Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!udel!haven.umd.edu!mimsy!dftsrv!heawk1!hoepfner From: hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware Subject: Re: 8mm video vs. DAT backup tape Message-ID: Date: 11 May 91 06:47:51 GMT References: <1991May8.032055.1@mcclb0.med.nyu.edu> <433@valid.valid.com> Sender: news@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov Organization: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Lines: 27 scott@gamma.valid.com (Scott Gustafson) writes: >huff@mcclb0.med.nyu.edu (Edward J. Huff) writes: [ ... deleted stuff ... ] >There aren't any advantages to having a DAT as >compared to an 8mm tape backup unit. I don't know about that. I just finished reading an article about how the DAT tapes follow a less radical tape path. 8mm devices were not designed with computers in mind. DAT tape units were. Doesn't DAT also have a method of quickly reaching a specific point on the tape which the Exobyte 8mm mechanisms don't? We collected data on 8mm tapes from a scientific experiment. The data was read and reread from the 8mm tapes many times (note: written one, read many) and the tapes began to fail. It just may have been something hosed with the 3 units we had, but after about 100 reads, the tapes got tossed! As always, just my thoughts... +--------------------------+---------------------------------------+ / Patrick Hoepfner | NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center \ / America Online: PatrickH9 | Internet: hoepfner@heasfs.gsfc.nasa.gov \ +-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+