View Full Version : In need of a blank VHS tape suppler.


centralradio
09-24-2016, 09:45 PM
Hi all.I'm looking for a online blank VHS tape suppler since the stores like Walmart dump them.I check some thriftshops out and they have used crap and nothing available.

Thanks in advance........................................... ..................

lnx64
09-24-2016, 10:02 PM
I don't think any more companies are making them now.

mgross0
09-25-2016, 12:00 AM
I get mine at Sears, of all places. They sell Maxell.

jr_tech
09-25-2016, 12:15 AM
Checking Amazon, it looks as if most of their listings state few remaining, order soon. It appears that supply of video tapes is indeed drying up. Is anybody actually producing them anymore?

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=blank+videotape

not affiliated,
jr

centralradio
09-25-2016, 10:47 AM
I don't think any more companies are making them now.

Yes I agree.Leave it to these progress idiots and thats what happens.I dont mind the technology moving on but dont shove it down our mouths .


I get mine at Sears, of all places. They sell Maxell.

I bought the last batch last January which were Maxell and now Sears is eliminating their electronic dept to expand their bedding dept in the mall.

Checking Amazon, it looks as if most of their listings state few remaining, order soon. It appears that supply of video tapes is indeed drying up. Is anybody actually producing them anymore?

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=blank+videotape

not affiliated,
jr


Yes I check some of those the other day.I found .

www.checkoutstore.com/

https://www.deltamedia.com/pg_blank_video_tape_new.html

https://www.tapeonline.com

Note .They hammer you with the inflated shipping charges.

dishdude
09-25-2016, 08:21 PM
There's a bunch of NOS tapes on ebay, many from the 80's and 90's when they were better quality.

centralradio
09-25-2016, 08:36 PM
There's a bunch of NOS tapes on ebay, many from the 80's and 90's when they were better quality.

Yes with better housings too with thicker plastic .These newer ones from the last 10 years are paper thin and you can put your finger nail through the case.Also if you drop them at even 4 feet off the ground .They will shatter like glass.

mgross0
09-25-2016, 11:03 PM
PNY still lists them on their website under the Memorex brand. They won't sell direct, but you might try reaching out to them for information on current retailers.

dieseljeep
09-26-2016, 10:10 AM
Hi all.I'm looking for a online blank VHS tape suppler since the stores like Walmart dump them.I check some thriftshops out and they have used crap and nothing available.

Thanks in advance........................................... ..................

I've bought them at garage or yard sales. The thrift shop, I usually frequent is like a gold mine. They usually have the items I can use, at reasonable prices.

Electronic M
09-26-2016, 10:38 AM
Hi all.I'm looking for a online blank VHS tape suppler since the stores like Walmart dump them.I check some thriftshops out and they have used crap and nothing available.

Thanks in advance........................................... ..................

Time to switch to DVD-R. I saw the writing on the wall when Walgreens VHS supply started getting spotty, and started running a DVD-R along side my VHS system...I want perfection in my recordings and I hate digital noise artifacts...When cable started using a lousy digital feed to their analog service that had worse digital artifacts than DVD I finally shelved VHS...Since if I can no longer tell the source of artifact from looking what is the difference.

I've had 100% recording success rate and recorded disc playability rate since learning the procedure in the manual of my Toshiba DVD recorder 5 years ago. The discs are cheaper than tape and you'll never get tape noise or drop outs again.

dieseljeep
09-26-2016, 11:02 AM
Time to switch to DVD-R. I saw the writing on the wall when Walgreens VHS supply started getting spotty, and started running a DVD-R along side my VHS system...I want perfection in my recordings and I hate digital noise artifacts...When cable started using a lousy digital feed to their analog service that had worse digital artifacts than DVD I finally shelved VHS...Since if I can no longer tell the source of artifact from looking what is the difference.

I've had 100% recording success rate and recorded disc playability rate since learning the procedure in the manual of my Toshiba DVD recorder 5 years ago. The discs are cheaper than tape and you'll never get tape noise or drop outs again.
Right now, I have enough VHS tapes to last a good while. I generally use them for recording a program, that I might not be able to see the finish of.
I save very few recordings, I make.
The last movie I recorded, was Bonnie and Clyde from PBS, no commercials.
I was surprised to see a movie like that shown on educational TV.

Electronic M
09-26-2016, 01:22 PM
Right now, I have enough VHS tapes to last a good while. I generally use them for recording a program, that I might not be able to see the finish of.
I save very few recordings, I make.
The last movie I recorded, was Bonnie and Clyde from PBS, no commercials.
I was surprised to see a movie like that shown on educational TV.

I have a DVR and DVD-RW for temp stuff I'll later record over....Only time I record on VHS anymore is when my DVR is full and I'm out of RWs, or when I want to timer record something so long that it's entirety will not fit on any one machine.

Some of my archived stuff may get VHS and S-VHS to S-VHS, DVD, and digital copy transfers in the future to better organize it, remove damaged copies of episodes and redundant copies of episodes....I'll keep an analog copy of the analog cable era stuff to preserve the original experience and digital for redundancy.

My VHS decks still get use as players, but at this point I can't find value in regular time-shifting/archiving of new material anymore.

centralradio
09-26-2016, 06:03 PM
Time to switch to DVD-R. I saw the writing on the wall when Walgreens VHS supply started getting spotty, and started running a DVD-R along side my VHS system...I want perfection in my recordings and I hate digital noise artifacts...When cable started using a lousy digital feed to their analog service that had worse digital artifacts than DVD I finally shelved VHS...Since if I can no longer tell the source of artifact from looking what is the difference.

I've had 100% recording success rate and recorded disc playability rate since learning the procedure in the manual of my Toshiba DVD recorder 5 years ago. The discs are cheaper than tape and you'll never get tape noise or drop outs again.

Right now, I have enough VHS tapes to last a good while. I generally use them for recording a program, that I might not be able to see the finish of.
I save very few recordings, I make.
The last movie I recorded, was Bonnie and Clyde from PBS, no commercials.
I was surprised to see a movie like that shown on educational TV.

I have a DVR and DVD-RW for temp stuff I'll later record over....Only time I record on VHS anymore is when my DVR is full and I'm out of RWs, or when I want to timer record something so long that it's entirety will not fit on any one machine.

Some of my archived stuff may get VHS and S-VHS to S-VHS, DVD, and digital copy transfers in the future to better organize it, remove damaged copies of episodes and redundant copies of episodes....I'll keep an analog copy of the analog cable era stuff to preserve the original experience and digital for redundancy.

My VHS decks still get use as players, but at this point I can't find value in regular time-shifting/archiving of new material anymore.

I probably got to shaky it off and use the DVD .I agree with the clarity of DVD . No .As I said before.I dont like and trust that type of recording format.In a couple of years the discs will be coasters.Also Its limited to the 2 hour speed and cant time shift programs but I could try using the DVDram which can use like a DVR and slow it to 6 hour mode since I timeshift and archive some shows at SLP mode on VHS.I can deal with double backups of downloaded shows from the internet but some show are not or not the full show is available online.If every show that I like is available online.I will say screw VHS and let it go into the sunset like I did with cassettes.I cant remember when I recorded a full cassette of music.As said before .I would not mind a DVR with no strings attached to it.I can copy the shows and edit the ads out on to VHS.That would save tape without the ads.Again Hollywood got us by the nuts because they dont want us recording their content.

lnx64
09-26-2016, 06:28 PM
My DVD recorder allows SP/LP/EP speeds, even on a DVD+R. Quality does vary as a result. I have recorded many 8 hour discs.

Electronic M
09-26-2016, 10:30 PM
My DVD recorder allows SP/LP/EP speeds, even on a DVD+R. Quality does vary as a result. I have recorded many 8 hour discs.

Ditto. I run a Toshiba D-VR5 DVD recorder/VHS combo for DVD recording. My oldest discs from it are around 5 years old and still play fine (mine has 4 speeds Xp/Sp/Lp/Ep that run 1/2/4/6 hours each respectively and in quality ranging from vastly better than VHS to decent ).
I also have a Panasonic DMR-E80H DVR/DVD recorder. I mostly use it's DVR section...It is a free DVR not tied to cable or tivo or any other crap....I just set it like a VCR and later watch my programs and when done either delete them or dub them to DVD...It is that easy. Both units were thrift shop finds and I spent less than $40 a piece.

centralradio
09-27-2016, 01:44 PM
My DVD recorder allows SP/LP/EP speeds, even on a DVD+R. Quality does vary as a result. I have recorded many 8 hour discs.

Ditto. I run a Toshiba D-VR5 DVD recorder/VHS combo for DVD recording. My oldest discs from it are around 5 years old and still play fine (mine has 4 speeds Xp/Sp/Lp/Ep that run 1/2/4/6 hours each respectively and in quality ranging from vastly better than VHS to decent ).
I also have a Panasonic DMR-E80H DVR/DVD recorder. I mostly use it's DVR section...It is a free DVR not tied to cable or tivo or any other crap....I just set it like a VCR and later watch my programs and when done either delete them or dub them to DVD...It is that easy. Both units were thrift shop finds and I spent less than $40 a piece.

Thanks for the info guys. I know I got the slower speeds on my Panasonic.I used it once on the slow speeds years ago.I got to check it out.I think the DVD ram can record longer then 6 hour but the video will look like a Youtube stream or the old Realvideo video streams from years ago .

My question is .Will these slower speed DVDs playback on other DVD players.

Electronic M
09-27-2016, 02:24 PM
My question is .Will these slower speed DVDs playback on other DVD players.

On my Toshiba all speeds are compatible with most other players (those that can handle DVD-R), but with 2 caveats: 1.) the disc has to be finalized first (a ~1minute process that makes it compatible with other players, but blocks the Toshiba from recording anymore on to it*), 2.) it has to be recorded in the correct mode...There is IIRC a video mode and a VR mode one is designed for using DVD-RW and Ram like a DVR and is not compatible with the finalization process, the other does not allow selective erasing and re-recording, but is compatible with finalization.

These procedures and their existence and function will vary with brand and model, thus it is essential you carefully RTFM for your player, and practice before relying on it...Whenever I would bring a new VCR or more modern recorder into the fold I always made test recordings, and ran it along side my older equipment for a while until I was comfortable with the controls/process, and confident it was reliable. Mistakes and failures are easier to laugh off if something else got a good recording.

*DVD-RWs can be erassed completely and re used after that.

I almost always use the 2 hour speed (longer if I'm squeezed for time, shorter if it is a really important program to me to have in max quality), and remove commercials...I get better recording economy that way than when I was using 6 hour tapes with no commercial skip circa 2010.

There are 2 ways I edit out commercials: 1.) live when I'm watching and recording a show I want in my archive, 2.) using the Panasonic DVR to capture it entirely live, then on DVR playback pause the toshiba's recording during commercials when dubbing from the panny DVR to the toshi DVD-R....I think I could do this with just the panny's internal DVR/DVD-R drives, but I don't use the DVD-R in the panny almost ever, and have been too lazy to learn when existent methods suffice...Maybe one day.

centralradio
09-27-2016, 09:24 PM
On my Toshiba all speeds are compatible with most other players (those that can handle DVD-R), but with 2 caveats: 1.) the disc has to be finalized first (a ~1minute process that makes it compatible with other players, but blocks the Toshiba from recording anymore on to it*), 2.) it has to be recorded in the correct mode...There is IIRC a video mode and a VR mode one is designed for using DVD-RW and Ram like a DVR and is not compatible with the finalization process, the other does not allow selective erasing and re-recording, but is compatible with finalization.

These procedures and their existence and function will vary with brand and model, thus it is essential you carefully RTFM for your player, and practice before relying on it...Whenever I would bring a new VCR or more modern recorder into the fold I always made test recordings, and ran it along side my older equipment for a while until I was comfortable with the controls/process, and confident it was reliable. Mistakes and failures are easier to laugh off if something else got a good recording.

*DVD-RWs can be erassed completely and re used after that.

I almost always use the 2 hour speed (longer if I'm squeezed for time, shorter if it is a really important program to me to have in max quality), and remove commercials...I get better recording economy that way than when I was using 6 hour tapes with no commercial skip circa 2010.

There are 2 ways I edit out commercials: 1.) live when I'm watching and recording a show I want in my archive, 2.) using the Panasonic DVR to capture it entirely live, then on DVR playback pause the toshiba's recording during commercials when dubbing from the panny DVR to the toshi DVD-R....I think I could do this with just the panny's internal DVR/DVD-R drives, but I don't use the DVD-R in the panny almost ever, and have been too lazy to learn when existent methods suffice...Maybe one day.

Oh Thanks for the info and help Tom.Yes I do edit out ads for a 2 hour show in order to fit the complete 2 hour show on to one DVD. If the show is 3 hours or more like last weeks Emmy's . .I just let the first DVD record to about 1 hour and 45 to 50 minutes and I do a DVD swap and finish the show on the second DVD.What is my issues and gripe about is the time shifting.I could get the DVR like you mentioned or check Comcast or move over to Frontier which is my ISP and get one from them.Then I can just dub what I want off the DVR like you are doing.

centralradio
09-29-2016, 09:24 PM
As I was looking for blank video tapes at the local goodwill which they did not have any. .I end up bringing home a Toshiba HHD DVR/DVD recorder RD-KX50SU for $10 bucks.It lacks a remote but it works on playback from both.Now I got to see it it records.I have to find a remote that works with it in order to set the time and make use of the other functions.

Electronic M
09-29-2016, 09:51 PM
Good Luck! Be sure to google the model number for a digital copy of the user manual...It is always good to have the manual around.

centralradio
09-29-2016, 11:16 PM
Good Luck! Be sure to google the model number for a digital copy of the user manual...It is always good to have the manual around.


Thanks Tom.I found the owners manual on manualsonline.com and the remote on this website.I'll call them and make sure its the right remote for it tomorrow.

https://www.remotehound.com/

I will test the record functions later on both DVR and DVD recorder.Now I can watch the DVR and see what the previous owner recorded on it.So far got an episode of Two in a Half Man on there so far and it looks crisp and clean too.If It works great.I probably can put the VHS tape worries to bed.

NowhereMan 1966
10-02-2016, 02:34 PM
So far, K-Mart still carries VHS tapes. I still use VHS to tape shows I do not want to miss.

centralradio
10-02-2016, 06:50 PM
So far, K-Mart still carries VHS tapes. I still use VHS to tape shows I do not want to miss.

I'll check it out but their website does not show any now.Maybe in the store which is a good 25 miles from here thanks to Walmart that killed them off 20 years ago.

NowhereMan 1966
10-09-2016, 01:48 PM
Let me add, the K-Mart is in Weirton, WV

centralradio
10-19-2016, 03:16 PM
I found the source for tapes which I just ordered 40 of them.They said the stock is very limited at 100 and more likely I will end up buying it all out.

sweitzel
11-03-2016, 03:18 PM
Try polylinecorp: http://www.polylinecorp.com/Category/1752_1/VHS_Packaged.aspx

mgross0
02-28-2017, 06:24 PM
Go to checkoutstore.com and take a look. They have bulk quantities of T-60 tapes in lots of 10 to 500 available. No slip covers, just plain tapes, but beggars can't be choosers.
http://www.checkoutstore.com/Standard-VHS-60-Min-Tape-p/vhs-t60.htm?gclid=CIXMiJ-EtNICFQ5EfgodajsDtQ