VHS 2 DVD Converter?

[Anon_F]

My mum wants some VHS tapes put on to DVD's.
Now would it be better to get a company to convert them?
Or buy a machine to convert them or software?
Thinking those in the know like V_R or Sir Flopps may know or others that are Techie minded?

 

[Ian]

My dad had some old 8mm film converted to DVD and that wasn't too expensive for a company to do (local to Newcastle, so perhaps not useful in this case). I'd bet it's even cheaper to get a company to do VHS>DVD.

I did some googling and a stand alone VHS/DVD recorder unit is about £150, but there are lots on ebay for much less.

May be worth adding up the numbers and see if it's worth the outlay/hassle of doing it yourself vs getting a co. to do it. Looks like you can get some companies to do it via post for about £5/tape - not bad.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ok, you have three choices:

1) Pay somebody to do it, I don't know where you'd go or how much it would cost but I'm sure an online search would bear fruit. If there's only a few cassettes to convert this may prove the preferable option.

2) Buy a DVD recorder that also copies cassettes to DVD, this is probably the easiest but most expensive option.

3) Do it yourself using an interface device between the VHS recorder and your computer.

An example: Terratec video capture

And this is the one I use, it works well but only with XP or Vista 32 Bit OS's Dazzle

You will also need software, the first example I've given comes with suitable software and my Dazzle came with Pinnnacle Studio Lite which does the job.

You will need at least a 2Ghz dual processor and lots of hard disk space for temporary storage, 500Gb - 1Tb of free space should suffice.

With video capture, conversion and editing the more powerful the processor and the more memory you have the better.