Question about dvd recorder for use with older dvd(non-recorder)/vcr combo.?

Question

I have a Samsung dvd/vcr combo about 6 yrs old that I love and works fine. Looking to copy vhs tapes to dvd. Do I have to buy a dvd recorder/vcr combo or can I just get a dvd recorder? Leaning toward dvd recorder/vcr combo due to ease, but concerned about price. Regarding getting just the dvd recorder concerned about compatibility with older unit and additional equipment for hook up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

You should be able to just get a DVD recorder and hook your VCR/DVD combo up into it as the source to record from.

There shouldn't be any problems doing that at all. Naturally a new DVD recorder/VCR combo would be much simpler, but not required.

Answer 2

Hi JV,

A DVD recorder is what you need but be aware that pre recorded VHS tapes have copy guard and you will have to bypass it.

I embarked on a project to transfer my VHS tapes to DVD and I had some problems. First I found most of my VHS tapes had copy protection and could not be copied. I went to Best Buy and bought a "Simo T120 GoDVD" which you put in-line between your VHS player and your DVD recorder. It removes the copy-guard and "enhances" the video. It was, I think, $59.95.

Remember to start with your VHS quality is passable but certainly far below a DVD. Now the copy process degrades it further. Don't get me wrong - my copies are certainly watchable.

The other thing that wore me down was you have to copy in real time. A two hour movie takes two hours to copy. I learned to set it up before I went out and just let the tape and DVD run out. If a movie is over two hours you have to use the four hour mode on the DVD recorder. That reduces the quality slightly.

That is my experience. I still have some tapes I haven't copied but my stack is greatly reduced.

Back to the Simo - I can't testify how much the video enhancer feature actually did because I didn't compare two copies of the same thing. The quality I got was acceptable so I just tolerated it.

Good luck with your project.

Norm