My regular tape is a Greenlee, and the case works quite smoothly.
My 200 ft tape is an Ideal, chosen because the larger diameter case makes winding/unwinding easier (I believe).
I have a vinyl-coated Ideal "slick tape", which works really well. I try to reserve it for pipe that already has wires in it- or that the regular tape won't fish. I consider it a half-price substitute for the fiberglass one.
I have a short (50 ft.) GB tape- that never gets used. It just doesn't feed or roll up very well.
The steel tape is my standard, in no small part because I regularily find it necessary to use a tool to pull it. You don't have that option with other tapes. It's also a lot easier to repair them.
I'm sorry you don't like to use "jet line." I will often use a mouse to pull a fine line (I use the line cartridges sometimes called 'tampons'), which I then follow with larger line, etc. I get best results using a vacuum on one end, and compressed air on the other. I will often join the two lines with an additional 'mouse' to clear debris from the line- or coat the mouse in lube to slick up the pipe some.
