I have a ton of old VHS casettes I bought ages ago I've been wanting to convert to a less primitive standard, largely so I can save space by shoving them all in the attic. At first I was musing about putting them onto DVDs but I've recently been attracted by these portable PVR things, specifically the Archos AV560. What I want to know is whether I can play the tapes on a tv and link the tv to the recorder to copy them over, or will the copy protection start playing havoc? Realistically I'd need to be able to play them on a TV or PC Monitor which apparently isn't possible with DVDs without some jiggery pokery. Anyone know if this is possible or if there is a reasonably simple and inexpensive way around it? The unit itself is fairly pricey and since I'll have to do it in real time it's going to take several days to copy them over. Also when I have these files on the unit would it be possible to back them up as standard PC files and/or play them on my PC? I think I'd be positively terrified of losing them to a hardware failure of some kind.
I've recorded several DVD's to my av560, the ones with copy protection won't copy or play on the computer, the ones that haven't end up being avi files. Play back in Windows Media though is so so, due to the resolution. I'll try a VHS tape and post back.
Yep, works I recorded a VHS tape onto my Archos av560 and downloaded the file onto my computer. Playback quality on my computer isn't as good as the DVD's I've recorded this way. But my VHS is pretty old and I'd set the quality setting on the archos unit to optimal for the LCD screen 512 x 384, but you can save as 640 x 480 also. Note the "docking" station also has a S video connector but my VHS doesn't so I couldn't try that. If you want high quailty then I'd look at a DVD recorder or an analogue input card for your PC. If you want porability with back up on PC then AV 560 seems to work well. Note on DVD's which have macrovision protection it will not allow playback on TV or copy of file to PC.
That's great to know, thanks. I think I'll probably end up splitting the difference and getting a DVD recorder or capture card now to put all the one's I want in high quality, and get a PVR a bit later for the rest of them. Thanks for the reply.
