22 Jun
2000
22 Jun
'00
6:15 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: Zane H. Healy <healyzh(a)aracnet.com>
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2000 12:58 PM
Subject: Re: Tapes
Too long? Sure you waste a lot of tape, but any new audio tape is going
to
be in better shape than any old Computer Cassettes you
might find. I
aways
used audio tapes with my VIC20, usually the absolute
cheapest I could get
my hands on. IIRC, I usually used something like 60 minute tapes.
The shorter the tape length, the better. Modern extended-play tapes use a
thinner nylon tape (to fit more tape in the standard cassette), which is
more prone to stretching and breaking with repeated rewind/play cycles.
Some older answering machines used very short standard cassettes, I'd
estimate about C10 length. If you can find a store that still sells those
(even a liquidator selling off those awful novelty "celebrity answering
machine messages") they might be suitable. They would also be newer than
the 15+ year old computer cassette tapes.
Another option would be to shop for a cheap disk drive for your system. In
my experience old 5.25" floppies in good condition are much easier to find
than cassettes.
Regards,
Mark.