What speed do you use? I never use SLP/EP
I always buy 9 hour tapes and tape in LP mode.

I generally use the SLP mode when taping a series. This is so I can fit more episodes on a tape (of course), it costs less, and it saves space. The quality may not be perfect but it is a lot less expensive to have 12 to 16 episodes a tape than 4 (especially if you are taping all the episodes of a given series, like a sitcom). It also is a waste of tape to record just two one-hour episodes of a show when you could save money and space with 6 shows. Again, the quality might not be 100% but expenses are a number 1 priority (at least with me, anyway)

ALWAYS SP

The best quality is important

SP definitely-----considering the extreme low price of blank tape, it isn't worth compromising quality for a few pennies.