# VHS to Digital/DVD **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814 "2008-02-01T03:44:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/1 "2008-02-01T03:44:21Z")
I have some old VHS videos that I would like to transfer to my computer. Ultimately, I’d like to burn them over to a DVD. How can I do this? Is there software and cable that can I use to connect a VCR to my computer and “record” them while playing them back? These are videos that I created/own so there are no copyright issues here. Thanks, MeanJoe ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/2 "2008-02-01T03:50:37Z")
The easiest way is to buy a combination VHS-DVD recorder. You can pick one up for around $100 at Wal-Mart or someplace similar. Then you just pop in your tape and a blank CD and let it do it’s thing. Be sure you get a **recorder** and not just a VHS-DVD player. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/3 "2008-02-01T03:52:24Z")
Of course, you can’t expect it to ever look as good as a real DVD. The best you’ll ever get is good VHS quality. But you knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/4 "2008-02-01T03:52:36Z")
Over here, many film-developing shops have begun to offer this service, burning videotape content onto DVDs. Is there anyone there that can do this? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/5 "2008-02-01T03:53:26Z")
You need a “digitizer” to do this on a computer. I just did one tonight. I use a Canopus ADVC-100. There are many other solutions, here’s an example: [Hauppauge | Page Not Found](http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_usblive.html) ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/6 "2008-02-01T04:02:56Z")
[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy] The easiest way is to buy a combination VHS-DVD recorder. You can pick one up for around $100 at Wal-Mart or someplace similar. Then you just pop in your tape and a blank CD and let it do it’s thing. Be sure you get a **recorder** and not just a VHS-DVD player. [/QUOTE] So something like [this](http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5693286) would allow me to put the tape into the VHS slot and a blank DVD into the DVD player and hit “record”? That maybe the cheapest option considering the digitizer mentioned by Beowulff is 49.99 and paying someone to do it will likely be nearly as much. Thanks for the information folks, I appreciate it. MeanJoe ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/7 "2008-02-01T05:05:00Z")
In the past year I have copied several hundred video tapes to DVD using a VCR and a separate DVD recorder (Panasonic DMR-ES25). It worked fine. Your DVDs won’t look any better than the source tape, of course, but DVDs are much more convenient and take up a lot less space. Since you already have a VCR, as long as it’s in good working condition, you would probably do better to buy a DVD recorder instead of a combo unit. Spending about the same amount on a separate recorder will almost certainly get you better quality than the recorder in a combo unit. The only downside is that you have to wire the two units up, which you don’t have to do with the combo. But it’s not rocket science. Output (video, audio L & R) of the VCR into the inputs of the DVD recorder. My particular Panasonic model is no longer available, but Amazon is showing several other Panasonic units for as little as $120 new. Other models run $180 and up. They also have some VCR/DVD recorder combos (about $150), but I still recommend a separate. My previous DVD recorder was an RCA, and I do not recommend them. Mine was quirky and troublesome. The Panasonic is great. BTW, the combo unit in your Walmart link is not a DVD recorder. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/8 "2008-02-01T09:23:45Z")
The quality of the VHS-DVD copy will be no better than the original tape, but DVDs should last a lot longer. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/9 "2008-02-01T09:25:32Z")
[QUOTE=MeanJoe] So something like [this](http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5693286) would allow me to put the tape into the VHS slot and a blank DVD into the DVD player and hit “record”? That maybe the cheapest option considering the digitizer mentioned by Beowulff is 49.99 and paying someone to do it will likely be nearly as much. Thanks for the information folks, I appreciate it. MeanJoe [/QUOTE] As mentioned by **commasense** , the unit in your link plays DVDs, but does not record them. The cheapest (but not neccessarily easiest) way to go on this if you already have a DVD burner in your computer and a VCR is to get a TV card for your computer that has RCA inputs. [This one](http://www.pctekonline.com/satvtuvcamre.html) is $20 plus shipping. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/10 "2008-02-01T17:55:28Z")
[QUOTE=neutron star] As mentioned by **commasense** , the unit in your link plays DVDs, but does not record them. The cheapest (but not neccessarily easiest) way to go on this if you already have a DVD burner in your computer and a VCR is to get a TV card for your computer that has RCA inputs. [This one](http://www.pctekonline.com/satvtuvcamre.html) is $20 plus shipping. [/QUOTE] Ah-HA! That is what I was looking for, some way to hook my VCR to my computer and record the VHS playback digitally on the computer. Thanks! I’ll be making a quick trip to Best Buy/Micro Center, etc., tonight to find a tv card. MeanJoe ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vhs-to-digital-dvd/435814/11 "2008-02-01T18:21:03Z")
It may not cost you much (at first) to try it out, but I think you may find using your computer is much more cumbersome and inconvenient than using a DVD recorder. I could be mistaken, but depending on the software you use, you may have to record the entire video program to hard disk first, then burn it on the DVD, which means you may have to expand the capacity of your hard disks significantly. It will also take longer, since it’s two steps. You may need to buy software if the basic utilities that come with the TV card aren’t up to the job. And I’m not sure the quality of the recording will be as good. With the DVD recorder, you just hook them up, press play on the VCR and record on the recorder. Wait until the show’s done, then press stop, and finalize the disk, if you want to. Easy peasy. And you can use the recorder to shows record off-air, and play regular DVDs as well. In short, it may cost more and be more time consuming to record with your computer than with an external DVD recorder. If you only have a few tapes to copy, the computer may be acceptable, but if you’ve got a lot, I think it could be a pain.