wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (10/25/84)
The November 1984 issue of Consumer Reports says the following on page 661 (upper right-hand corner) regarding head-cleaning tapes for VCR's: Following the instructions of both the tape manufacturer and the VCR manufacturer, use the head-cleaning tape just once. (Frequent use of a head-cleaning tape could damage the heads.) I am confused. I have a Discwasher VHS cleaning cassette, and nowhere on the tape or the instructions on the box is anything said about using it only once. In fact, it says to stop using it when contamination can be seen on the tape (or words to that effect). If anything, I would expect the manufacturer of a head-cleaning cassette to tell you to replace it SOONER than necessary, for two reasons: (1) They wouldn't want a VCR owner to think (rightly or wrongly) that their brand of head-cleaning tape damaged his recorder's heads. (2) They'd make more money by encouraging people to spend $20 to $30 more often. Is it in fact unsafe to use a head-cleaning cassette more than once? -- Rich Wales UCLA Computer Science Department 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, CA 90024 // (213) 825-5683 ARPA: wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!wales
ekrell@ucla-cs.UUCP (11/01/84)
[] I have an ALLSOP 3 VCR cleaner. The instructions say "It is recommended that the cleaner be used every 30 to 50 hours of playing and/or recording". I've followed this recommendation now for over 2 years and my VCR plays as good as it ever did. -- Eduardo Krell UCLA Computer Science Department ekrell@ucla-locus.arpa ..!{sdcrdcf,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!ekrell