OT - transfer VHS tapes to DVD

[geoff]

I had a cunning device for sharpening up the picture

[geoff]

I find that the DVD disks last considerably longer then the recorders

(having just returned one to Richer Sounds under warranty today)

[Steve Walker]

It's very easy to DIY. Something like ebay 370297453500 will be fine, but the ebuyer unit linked by Chris French looks good for the price.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That'll be for a straight transfer. Mark was talking (I think) about tweeking things for the best possible results. The difference in cost would be similar to having photographic prints done at Boots or hand finished by a pro.

[Mark]

Which is why it might be better to buy the equipment and DIY. Old VHS tapes IME often need some TLC to transfer in order to get the best out of them.

It depends how important the contents of the tapes are to you. If the tapes play well then it may not be an issue.

There's no one-size-fits all solution for the OP IMHO.

Ask in rec.video.desktop for a better answer.

[Mark]

Unless they have improved in recent times I would avoid anything made by Pinnacle. They have a history of very buggy products.

[Bruce]

I have bought and used two Dazzle products by Pinnacle and copied about 60 VHS videos to DVD on my PC without the slightest problem.

I know I'm a sample of one - or two if you count the person I bought the second one for, who also had no problems - but installation and use have been extremely easy and the performance has been perfect. I would not hesitate to recommend Dazzle.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd be interested to know what equipment you mean?

[ARWadsworth]

I have bought the Dazzle to convert some VHS tapes to DVD.

It worked fine for me.

Adam

[Steve Walker]

Ditto, thats why I recommended it.

[Bruce]

Dazzle by Pinnacle. So simple, even I could make it work. ;-)

[ARWadsworth]

than Dazzle:-)

Adam

[ARWadsworth]

It does not matter what you use to convert wedding videos as no-one watches them:-)

Adam

[Mark]

What I suggested earlier in this thread.

[Mark]

I bought a higher-end product by Pinnacle and the results were poor. There were noticeable compression artifacts when encoding DVD compliant MPEG2. The software frequently crashed. There were lots of other customers complaining of the same problems.

I would guess that a cheaper product would produce inferior results.

Now I use a DV camcorder as a passthrough device. Sony Vegas is used to capture/edit and author DVDs.

[Steve Firth]

"It works" is not the same as "it works well". HTH.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I've certainly been around those recovering worn or damaged etc video tapes - and the main requirements for recovery are hardware based. And rather outside the scope of most. As there is a very real danger of damage to the heads on the replay machine - so only really worthwhile for valuable stuff.

[Dave]

Funny you should mention that. I have just come downstairs to my computer, after watching Goodnight Mr. Thom. I recorded it on video and transferred it to DVD and it is perfect.

Dave

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Graham C saying something like:

Cheapy blanks are not much use. For long-term storage, Kodak Gold works well. Also, not burning at the max speed of the drive *seems* to make a difference, but it's too early to say for sure. I have Gold CDs burned years ago that still read perfectly well and many SVP-supplied RiDiscs and the like burned at a minimal speeds, some dating back several years, and they all read fine.

[Dave]

Just burned the last of my Kodak DVD's and I didn't make a single coaster. :-)

I keep an eye on all the optical disks and back them up by burning 3 copies. First one goes bits up, I fall back to the second and burn a new third copy.

I think this begs the question...

Are DVD's more flakey the CD's?

Dave