At the same time, Consumer Reports cautioned against the use of off-brand tapes the kind that come with store names on them instead of the names of tape manufacturers. Such tapes are often no cheaper than the sale prices of regular brands, and they could even damage a VCR if they cause tangles or excess head wear. The editors found that today's name-brand videotapes are nearly all excellent, regardless of brand or price. This is good news for VCR owners, since it makes tape buying as easy as shopping for the lowest price. Videotape, the magazine said, is now a commodity item, sold in grocery stores the same way fruits and vegetables are.
Brands are much less important than prices.
Although tape companies have insisted that their higher-priced tapes are demonstrably better than their cheap ones, this has never been proved in my own tests, nor was it evident in a daylong visit I made to one of the world's largest videotape factories last year. The only clear benefit of the expensive tapes is a much higher profit for the manufacturers. Despite claims from some tape manufacturers, the VHS Hi-Fi recording process does not require a special kind of tape. Indeed, because the hi-fi signal is recorded below the surface, it is less likely to be affected by flaws on the outside of the tape.