I want to put my VHS video tapes onto dvd. Will this work....

Question

If I get a DVD recorder and connect it to my VHS player, play the video and press "record" on the DVD recorder having placed a recordable DVD into the DVD drive?

Or is it not that simple? If not, any ideas about what I can do? I had my eye on an all-in-one kind of machine that claims to be able to perform this function but on reading reviews about it, everyone completely panned it and said that it didn't work so I've decided not to waste my money on that.

Answer 1

It will probably work if the tapes you want to save are recordings of television broadcasts or personal home movies; otherwise, copy-protection may be an issue.

Be sure that the blank media you purchase is compatible with the recorder, though. DVD+R and DVD-R are not identical, and other formats include DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R DL (dual-layer), DVD-RAM, and probably others.

Answer 2

Well, that's exactly what I did when I bought a DVD recorder.

Mine has a hard-drive, though.  This meant I could record all my tapes onto the HDD first,  then edit out what I didn't want and record the finished version onto a DVD-R or DVD+R permanently.

Very simple to do and as you say, far better than a very unreliable 'all-in-one' machine!

Answer 3

there is an advert in the sun today for a wire that connects the two

Answer 4

You may use the best software I have seen AVS Video Tools. It can convert to/from all key format, upload video or DVD directly to key portables like iPod, Sony PSP, Archos, Zen Creative, and mobiles.

It can capture video from DV or webcams, TV tuners, DVB-T, DVB-S, transfer VHS tapes to DVD, remove commercials, edit video, copy and burn DVDs and video files: AVI (DivX, XviD, etc.), MP4, WMV, 3GP, 3G2, QuickTime (MOV, QT), SWF, DVD, VOB, VRO, MPEG 1,2,4, MPG, DAT, VCD, SVCD, ASF, H.263, H.264, RM, DVR-MS.

There is the free download link:

http://www.dvdtoipod.us/dvdvideoconverte...

Answer 5

you need the soft ware to do this go to pc world it will cost you about £35 but it works

Answer 6

The problem with a combo DVD video machine is that they won't copy protected videos. When I (stupidly) bought one, I didn't realise that most videos are copy protected. I don't know how they do it but they are.

I've copied a lot of tapes by getting a TV card and recording onto my PC. You can then burn a DVD. The quality isn't fantastic but it's good enough.

Answer 7

get a dvd vcr recorder combo that is the easiest way

Answer 8

Panasonic do a VHS / DVD / ans SD card recorder / player, and it will do from any of the three to any of the other three, cost about £300 I think, like that it is easy especially if you have a lot.

Answer 9

This is possible, provided you use stereo outputs. Do not expect to get great quality because VHS tends to suffer from degradation after time. DVD is a good medium for storage and archiving. That being said it will probably be one big file. You do not have the DVD authoring (making chapters) ability. I do not know what your DVD recorder capabilities are, this may be possible depending on what model you have.

Answer 10

if you have a video card in your pc, you can stream the video from your VCR through co-ax cable to the video card.

then simply record from your PC.

i do it this way all the time