Sony Excellence Tapes - worth the extra?

[melliott1963]

I'm currently using Sony's Premium Mini-DV Tapes and to date have been very happy with them.

As my stock is running low, it's time I bought some more. I notice that Sony now have 'Excellence' tapes that are more than twice the price.

My question is this. Are these tapes really worth the extra money and would I notice any difference in my recordings? I only ever use a tape once, so if the only difference is that they are more durable, then I probably won't get any benefit out of them.

Any help / recommendations?

Thanks.

[melliott1963]

Has no one got any views on these?

These tapes have an IC memory chip built into them that (on certain models of camcorder, I think only the SonyVX2100 & PD170etc) allows you to record additional information about the tape (date, contents etc) which can be recognised by a compatible DV or DVCAM player.

The actual tape is the same as sonys better quality DV cassettes (the rung up from premium) which cost about half the excellence tapes.

If you are using the tapes once then even cheaper DV tapes will be fine, I use maxell tapes because maxell will try to retrieve your footage should the tape be damaged or fail. You can pick up 5 maxell 60m tapes for £13. I've used these for years with no problems.

[melliott1963]

Thanks for the reply. I'll stick with the Sony Premium tapes as I've heard it's best not to change to different manufacturers tapes.

Of course the next question is can anyone recommend the best / cheapest place to buy them?

[MarkE19]

Now this hurts me to say but.....

If you want to get hold of a few Sony DV tapes quickly then Dixons (ouch that is painful ) are selling 5 for £15 - thats just £3 each, and on the high street too

Mark.

[melliott1963]

Can understand your feelings. Still that sounds pretty cheap, so I guess I'll have to pay them a visit.

[stormjai]

I've recently found/ used www.discountdiscs.co.uk for 5 Sony MiniDV tapes £12.99! I,ve bought several from them, fast delivery, no problems.

Hope that helps

Jai

[melliott1963]

Thanks for the link Jai.

I ordered 2 packs from www.discountdiscs.co.uk yesterday morning and they arrived this morning. Excellent service and superb prices. I'll definitely be using them again.

[MarkE19]

Originally Posted by melliott1963

Thanks for the link Jai.

I ordered 2 packs from www.discountdiscs.co.uk yesterday morning and they arrived this morning. Excellent service and superb prices. I'll definitely be using them again.

Same here!