VHS to DVD converter

tchil wrote:
Something to consider is that DVD is a dying technology and DVD's dont last forever. Digital Media would be a better way to go. Don't just put them on a Hard drive though use a service like Crashplan and have a local and remote copy. That way you will have the information for ever. I have done this will all of my home movies and pictures so I never have to worry about them getting lost or damaged. If you have a digital copy it does not deteriorate with time either.

Folks had said the same thing about Reel to Reel, 8 tracks, cassettes, records and so on..

Vinyl records are STILL being pressed and new turn tables are still being manufactured!

Reel to Reel there are still a lot of folks holding on to them and enjoying the quality.. I spent many years owning R to Rs, sold off the last two I had 5 yrs ago and one was an extremely nice full 4 track pro unit which could run 10.5 reels..

Although I did keep one small portable r to r which is my Dads, he bought it back in the late 50s and recorded a conversation that his Dad (my Grandad who passed away when I was only a few years old)and a cousin of his Dad was having..

Yeah, the player electronics have long passed away (dead preamp) but with a little know how I disconnected the preamp, connected the head directly into a microphone input of a mixing console and recorded my grandads voice to a CD..

The quality stinks and over the years parts of the tape got erased but I managed to retrieve and salvage about a minute and half of my Grandads voice.

My Daughter thinks it is cool to be able to hear her great grandad who has been gone almost 46 years now! Priceless.

8 tracks well they were sort of a mixed up poor sounding mess that constantly jammed or broke but every once and a while I get someone asking me if I know of a way to convert them to CDs.. I have once let someone borrow my last 8 track recorder so they could copy off what they want..

Cassettes, vast improvement over a 8 track, very small compact do all method.. Still folks out there using them, I still have a couple laying around.. I still have hundreds of irreplaceable tapes I made over the years from High school concerts, interviews with family members who are no longer with us and yes, a lot of music which would cost thousands of dollars if I bought CDs of each tape..

It took over 20 yrs before 3.5" 1.44 floppy drives were discontinued by main stream manufacturers but you still can buy them from a host of China manufacturers!

Just because YOU think some media is no longer relevant to YOU does not mean it is "dead"..

There is nothing wrong with someone who is attempting to save a collection.. sometimes you save what you can and if possible you find it on newer media if or when possible but keep in mind, there always be newer media which will supersede the current media..

Even digital media files are not exempt from this. Eventually the media files you saved all your stuff to will no longer be supported.. Then what will you do? Buy them again?

As far as burned DVDs, yeah, no one really knows for sure just how long DVDrs will last, the dye layer can deteriorate so it is a good idea to back them up..

On home burned DVDs it is as simple as copying the TS folder to a hard drive, makes a quick and easy backup so give it a rest and quit beating up folks for wanting to save their VHS onto DVD..

Once the DVD has been made backup copies are a breeze and copying the TS folder to a PC HD or external USB drive is easy peazy..

The worst part is getting the analog source turned into a digital source.. Standalone DVD recorders are the best for folks who know how to press a record button.. Only advanced users should attempt USB dongles for recording although some of these will net a better result they have a steep learning curve.

You want us to stay on topic!!?? What a slave driver! :)

the OP is wanting to COPY owned vhs movies to DVD before the tape is too far gone
and watch the movies from DVD, which do NOT wear the same way magnetic tape does

the original discussion is NOT about backing up personal data

there have been previous discussions about data backup. when what where
with excellent advice given

BUT that IS NOT the topic here

Nothing wrong with multiple backups, in fact that is the smart way to go without a doubt. And online storage is an excellent secondary backup storage plan.

tchil wrote:
The OP does not say if these are family videos or just regular movies. .

Not in the first post, no.

tchil wrote:
Offsite digital storage is by far the easiest and cheapest way to keep your data safe. The particular plan I use is $60 a year for unlimited storage..

I agree, but if things go as they usually do around here, you'll get blasted for suggesting that.

Lots of folks said that about lots of storage media over the years but there is a reason less and less computers are coming with DVD drives.

The OP does not say if these are family videos or just regular movies. If there important family movies and you really want to make sure there around for a while DVD is just not good enough for me. If you only have a copy of something in one place your begging for trouble. Services like Crashplan or Mozy or any number of others combined with a local copy provide the most reliable method to keep your data safe.

Near me lots of people lost all their pictures, DVD's, Wedding vids and everything else during the black forest and other forest fires in the last couple years. Offsite digital storage is by far the easiest and cheapest way to keep your data safe. The particular plan I use is $60 a year for unlimited storage and I have over 300GB backed up there. The backup runs continuously so new files are uploaded to the safety of the offsite shortly after being created on my computer.

If you worry about losing digital data, then by all means don't do it. If you don't, then use it. I'm sure we'll all be fine either way. You'll be dead before your DVDs degrade anyway.

Yeah, well maybe DVD is a dying technology, and maybe it won't lay down in its grave quite as quickly as some of you seem to think.

And DVD's seem to last a pretty long time so far. I have some that I bought when DVD's first came out, that would be 20 years and counting, and they play just fine. And a real plus: since it has no moving parts as HDD's do, and no memory to get wonky like SSD's or flash drives/memory, it works with no worries. I also don't have to worry about that online storage company going belly-up or me forgetting to pay storage fees and losing access to all that digital storage. Or as Amazon and Apple have demonstrated, have my data removed at someone's whim.

Yeah, I think DVD's are going to be around for some time to come.

Something to consider is that DVD is a dying technology and DVD's dont last forever. Digital Media would be a better way to go. Don't just put them on a Hard drive though use a service like Crashplan and have a local and remote copy. That way you will have the information for ever. I have done this will all of my home movies and pictures so I never have to worry about them getting lost or damaged. If you have a digital copy it does not deteriorate with time either.

MrWizard wrote:
The trouble with items like this
Is they require you to copy to the pc..And then creates the DVD using the PC

Well, yes if you want to use DVD technology but why go from VHS to DVD that is quickly becoming obsolete also.

I used this Diamond One-Touch Converter (similar to the referenced one) to convert those VHS tapes to digital that I deemed worthy of keeping and they will be good until digital storage is replaced by the next technology. :)