Video Tapes
Video tapes
Recording your favorite shows using a VCR and taping home movies with your camcorder uses video tapes. Video tapes and a VCR are a cheap alternative to DVD recording technology, and some video tape recorders provide high quality recordings that rival newer technologies. Walgreens.com has tapes from well-known brands like Sony and Maxell.
Mini-tapes
Record up to 30 or 60 minutes of footage at a time with miniature tapes, used mainly in Camcorders and other video cameras. Just pop a tape into the camera and start shooting. You can also use mini-tapes in a standard VCR. You will need to purchase an adapter to allow you to fit these smaller-sized tapes into your machine. You can record 30 minutes using the standard play setting, or 60 minutes using the extended play setting when you use miniature tapes in your VCR.
Write-Protection
Standard tapes, the ones that fit into most VCRs without an adapter, are rewritable. After you finish watching your favorite show, you can rewind the tape and record over what you just watched. What if you want to save something special for years to come? All youo have to do is pull out the write-protect seal on your VCR tape. The VCR will not be able to record on the tape; it will spit the tape out if you try, just like it does if you try to record over a movie you bought. If you change your mind and want to record with the tape again, simply put a piece of invisible tape over the hole where the write protect seal used to be.