ryan@umb.umb.edu (Daniel R. Guilderson) (04/09/90)
Over the past week I received roughly a dozen replies to my request for 8mm tape info. I would like to thank all those who replied. There was no consensus on whether or not Sony makes the only tapes worth putting in 8mm tape storage systems. Some people reported that TDK tapes were reliable enough and one person reported that even Maxell tapes could be used without problem. However, TDK and Maxell were also reported to have given major headaches to some people. What are we to believe? The answer could be that it is just a matter of luck. It has been suggested (on the net I think) that all the tapes are made from the same media but that the "data quality" tapes have been tested to insure a high level of reliability. I have been told that Sony is the only manufacturer to certify tapes for data storage. These tapes are sold by at least two distributers, namely Sony and Exabyte. People have reported paying as little as $5 and as much as $40 for these tapes. One person pointed out that even at $40/tape the media is cost effective when compared on a $/byte basis with other tape storage technologies. I can't offer any quantitative info but from the responses I got the only "safe bet" is to purchase either Sony or Exabyte(made by Sony) brand tapes. No one reported problems with these tapes. I wish I could provide hard evidence to back this up but I don't have much to go on. Hopefully a magazine will do a review on 8mm tapes some time in the near future. For me the issue isn't price so much as competition. It worries me when there is only one source for a product which I want. The main reason I posted the question was because I was having a hard time finding alternate suppliers of Sony tapes. I guess this is to be expected in a market that is relatively new. Once this technology takes off (and I'm sure it will) we will be seeing *lots* of competition not only for tapes but the tape drives as well. Daniel Guilderson UMass Boston