one I'm currently using conks out.

God bless you retroTVfan4ever :)

God bless you retroTVfan4ever :)

God bless you too, my analog friend. :)

I still think cassettes kinda last longer than discs...discs can scratch easily.

Too bad tapes are harder and harder to find....

God bless you too, my analog friend. :)http://i59.tinypic.com/72tuzr.gif

I primarily use my DVR now, but I do have a lot of old VHS tapes and a VCR machine that still works! I have transferred some shows on tape to DVD, but I still have many shows left to transfer. My main concern is that one day, my VCR will break, and I'll have some shows on tape I'd like to watch again.
I haven't done any research, but do they still make VCRs today, and are they affordable?? I'm sure Walmart doesn't sell VCRs in their stores anymore cause everything's digital now.