Hello, Steve, We're starting to see these devices. There are some new developments that I'd like to see some first-hand reports on. http://www.tracertek.com/ccp0-prodshow/USBCass.html This is a USB cassette deck. There is also a USB VHS deck http://www.tracertek.com/ccp0-prodshow/USBVCR.html And even a USB/Compact-Flash TURNTABLE http://www.tracertek.com/ccp0-prodshow/flashturntable.html I don't like the marketing that accompanied this announcement in the email newsletter: "Imagine going to a friends house, recording his favorites and taking them home in your shirt pocket." Then, for ministries and other large collectors of voice-grade cassettes, there is a high-speed USB to PC tool from Graff of Newark LTD (UK). http://www.graffofnewark.co.uk/digitiser-c-8.html There are two models: a mono and a stereo one...and here's the TFWM review (where I first saw this device): http://www.graffofnewark.co.uk/pdf/Digitiser%20Review.pdf So, we do have some market penetration of specialized tools for cassette migration. Cheers, Richard At 08:18 PM 2008-07-30, Steve Abrams wrote: >I just did a search for cassettes on Amazon.com and got 177,692 results. > >I do have a question about cassettes. Many of us still have >hundreds of cassettes. Our sole interest is in listening to the >cassettes or transferring them to CDs or computer files. > >I am surprised that no one seems to make good playback equipment >which does not record. Surely there would be a number of advantages >to such machines. Cheap playback machines were often found in the >early days of the cassette. Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask] Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.