asked on

LTO 4 tape media

Hi all.
I'm considering a switch from Dell and Maxell LTO 4 tapes for TDK. Does anybody have an opinion and/or experience with TDK ? I've found the price to be better than Dell and Maxell but first need to consider the quality and reliability. Any insight would be apprecaited. Thanks.

Ed

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

TapeDude

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

SOLUTION

dovidmichel

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

dovidmichel

Just an additional note about OEM tapes. It really does not make much difference who makes the tapes, what matters is the specifications that tape meets. When IBM has some other company make media for them, IBM sets the specifications that media must meet. If the media does not make it then it is just sold under a different brand name. So for example the same company could make tapes sold under several different brand names, but that in no way means that each brand media has the same quality.

As for keeping the head clean Quantum, HP, & IBM recommend cleaning their LTO drives only when the drive indicates it needs to be cleaned.

enorman1

ASKER

Thanks folks for your response. I am using a Dell ML6000 and am confident it has IBM drives. Over the years, I've consistently used Dell branded media and Maxell. My question was initiated by finding TDK media for $26.35 each as oppsoed to $28 for Maxell. I found only 1 or 2 reviews about the TDK media and those were less than favorable.