On 12 Sep 2000 12:00:07 GMT, rlvaughan@aol.com (RLVaughan) wrote:

>I once tried to get an answer from Sony on this very question and they
>responded that they would have no comment on rumors spread on newsgroups. You
>would think that if everything were okay (with using old and new tapes
>together) they would be eager to say so.
>
>At any rate I would avoid using any other brand of tape on equipment where you
>have used the old tapes.

That is the conclusion I have come to - but that includes
old vs. new Sony, also, and Sony no longer produces the
old-type, to my knowledge (and THAT is the problem...!).
It appears that with low-use camcorders in which only
the old-type tape has been used, a quick run-through
with a Sony cleaning tape is all that is necessary before
switching to the new type (though there are somewhat more
drop-outs with the new, and you may be left in the lerch
regarding playing the old-type tapes...). With camcorders
that have seen heavy use with the old-type Sony tape,
there appears to be a real problem with head-clog after
a couple of the newer-type tapes have been through the
camera (my TRV-9 is on its way out for service - it
will now not record or play either tape type reliably,
and using a cleaning tape does not cure the problem...).