When I started with my camcorder (about a year and a half ago), I purchased some "inexpensive" (can’t call them cheap) tapes on eBay – They turned out to be knockoffs (counterfeits) and have caused all sorts of trouble for my camcorder.
Since that learning experience, I only buy name brand tapes and try to stay with one brand (that’s been recommended to me). I have used Sony but they can be a bit pricey, so I get 8-packs of TDK at Costco for about $22 per pack. Since I have gone exclusively to the TDK (real ones) I haven’t had too many problems (eBay tapes really did a job on my heads and I’m still having occasional problems – nothing a head cleaning doesn’t solve however).
