[comp.sys.dec] Problems with Aviv tapedrive

tim@watson.bcm.tmc.edu (Timothy Owen Lesniak) (06/16/90)

We have been having problems with our Aviv AB 8202 BI 8mm
Backup system (Aviv tapedrive).

Our first tapedrive lasted 3 or 4 months before it started
having problems.  The percent rewrite continually went
up until we sent it off to Aviv.  I believe it was also
giving media errors (not the tape's fault).
 
Our second drive lasted about 1 week before it started
having similar problems.  It actually got to the point
where it would just hang. 

Aviv said that the problem with the first drive may have
been RF noise from other devices.  (Hard To Believe, 
but we have since placed the drive well away from any
other devices just in case.) No one even tried to explain
why the second drive failed.

We are now on our third Aviv and it has been working fine
for two days now.

My question to those who know about Aviv 8mm drives or 8mm
drives in general, is, are these sort of problems common?
Are there more reliable drives out there?
Or, are we just unlucky?

Thanks,
Tim
Internet: tim@bcm.tmc.edu