okay, so. here's the thing.

[dira]

So I've started taping episodes of House, which is to say that I taped last week's (episode 1x13, first-run) on the tape that was already on the VCR. This was at least the third thing recorded on that never-labeled tape and, shockingly, when I rewatched the episode, the recording quality kinda sucked. Colors were fadey, sound levels were wonky - it was watchable, but not great. I went out and bought a new tape to record tonight's rerun (episode 1x03), and have resigned myself to the fact that I'll be recording any of the first twelve episodes in any order I can get them, so the tape will be all over the place - still, it's a fresh tape, so the quality should be decent, and, of course, it's all just stopgap until the DVDs come out, which will doubtless be very soon after the season ends.

So. I've already labeled the tape with 1x13 on it, and, obviously, there's plenty of room on it for at least the next five new episodes. Having them all together and in order on one tape pleases my archival-order instincts; the question of recording quality is almost a lesser concern. Almost. I think what it actually is is a precisely equal concern. I have another never-labeled tape here which has probably been recorded on once at most, and I could always scrape together three bucks to buy another videotape. But I seriously just. Don't. Know.

So I made a poll, which, er, strayed a bit from the problem at hand:
[Poll #451106]