Rod, at 15:20 on Mar 27 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

RS> and should hopefully minimise any quirks when
RS> playing an LP tape recorded in one on the other.

BG> That's irrelevant, as all LP machines should be
BG> aligned identically, so that tapes from any brand will
BG> be interchangeable with other machines.  If they're not,
BG> the thing hasn't been aligned properly, simple as that.

RS> We are talking about different things here. I didnt mean just playing
RS> the tape, but say the frozen mode is visibly better in LP mode when
RS> its paused on the machine that it was recorded on. Both ways.

Theoretically, that should still make no noticeable difference, and can
actually be proved by carefully aligning two different LP machines,
recording in one, then playing back in the other, and pausing.  If the
alignment has been done accurately, the results should be identical.  I
actually have a number of alignment tapes here for that very purpose, but
aside from myself, I know of no other techs who could be bothered fiddling
around to that degree.  Ergo, you WILL notice the difference, but I bet you
any money you like that if I had 30 minutes with both of them, you wouldn't
be able to tell which machine had been used for recording.  :)

RS> There was also a Sharp at $439 in an SMH ad.

BG> If it's HiFi LP, that's the one I'd personally be buying.

RS> Nar, just LP, and its didnt appear in the next weeks TV guide. The
RS> first week said 'limited numbers' or something, presumably all gone now.

That's the el-cheapo Sharp which uses only 2 heads for both modes.  IOW, it
records both LP and SP with the thinner LP heads.  Works OK until you use
search mode or pause in SP, and the result looks like shit.  I think Sharp
may have had a gutful of people complaining about it, and must have
discontinued that model.  And not before time, I might add.

RS> I happened to be in Woolys for food and noticed
RS> they dont even have any LPs at all for some reason.

Hardly anybody uses LP any more, so I'm not all that surprised.

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20