VHS to DVD converter
 

The blonde would like to transfer a bunch of family videos onto DVD to preserve for kids/grandkids etc.

Can anyone recommend an idiot-proof machine for aforesaid blonde's Christmas stocking?:}

Top tips appreciated!

FW

I had a VCR and a DVD recorder. All that I needed was a set of cables to connect the two of them together. Switch the VHS to play and the DVD recorder to record and it's as simple as that.

Just Google 'vhs to dvd recorder' and you'll be overwhelmed with solutions. :ok:

KISS
 

As Lancelot says, using a DVD recorder/VHS player combo is the easiest (KISS) solution. However, if you want to edit the VHS footage before committing it to disc then you are entering the world of encoding it to computer - a fairly high-spec machine will cope OK, but anything less will struggle mahoosively. Very time consuming, but ultimately worth it and only requires an analogue/digital encoding device - as GG says, Google will lead you in the right direction.

Well... make the DVD recorder one with a hard disc, and you can do:

VHS -> hard disc -> edit on hard disc -> DVD

which is fairly simple.

Keep ya'tapes.

They might look a bit scratchy in years to come, but they'll out last DVD's:}

I would suggest you try something like this from ebay.

Bush Combined DVD & VHS Recorder on eBay (end time 19-Dec-10 19:30:22 GMT)

Once you have it on DVD you can more easily rip it to a PC for editing.

Yes, but not by a great deal! :sad:

Home VHS tapes, of good initial quality, properly stored should last (as recorded, without data loss) 10-15 years, 20 if you are lucky. DVD WORM about 8-10, although this is still based on largely on accelerated testing than actual elapsed time.

Good quality 35mm polyester-based cine film stock or still negatives (remember those?) are expected to last 100s of years.

I can't help thinking we are sacrificing longevity for the sake of storage density and convenience.

SD

Reckon' there's a bit of "An Officer and a Gentleman" (circa 1986) in the loft-bet it'll still work when my dvd player say's "no disc recognised"

Wedding vid from 10 years ago seems to still work well.

A bit scratchy, tired looking, and a lot of noise.

But less about the wife, the tapes are still ok.:)

Plugged my old VHS into an old hard drive recorder. Seems to work well, but got bored with playing, recording, and dvd'ing all those tapes.

Still get a feeling of excitement when I pick up my tapes, might get some out over Christmas.

'aint the digital revolution a bit of a let down? Spent a very boring lunch listening to a young colleague telling me about his retinal device on his phone. Went to visit a client, had to make an emergency call, and ended up walking to a phone box.

Ever heard a scratched version of Rockaway Beach by The Ramones on vinyl ?