VHS to DVD for archive purposes??

[Mike Wheeler]

What's the best process to get some teaching material (VHS tapes) converted to a DVD. This is for my personal collection...to archive it before the tapes suffer any damage. I doubt they are copy protected, but don't know.

I would guess I'd go to PC, then to DVD somehow?? What advice can you give me?

[mtulbert]

Mike,

There are several hi fi units that you could use to do the job. I even believe that there is a Pioneer unit with the Tape Player and the DVD in one chassis.

Check some of your big box electronic dealers in your area.

IE Best Buy, Fry's , Circuit City.

Regards,

Mark T.

[Jim Sliff]

I have a Sharp DV-RW340 that has both a VHS and DVD recorder, with a "dubbing" function for transfers. It's not that old but to my surprise only works with 4x DVD's - so watch out what you buy, because 4x's are hard to find.

That being said, I bought a 100-pack on sale at CompUSA for 20 bucks and have been transferring my tapes to DVD. I have not had one copy-protection issue yet, but I'm not transferring films - just personal stuff and some old lesson tapes I had, like Homespun and a few others - I'm trying to get rid of tape altogther.

[jolynyk]

check ebay, lots on there..Ijust picked up a Toshiba, records VHS to DVD or DVD to VHS.. a bit over $100

[Tony Prior]

Wallmart has a Magnavox DVD recorder for $98. It's great ! I have two now .

Very easy to operate and has rear and front inputs which make hooking up the old VHS very easy, as well as Cable or DISH...

I actually called the support number once to ask a question about timed recording, they actually answered the phone and answered the question !..How about that !

Quality is very fine. Several recording modes, , excellent to average quality based on recording time. I think you can get like 30 DVD R's for about $12 now. DVD plus is the most recent format, get those if you have a choice. Always use the shortest recording mode possible for the best overall quality.

$98, if it lasts a year that would be $.27/day, what a value. I now record on DVD RW for all of the shows I watch and fall asleep to.

t<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 21 November 2006 at 02:57 AM.]</p></FONT>

[Mike Wheeler]

Thanks a million guys. I've always made working copies of computer program and game CDs...boy, has that ever paid off!! (CDs are so easy to damage or lose.) And while watching one of Jeff's VHS courses, the thought of the machine eating it occured to me...HOLLY COW!!

OK, I'm agoin' huntin' for one of them thar fancy reecorders.

[steve takacs]

Guys, do these machine give one the option to create tracks manually or automatcially every 5 minutes or so? That would make it easier to speed through the DVD to find a specific section. Thanks, steve t

[Tony Prior]

Are you referring to chapters rather than tracks ?

DVD recorders record in time segments (chapters) , most record in 5 or 10 min chapters which means you can move up/back in 5 or 10 min segments with a single click of the remote.

tp

[Jim Cohen]

I use a device called 'Dazzle' (go to http://www.dazzle.com that is bascially an adaptor from the RCA outputs of your VCR to a USB input to your computer, and comes with software that allows you to edit the file before burning it to DVD on your computer (assuming your computer has a DVD burner in it.) You can make each chapter as long or as short as you wish, which is good for instruction, intead of only having, say, 5 min. blocks. Worked pretty good for me.

[steve takacs]

Thanks, Tony, I was referring to chapters that you metnion . Thanks too, Jim, for making me aware of the Dazzle" solution. As my wife continues to say: "You're able go to The Forum for questions about most topics and find solutions." Perhaps I should ask a question about how to attain world peace.
steve t