Someone just gave me a load of VHS tapes

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by site123a

BTW, do you believe using an external VHS rewinder really does extend the mechanical life of the VCR? Or is that just a myth.

Sure anything to save running time on the mechanism is good, especially if you do a lot of full rewinds. Also depends on the rewinder. Some were pretty poor quality. A good one will have optical end sensors just like a VCR. A lot of the later model VHS machines kept the tape loaded around the heads in FF-REW modes so that going from FF-REW to Play would be faster. Some decks are OK with this, others have enough tension on the tape to be a concern about accelerated head and cylinder wear. Using a rewinder would eliminate that potential for wear.