My mother needs this to be done.....can you give suggestions?

[stuman19]

She has a ton of old VHS tapes that are home movies from like events and such because she has a camcorder (OLD) that records right onto VHS. She wants to take those VHS tapes and convert them into DVD. She has no real spending limit and is in need of a new computer that would be good for that. Is there anything that a regular desktop computer should have for her to have those capabilities? I went to Best Buy today and saw that they had some converter things that you can attach to her computers that will hook up to her computer, but then she needs a DVD burner right? The software came with Pinnacle, which I was told was a good piece of software. Please, any suggestions would be fantastic.

Stu

 

[stuman19]

someone must have a suggestion.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: stuman19
someone must have a suggestion.

1st this is a general suggestion..I won't be saying this is the only way to go(you say "her computers" but don't give any details on what its..or their..capabilities are)
but here

 

[stuman19]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: stuman19
someone must have a suggestion.

1st this is a general suggestion..I won't be saying this is the only way to go(you say "her computers" but don't give any details on what its..or their..capabilities are)
but here

Thank you, this will help.

 

[rb56]

Is this somethinng that you "want" to do yourself? Not that it is diffucult but it will take some time and effort and there is a learnig curve involved with the programs and hardware. I sure that a photo/video store in your area could do it for you.

If you do want to do it yourself any new mid to upper range computer will do what you are looking to do. Make sure you get one with a video card with Video in. Once you have it on the computer you can even use Windows Movie Maker which come with XP. And yes you will need a DVD burner.

rb56

 

[LED]

I would recommend just getting 1 Home DVD recording and transfer them over to that like a Panasonic. If she's set on a new Puter as well then a DVD writer is necessary along with a capture card and software which may will be more work

 

[foofoo]

hi,
i hate to say it but you should get her a consumer electronics dvd recorder stand alone box. the only real advantage that the computer has is that it will allow advanced editing and you know that you are going to be her tech support.
check this out
here
as an example.
if your mom is anything like mine, this will save you endless hassle and she will be happy.
good luck

 

[Tostada]

I would suggest exactly what foofoo said, except Amazon has plenty other DVD recorders with better ratings.

Converting VHS to DVD isn't that hard for your average geek (after you spend several hours reading at a good forum like doom9.org), but if your mom wants to do this herself (or if you have no desire to spend the time), you definitely just want to get a simple set-top recorder.

 

[SearchMaster]

I absolutely agree with the recommendations above. If format conversion is all that is needed, the standalone recorders will be great. Otherwise, you get into editing and such, which can be EXTREMELY time-consuming.