VHS to DVD recorders

[Tony Sade]

I posted a while ago about the methods available to transfer video tapes to DVDs. I've decided that the simplest approach for me is to just buy a DVD recorder that also has a VCR included. I have a bunch to do (old family stuff, mostly) but once it's done, I don't forsee doing anymore, which makes doing it via a computer not the best choice. (Given the price of commercial transfer services, buying my own recorder seems to make the most sense costwise.)

Any recommendations for one of these? The few models I've seen in the flesh run between $160 and $260. I'm not planning anything fancy like dubbing or cleaning things up much. Simplicity and reliability would be nice.

Thanks,

[Dennis Peacock]

Great post Tony as I need to do that same thing. Primarily transfer family video from VHS to DVD format. I'm guessing that the format would be analog to digital? I want to do it via PC though. Anybody got any idears on what's best for vidoe capture on a home PC?

[Tony Sade]

Dennis-You might want to look at my previous thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=46057

[Kurt T. Kneller]

We have a DVD recorder that we used to transfer VHS tapes to DVD.
The only thing that we had to do was buy a decoder/descrambler, for about $20.00 at Best Buy. We needed that to transfer certain tapes.
We transfered all of our kid's videos, of which there were a whole bunch.

[Kent Fitzgerald]

Tony, I've had a Samsung DVD-VR320 for a few months, and I'm fairly pleased with it.

Pros:
- No operational problems so far.
- One-button VHS-to-DVD or DVD-to-VHS copying.
- Recording broadcasts on DVD is much more convenient than using tape.
- Picture quality is acceptable even at long recording speeds (at least on my low-def TV).
- More inputs and outputs that I'd ever need (std video, S-Video, component video, Firewire, yada yada).

Cons:
- There's no way to disable the automatic tracking on VHS playback. You can adjust tracking manually, but each time you start playback, the auto tracking messes things up for the first few seconds.
- Remote control range and receiving angle are limited.
- The menu text is poorly translated and not very informative.

Another thing you should know is that DVD recorders come in two flavors: DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. I don't think there's any performance difference, but manufacturers use one technology or the other, and the recordable media are not interchangable.

The other issue is playback compatibility. Once you've finalized recording on a DVD (whether - or +), it should play back on any fairly recent standard DVD player, but compatibility may be less than 100% with older players.

[Cary Falk]

The other issue is playback compatibility. Once you've finalized recording on a DVD (whether - or +), it should play back on any fairly recent standard DVD player, but compatibility may be less than 100% with older players.

Stick with DVD-R you will have less compatibility issues. Not all players can play +R

[Lee DeRaud]

I've got a Panasonic DMR-ES35V that's working out nicely. It will handle +R/RW, -R/RW, and RAM. No compatibility issues so far, as long as you remember to "finalize" the disk for playback on external devices. It has one-touch dubbing in both directions, but it detects the copy-protect codes on some commercial VHS tapes (maybe half of them) and refuses to copy them. Camcorder tapes obviously aren't an issue for it.

I got it mostly to conserve shelf space when my old DVD player died, but the VCR half of it hasn't gotten much use since the cable company (finally) delivered my DVR.

About $200 if you catch a sale.

[Dan Gill]

We have a Panasonic that we bought a few years ago. I'm not sure of the model number. It has performed well, in spite of having been dropped from a height of 30 inches. DAMHIKT.