Regarding tape lubricants: I'm going to take back what I said earlier. I just took apart a Sony, a Fuji, a Panasonic and a TDK tape and found no evidence of any lubricants in the tape, either particulate or liquid. So from that, I'd say it probably doesn't hurt a thing to switch brands.
Regarding TDK Red & Green: This is the same tape as the black and gold packaged tapes at most retail outlets in the US but we imported the Red and Green ones from Japan ourselves right after Christmas.
Regarding slow speed recording: I never recommend slow speed recording for any format, but I know lots of people do it and are ok with the results. No matter what you do, slow speed recording means you are more likely to have a dropout and the dropouts you have are going to be worse. The slower the recording speed the more important the finer grain tape becomes. With slow speed recording I'd only consider using Sony EX tapes or Panasonic PQ tapes. The best would probably be to use DVCam tapes, if your camera will accept them.
Regarding SVHS vs VHS tapes: Myself, I go the other extreme I use SVHS tapes for my VHS recordings. I find that SVHS tape is worth the extra money because the tape surface seems to be more consistent and gives me a better signal to noise ratio, which is the sticking point for VHS. I've always hated how noisy the video is on VHS recordings and using a really high quality VHS deck with SVHS tapes gives me the best result. Many of the better decks will play back SVHS recordings. I'm not familiar with the Philips deck that you mention, but perhaps you should buy one SVHS tape and experiment with it.
Regarding TDK Red & Green: This is the same tape as the black and gold packaged tapes at most retail outlets in the US but we imported the Red and Green ones from Japan ourselves right after Christmas.
Regarding slow speed recording: I never recommend slow speed recording for any format, but I know lots of people do it and are ok with the results. No matter what you do, slow speed recording means you are more likely to have a dropout and the dropouts you have are going to be worse. The slower the recording speed the more important the finer grain tape becomes. With slow speed recording I'd only consider using Sony EX tapes or Panasonic PQ tapes. The best would probably be to use DVCam tapes, if your camera will accept them.
Regarding SVHS vs VHS tapes: Myself, I go the other extreme I use SVHS tapes for my VHS recordings. I find that SVHS tape is worth the extra money because the tape surface seems to be more consistent and gives me a better signal to noise ratio, which is the sticking point for VHS. I've always hated how noisy the video is on VHS recordings and using a really high quality VHS deck with SVHS tapes gives me the best result. Many of the better decks will play back SVHS recordings. I'm not familiar with the Philips deck that you mention, but perhaps you should buy one SVHS tape and experiment with it.
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