MaxellCassette VHS-C Adapter (290060)

I don't normally write reviews, although I read a lot of them and find them useful. So I'm writing this just because i read the bad reviews for this product and almost bought the more expensive ones; but decided on this one to save some money. My worry was that to save a few bucks I was risking breaking a tape or a VCR per the other review's comments.I am pretty sure the reason they had problems is they didn't use it properly. The instructions are pretty bad, and if you don't use it right it will break a tape and/or mess up your VCR. So here is the way to use it;the instructions just say open the cover, put in the tape, and close the cover; but its a lot more than that.1. open the cover, and you'll see two posts sticking up that are spring loaded. It is very important you don't do what I did, which was figure those go in front of the tape, so I pushed them open and dropped the tape so the posts were on the outside of the tape. After experimenting and seeing how they work, I realized those posts go inside the tape, so just put the tape in without moving the posts.2. and when you put the tape in, be sure the front flap of your VHSC tape pops all the way open. The first time I put in the tape I didn't push it all the way down, and the flap didn't even open at all. Don't force it, but when the tape engages the gear, the flap pops open. The gears are plastic, so fiddle with it, don't force it.3. Now here is where you can break the tape; the instructions say "close the cover" which is right, but they don't mention that by closing the cover you are actually doing something else; the cover has a gear built into it, as the cover closes those two posts that are inside the tape push forward and out, spreading the tape out and pushing it to the front of the Adapater Cassette. This is how the tape is pulled out of your VHSC and held out so when the tape goes in the VCR it touches the VCR Head. When you slide the cover forward do it slowly, sort of back and forth, with light pressure. If you force it, it will snap your tape!if you do all this, I think you'll find this adapater is excellent, and will save you a bunch of money over the other ones that are double price, but probably have better instructions.

I don't write reviews, but this needs to be said.Why is this product rated 3/5 stars when it works great? First of all, it's ten dollars. My RCA VHS-C Adapter just broke, and I'm doing a documentary where I'm transferring archive footage from VHS-C to my computer. Someone on the Amazon marketplace is selling my RCA adapter, used, for $144.98. Get real. Then I thought about eBaying a camera, instead of using a VCR to play, and transfer the tapes. Over 80 dollars, used, for a VHS-C camcorder. Get lost. Stumbled upon this, and was skeptical, until it arrived just now...THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE PRINTED ON THE TAPE. Let alone there's some printed ones inside the box (I'm a guy; didn't even bother). But any person, other than an ogre, should know to carefully open the plastic slide, put your tape carefully in, and push the slide CAREFULLY upwards (or downwards when taking it out). You can watch your tape be opened (or closed) by the adapter. Why are people having trouble with this??And every brand's tape works! I've tried and successfully played Sony, JVC, TDK, etc, let alone Maxell tapes. All work fine...Only gripe would be: if you stop, then rewind, it seems a bit fast for my tastes (don't know if it's my VCR or not) and it sounds like it's going to transform into a decepticon (or just destroy my VHS-C tape)...Maybe some folks received a defective piece of plastic and I'm somehow lucky, but this product is great.Pros+It works+It works with all brands of tape+Don't trust othersCons-Wouldn't trust the power rewindRecommended...

The review by "Markm" pretty much sums it up. I'm really surprised that someone can goof it up, though. First, slide the door to the case open fully. Then insert the tape making sure the posts inside fit properly into your smaller cassette (make sure the flap on the side of the smaller tape flips up all the way). If done properly, closing the door will cause these posts to pull the tape out of the smaller cassette towards the larger edge of the adapter. When dealing with the sliding door of the adapter, don't move it too fast -- be gentle (so you don't strip the gears).It's simple, it works, it's inexpensive -- just know what you're doing!I used to have a motorized adapter by "Digital Concepts" that worked fine for me, but reading the reviews on Amazon for what seems to be the same model gave me pause. The only visible difference between the one I had and the one listed was that the sticker on the top of my unit was blue and yellow instead of red and yellow (but it did work fine until a bug crawled into it and died).Anyhow, I transferred six small VHS-C tapes to my computer using the Maxell adapter and I had no problems -- highly recommended.