FAQ
Q: Do you stock the full range of products?
A: Protape currently stock over 1500 product lines. If we don’t hold it in stock, we can usually get it in for you quickly.
Q:What is your returns policy on hard drives?
A: All of our hard-drives come with a 1 year warranty. If within 12months of purchase there is a fault the drive must be returned to Protape for repair. If in the unlikely event the drive can not be repaired, a replacement drive will be issued.
Q: Do you have a green policy?
A: Protape use recyclable materials for their bags and also have an electric vehicle to help the environment.
Q: Why are these blank DVD’s not recognized on my DVD recorder/Mac/PC
A: There are many different formats of DVD’s: DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. You need to consult your manual to ensure you purchase the correct format. E.g. Phillips: DVD+R, Panasonic: DVD-R. Sony: DVD+/-R.
There can also be issues with high-speed media (16x) on older drives and also certain brands can work better than others. If you have a new machine it may be advisable to try a few individual discs before purchasing a spindle pack.
Q: My film is longer than 2 hours, how can I fit it on a DVD without losing quality? OR My data is more than 4.7gb but needs to fit on one disc?
A: You need to use a Dual Layer Disc (8.5GB) also known as DVD9, which has two burn layers. A Dual Layer burner is required to burn these discs but regular DVD players and drives can read them.
Q: Why is my computer not recognizing my new external hard drive?
A: You may need to format the drive before it is recognized on the desktop. Please consult your manual or the web for instructions on formatting external hard drives. If your drive is still not recognized or will not format it may be faulty.
Q: What’s the difference between Triple interface and Quadra?
A: Triple interface drives have USB2, FW400 and FW800 connections. Quadra drives have all the above as well as an eSATA connection.
Q: What is the difference between a portable hard drive and a desktop hard drive?
A: Portable hard drives are powered by the USB or Firewire Bus and therefore do not need to be plugged in the mains. Portable Hard drives also generally have a slower disc speed of 5400rpm compared to the desktop drives which are 7200rpm although there are some portable drives with 7200rpm disc speeds.
Q: Why am I only getting 40 minutes of recording time out of my 60 minute Mini-DV tape?
A: If you are using a PD series video camera e.g. (PD150), if the camera is set to record in DV (CAM) mode, the tape is recorded on to at a faster rate thus giving you less recording time. So a 60 minute Mini-DV only gives you 40 minutes of record time.
Further Questions?
If you have a question that you would like answered or a matter you would like addressed then please don’t hesitate to contact us.