Would it be much easier just to buy a stand alone dvd recorder just for the purpose of transfering old vhs tapes to dvd than transfer using a pc. How is the picture and sound quality of each method compared. And which brand or model of stand alone dvd recorder would you recommend for DVD-R format. Any input is appreciated.
Rick, I am also a newbie to this whole thing. I have a burner as well as recorder. I find the burner on the computer to be quite complicated. So, for the purpose of converting VHS tapes alone, I recommend a recorder. I have a Panasonic, and it works great. The only disadvantage is that you have to record from a stand alone VCR. You can't record from a TV/VCR combo. Besides, I don't really see how you would use a VHS tape on the computer!!!!
I cannot stress this enough - unless you are a video producer and have the hardware and time to edit, buy a DVD recorder, especially since the prices have fallen below $400. With a VHS to PC solution, you must have a fast PC with lots of RAM, a speedy and big hard drive, and at least USB 2 or Firewire. This doesn't unclude the headache and time to edit using video software. This is a no-brainer.
Ok if the standalone unit is better I have a few questions.. One is does it compress movies to fit a 4.7 gig disk and how do they play on standalone dvd players
