Can old video tapes be converted to a DVD?

Question

I have a few old BETA (yes, Beta!) tapes that I'd like to convert, well, now, to DVD. I had plannded at one time to put them to VHS but that day has come & gone. Besides which I could never find a Beta machine for playing. Can I get them to DVD? Is it complicated to do yourself? I'm pretty good at electronics. Or, would it be easier to bring somewhere? And where? Thanks.

Answer 1

It's not too hard to do it yourself, but you WOULD need to have a Beta player.  You would also need something called a "video capture card".  This is a card that plugs into a slot inside your computer (just like your video card) but it has audio/video inputs (I think there are also some USB options out there now).  Using it, you can "capture" the video being sent to the capture card and save it to your hard drive as a video file (such as MPEG).  From there, you can use any DVD authoring software (such as Nero, for instance) to make the DVD.

Having said all that, I do know a guy that brought in VHS tapes to have them transferred to DVD; not because he didn't know how to do it himself, but because he was too lazy.  ;-)  I don't remember how much it cost but I remember it was pretty reasonable and he was happy with the results.  He just went out one day and picked up his dry-cleaning and his DVDs.  I'm sure there are similar services for Beta.

Whichever method you decide, you should probably do it sooner rather than later because your videos are slowly degrading in quality as I type this!  Good luck!

<edit>duh [slaps forehead]- looardislander is correct.  Another option is to buy a stand-alone DVD recorder.  Costco usually has some good deals.</edit>

<edit #2>FYI: I just did a search on ebay and there are 18 beta players for sale.  Looks like you can get one for 100 bucks or less.  http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=... </edit #2>

Answer 2

It's about as complicated as operating a toaster or a telephone.

You use the A/V OUT from the Beta machine to the A/V IN on the DVD Recorder.  The trick is, as you know, finding an old Beta machine.  Even the Salvation Army and Goodwill stores don't have them any more.