I actually noticed something interesting the other day...the infamous Dollar Tree/Value City video tape brand "LDK" and the Family Dollar brand "Maxonic" which bear almost identical box design/description are both produced by a company called Chelsea Enterprises out of New York. Does anyone know about this Chelsea? I'm just curious if they sell or produce anything else besides junk in a tape shell...if anyone doesn't know yet, let me just say - stear clear of these tapes! Not only are they junk, but can actually cost you more than a high quality Maxell or TDK! There's lots of hiss, red blotches and overall picture crappiness that just make these tapes a joke. I wouldn't doubt at all that these tapes have ruined many a VCR, and I'd like to contact Chelsea about this...what do you all think? :o

I don't know, but have you tried the generic brand of tapes that Walmart is now selling? I'm curious if they're any good.

Jen :wave:

I didn't know walmart had a generic brand. I doubt if I would try it. I hope RCA isn't a walmart generic brand since I use that often and sony. I did notice that a ten pack for RCA at walmart is now 8.88 instead of 8.98

Angie

I agree. LDK really sucks. I wouldn't pay anything for it. Let me just say Chelsea is giving New York a bad name. ;)

I don't like RCA either, despite it's low price...JVC forever! :rock:

I was actually at Family Dollar today and glanced at the "Maxonic" tapes...they interestingly had 2 different kinds...ones with the boxes that opened from the side (standard for blanks) made by Chelsea, and ones that opened from the bottom (standard for home video releases), made by Natco, also in New York. They were identical otherwise...

No I haven't tried the Wal-Mart generic tape brand yet, and haven't heard about it either, although I'm starting to think that Panasonic is Target's generic brand. I've never seen Panasonic blank (except camcorder) VHS tapes sold anywhere else but there...but I love Panasonic tapes so I make the trip to Target for them anyway :)

I also agree that RCA is pretty bad. Lots of people seem to favor them, although I didn't really like them - they don't have very good durability. I'd rather wait for Sony, Fuji or TDK to go on sale at Walgreens...:)

The walmart generic I saw were Durabrand. Who also makes cdrs.
I tried one. The quality looks the same as a maxell. 1 69 per single is a bit much. So I just use sony . Ten pack for ten dollars.

Originally posted by cp32
The walmart generic I saw were Durabrand. Who also makes cdrs.
I tried one. The quality looks the same as a maxell. 1 69 per single is a bit much. So I just use sony . Ten pack for ten dollars.

Our Walmart's generic brand were only $1.00. I'll have to check them out, I guess. I prefer Maxell over RCA and Sony, to tell the truth.

Jen

Ah, I kinda figured they'd be Durabrand, since like you said WalMart's other generic blank media is that brand. Did they just come out with the video tapes? I shop at WalMart pretty often and have never seen them. Granted, I haven't been there in a few weeks, but still...I also agree $1.69 for a single is way too much!

I really prefer TDK over any other brand. They really seem to make a quality tape in this day and age of generic junk. Whether it's Revue, Vivid or E-HG, their tapes have always given me good results...

Originally posted by bb25
I actually noticed something interesting the other day...the infamous Dollar Tree/Value City video tape brand "LDK" and the Family Dollar brand "Maxonic" which bear almost identical box design/description are both produced by a company called Chelsea Enterprises out of New York. Does anyone know about this Chelsea? I'm just curious if they sell or produce anything else besides junk in a tape shell...if anyone doesn't know yet, let me just say - stear clear of these tapes! Not only are they junk, but can actually cost you more than a high quality Maxell or TDK! There's lots of hiss, red blotches and overall picture crappiness that just make these tapes a joke. I wouldn't doubt at all that these tapes have ruined many a VCR, and I'd like to contact Chelsea about this...what do you all think? :o

I think LDK looked strange. It has a slide box when tape slides down open and I was taping movies and the picture almost in perfect shape. Chelsea products is the company that makes blank tapes at many dollar stores including the public domain video tapes features the movies and cartoons on tape. These blanks are more like cheaper public domain tapes.