VHS to DVD

Miroslav

Hi

I have some VHS that I wish to transfer to DVD but need to buy the equipment to do so.

What is the cheapest way to do this? I don't own a DVD Recorder, but if I bought one and connected it to my VHS, would this work? Or would it be easier to buy a two in one VHS/DVD Recorder? Can I find some kind of cable to connect a VHS to my PC and use my PC's DVD RW (or will this not be strong enough?)

Any help on the cheapest and easiest way for a technophobe would be greatly appreicated.

Thanks.

PS - My TV only has one scart lead if that is an issue?

Hammyman

A cheap budget TV card for the computer. One with a composite in which rules out most USB ones. Plenty of old Hauppauge WinTV cards on Ebay for next to nothing. Get a SCART to phono lead to connect the VCR to the WinTV card. Fire up the WinTV software, select the composite input, press play on the VCR and hit record. When you've finished you have a file you can import into Windows Movie Maker and create a DVD from that'll play in your DVD player.

KillerWatt

Get yourself a standalone recorder and go that way.

I have yet to see either a USB or PCI based capture card of any description actually do the job properly when trying to capture more than 20 mins of DV without sync errors.

googler

Get a standalone DVD recorder. Connect SCART from VHS to DVD, press Record on DVD, press Play on VHS. Finalise DVD when you've finished recording.

Job done.

ellay864

I got a gadget from Maplins call 'Click & Convert' for about £30. Has been absolutely brilliant. I've transferred hours of home vids to DVD. If it's commercial videos I think you'll find they won't advertise that facility for obvious reasons but lets just say that not all are protected
You do it all on the PC, no need to buy a DVD recorder which would be a bit more than £30
Also I use the software with it for editing - its better and easier to use than what came with my camcorder. When iI use that I cant d/load it to DVD and have it so it plays! Using the gadget I get brilliant DVDs that I can do all kinds of editing tricks with

Miroslav

Thanks for the replies.

I'm guessing doing it via my PC will also block my PC for a while? Which won't please my flatmate, but it's an option.

With standalone DVD Recorders, is it as simple as replacing my current DVD player (not recorder)? Their is only a scart going into the back of it - is that enough, no other leads?

I can use the spare TV, VHS and the new DVD Recorder, if I go that way and it will get in the way of no-one.

Any DVD Recorder will do? Or should I avoid certain ones. They aren't too badly priced on eBay, but not sure if their are any things I should look out for.

They are home recorded VHS that I wish to transfer over to DVD, not pre-recorded.

Click & Convert @ Maplins is still £29.99, so may be an option.

KillerWatt

Miroslav wrote: »

With standalone DVD Recorders, is it as simple as replacing my current DVD player (not recorder)?

Yes

Miroslav wrote: »

Their is only a scart going into the back of it - is that enough, no other leads?

One SCART lead in (from the source), another SCART out to the TV.

Miroslav wrote: »

Any DVD Recorder will do?

They are all pretty "much of a muchness"

Miroslav wrote: »

Click & Convert @ Maplins is still £29.99, so may be an option.

You will want a very fast PC if you want to be able to encode & author in any reasonable time span.

BritRael

KillerWatt wrote: »

Get yourself a standalone recorder and go that way.

I have yet to see either a USB or PCI based capture card of any description actually do the job properly when trying to capture more than 20 mins of DV without sync errors.

I've had varying success with this. I have a good quality DVD HDD recorder but not all of my VHS copies have synced correctly, albeit the video and audio quality is better than the PC-based option.

googler

BritRael wrote: »

I've had varying success with this. I have a good quality DVD HDD recorder but not all of my VHS copies have synced correctly, albeit the video and audio quality is better than the PC-based option.

Tell us what you mean by 'not synced correctly'

KillerWatt

googler wrote: »

Tell us what you mean by 'not synced correctly'

At a guess, the audio has dropped out of sync with the video (a common problem when using USB/PCI based capture devices that rely on software to do the hard work).

Miroslav

KillerWatt wrote: »

Yes


One SCART lead in (from the source), another SCART out to the TV.


They are all pretty "much of a muchness"


You will want a very fast PC if you want to be able to encode & author in any reasonable time span.

Thanks for all of that. Not a super fast PC, so it will have to be a recorder. I already have DVD + CD's so will need to be one that burns to that as I noticed some burn to DVD - but not +

eBay fairly kosher to shop on if the person has good feedback, or are we talking about going into the town centre and buying one (or even an online shop with cashback!) and what price should I really be paying - I don't want to be ripped off.

No real rush, but could be a good idea to get one ASAP to get started.

Cheers