rsk@gynko.circ.upenn.edu (Rich Kulawiec) (06/12/91)
Sources for 8mm (Exabyte) tapes: CCD in San Leandro, CA (phone # is (415) 352-3202) has Sony P6-120MP's under $5.50 when you order in sufficient quanity (we ordered 50, although I bet you can probably get that kind of price if you order more that 25). Good Vibes (stereophile store in Lafayatte, Indiana) 8mm, sony, 120 min.. $5.47 Good Vibes (last year), prob under $5 now. I routinely buy 8mm Sony 120 minute tapes for $6 at video stores by the case of 10 (i.e. $59.99 for a case). I know a mom-and-pop pro audio operation in San Francisco; the department buys 120 min 8mm tapes from them for under 7 dollars. (which beats Kmart). Their normal price for 120 min 4mm Sony dat tapes is $11.57. If you are willing to buy 100 of them, they will drop the price to $11. The name is: R&M Pro Audio (Roy & Maureen Chen) (415) 386 8400 691 10th Avenue, San Francisco CA (don't know the zip). (There is also a 10th street which is in a completely different part of town .... They accept university purchase orders. I don't know how much UPS would be coast to coast.) I bought a big batch (100) of Sony P6-120MP 8mm video tapes for use with our Exabyte 8mm tape drive. The best price I was able to find was from Tape World, in Butler PA. Including the shipping ($4.95/order) I ended up paying $535 or so for 100 tapes. They list these tapes for $5.49 in onesies... you can probably bargain for a better price if you buy in quantity. Sources for 4mm (DAT) tapes: I think you'd be better off checking with a computer supply catalog/wholesale outfit. For 4mm(DAT), I recently purchased a box of 10 from Music Emporium 1-800-648-8460. They're in Maryland and I recall they had pretty decent prices. Tape World seems to carry most popular brands of audio and video tape. They have the Sony 120-minute DATs for $10.99. They advertise that they will beat any competitor's total price (including shipping & handling) by 1%. They take credit cards, and have a toll-free number for questions and orders (1-800-245-6000), as well as a direct line (412-283-8621). I was quite happy with the service I received, and I plan to order from them again. Summary: It looks like Tape World might be the best bet, since they claim that they'll beat any competitor's total price, including S&H. The best price on Sony 120-minute DAT's seems to be about $11; the best price on Sony 120-minute 8mm's seems to be about $5. It's possibly significant that everyone seems to use Sony tape; my own (subjective) experience has been that Sony tapes seem to have the highest quality. Contributors (thanks!): George Goble, ghg@ecn.purdue.edu Bob Kusumoto, kusumoto@chsun1.uchicago.edu J.James Belonis II, belonis@phast.phys.washington.edu Keith Sklower, sklower@vangogh.Berkeley.EDU Sheryl Olguin, solguin@su15g.ess.harris.com Dave Platt, dplatt@ntg.com -- ---Rsk rsk@gynko.circ.upenn.edu