TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1. Mildew
2. Slowness or Inability to Rewind
3. Less Facility for Rerecording
4. Interaction with Vcr's
5. Review of Brands
Introduction. I intend this thread to assist all those who continue to use videocassettes like me, and I shall be detailed and candid. Please wait for me to cover each eventual subtopic in turn based on my table before you address any of the later ones. After we have gone through all my subtopics the floor will be open for you to raise yours and maybe add your own table of contents.
1. Mildew. In later 1995 someone gave me my first vcr, an old RCA with a pop-up, see-through cassette compartment, plus one used videocassette to get me started. I vowed not to repeat my experience with audio recording so I solicited advice on cassette brands and planned to be conservative by sticking with 6-hour lengths. By elimination, I bought TDK (High Standard), a brand I had never tried in audio, eventually at least two 4-packs. Things went great for years.Unnoticed lurked that TDK HS had rivets, not screws. Ultimately, mildew appeared on the side of a spool, undiscerned by me. When I played that cassette again again, it so dirtied the head that it had to be professionally cleaned. This was around the time a special on The Carpenters first aired on PBS. TDK was sympathetic, and in good time I sent my first 4 tapes so TDK could get past the rivets and clean them. TDK returned my cassettes with others Extra High Grade (with screws) on to which my content had been transferred, watchable but not normal; I sealed up both sets separately and put them away. In my ignorance I assumed the mildew to be a Diogenes problem and not a TDK one. Despite my antimildew measures, in the end my second 4 acquired it. So have some TDK EHG cassettes donated to me by someone, along with a potpourri of very old brands. TDK changed policy by that time and informed me I was on my own. Meanwhile, I had embarked on other brands, brands which never got mildew.
_ _ _ _To summarize, all I can do for the riveted cassettes without added expense is spin the spools, scattering the mildew in the casement, seal them air-tight, and hope. It would be foolhardy to play mildewed and clean tapes ever on the same vcr so I shall designate a defective vcr as the mildew one. My question arises about the screw cassettes, which I intend to open and clean of mildew (though only play on the mildew vcr). Your advice on cleaning? I also could later apply a liquid mildew-preventative lightly. One of these old brands each also suffered mildew: Polaroid, Memorex, and Panasonic; ask if you want specifics on type and manufacture country. Please advise soon, as I must view certain recordings.
Introduction
1. Mildew
2. Slowness or Inability to Rewind
3. Less Facility for Rerecording
4. Interaction with Vcr's
5. Review of Brands
Introduction. I intend this thread to assist all those who continue to use videocassettes like me, and I shall be detailed and candid. Please wait for me to cover each eventual subtopic in turn based on my table before you address any of the later ones. After we have gone through all my subtopics the floor will be open for you to raise yours and maybe add your own table of contents.
1. Mildew. In later 1995 someone gave me my first vcr, an old RCA with a pop-up, see-through cassette compartment, plus one used videocassette to get me started. I vowed not to repeat my experience with audio recording so I solicited advice on cassette brands and planned to be conservative by sticking with 6-hour lengths. By elimination, I bought TDK (High Standard), a brand I had never tried in audio, eventually at least two 4-packs. Things went great for years.Unnoticed lurked that TDK HS had rivets, not screws. Ultimately, mildew appeared on the side of a spool, undiscerned by me. When I played that cassette again again, it so dirtied the head that it had to be professionally cleaned. This was around the time a special on The Carpenters first aired on PBS. TDK was sympathetic, and in good time I sent my first 4 tapes so TDK could get past the rivets and clean them. TDK returned my cassettes with others Extra High Grade (with screws) on to which my content had been transferred, watchable but not normal; I sealed up both sets separately and put them away. In my ignorance I assumed the mildew to be a Diogenes problem and not a TDK one. Despite my antimildew measures, in the end my second 4 acquired it. So have some TDK EHG cassettes donated to me by someone, along with a potpourri of very old brands. TDK changed policy by that time and informed me I was on my own. Meanwhile, I had embarked on other brands, brands which never got mildew.
_ _ _ _To summarize, all I can do for the riveted cassettes without added expense is spin the spools, scattering the mildew in the casement, seal them air-tight, and hope. It would be foolhardy to play mildewed and clean tapes ever on the same vcr so I shall designate a defective vcr as the mildew one. My question arises about the screw cassettes, which I intend to open and clean of mildew (though only play on the mildew vcr). Your advice on cleaning? I also could later apply a liquid mildew-preventative lightly. One of these old brands each also suffered mildew: Polaroid, Memorex, and Panasonic; ask if you want specifics on type and manufacture country. Please advise soon, as I must view certain recordings.
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