[forkstriker4]

Originally Posted by LEDZEPZOSO

One advantage of the Sony 300 and 500 is it is easy to find the number of hours the heads have been used. So if you see a Sony at a good price have them check the head hours, this summer someone had a 500 with only 25 hours on the heads.

To get the head hours you press the menu button and turn the shuttle knob (Or something like that, it has been years since I actually did this. If you google this it is on a few web sites).

The Tascam has no way of finding the number of hours on the heads. That is why initially I was going to get a a Sony DAT, but the price of the Tascams where so cheap I figured I could buy 5-6 Tascam for about the same price of a Sony 500.

The one thing I have noticed about the units on Ebay is that the Sony usually seemed to be taken care of more than the Tascam's. I think has to do with that in general the Sony's are used by more business/radio stations while the Tascams are more in the personal user. Again, this is just a observation from looking at Ebay auction for the last 3 1/2 years.

Are the number of hours of use on these DAT decks really a concern when I am just playing back some tapes? I mean, it is digital after all, so the deck will or will not play tapes, correct?

It is looking as though the Tascam will be the way to go based on prices.