2 schools of thought, #1 buy gateway's dvd recorder and get it over with. I have about 200 vhs tapes i want to convert to dvd, the other is buy pinnacle cuz you always have it, however as soon as the tapes are converted, the dvd recorder is no longer useful. Recorder is about $150. Without the recorder, however is there an interface to plug the vcr in to rip to HD, or is THAT process too long?