NSM wrote:
"ken" wrote in message
oups.com...
I took one of the tapes I taped material on and viewed it on another
VCR and it was fine - no snow or jumpiness.In other words, stuff i
tape on my machine looks fine - both on my vcr and on another vcr -
but commercail tapes are snowy and jumpy on my VCR

Bad tracking.

Gosh, what a helpful response.

To the OP:
Specifically, the tapes you've been viewing OK are recorded at slow speed,
the rental-type tapes are at SP speed. A 4-head machine, which yours must
be, uses different heads for the different speeds. Obviously, your SP heads
are dirty or worn out. A proper cleaning is in order. May or may not fix
your problem.

Mark Z.