re-use of 8mm cartridges

[Richard Seegmiller]

Tony Rick <tonyr at tekig5.pen.tek.com> asks:
#We use Sony P6-120MP tapes.  I called Exabyte.  The person there
#told me that the tapes they supply are SONY, are good (guaranteed?) for 10
#years, even under re-use.  I do not know if the tapes Exabyte supplies are
#the same ones I get.  Does anyone out there know? 

I talked to Steve Small at Exabyte about 1 year ago regarding 'certified'
vs 'non-certified' media.  His response is as follows:

1.	Certified tape means:
	- tapes are sampled by Exabyte in a batch random basis
	- Tapes guarenteed 100%
          (my note: at $25-$30 / tape they can afford to be guarenteed 100%)
2.	Available media suppliers are:
	- Sony:	Exabyte uses Sony.  They are the only ones that	meet 
	  	reliability requirements.
	- TDK
	- Fuji
	- Maxell
  	  Note:  If Kodak wants tape & buys from TDK, typically Kodak label
	  will be higher quality media than TDK label.

I buy Sony 120 minute tapes from any low cost supplier.  I figure at $6
/tape we can insure/guarentee the tapes ourselves.  If I were ever to have
a media failure on restore, too bad, I lost some data (and a tape).  I
can't retrieve the data, and neither can Exabyte, so the most Exabyte can
do for me is to replace the tape.  I can do that for $6, ... BIG DEAL!!!


Richard Seegmiller
Research & Techonology Development
De La Rue Printrak
1250 N. Tustin Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92807

Phone:    (714)666-2700
Internet: sol!richard at sunkist.West.Sun.COM 
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