Using a standalone DVR to copy VHS to DVD

[JonB]

I looked at a few other forum topics and this seemed best, so here goes.

I have a need at work to transfer a lot of old VHS and BETA tapes to DVD to preserve them. I have all the equipment needed to do it manually, but it is a PITA.

Time (my time) and Quality are the major concerns, not cost.

I've looked at some of the new TiVo DVRs (the ones with hard drives) and they look like I could easily just connect a VHS deck to the back, press Play, and record either to the HD or directly to the DVD. I know some will record on DVD-RAM format, but I need it to be playable in a normal DVD player.

Anybody tried this? I just want to put the two units side by side, drop in a tape, drop in a DVD-R or DVD+R or even RW, press GO and come back later.

Also, if you have done this and can recommend a unit, how long does it take to process a 10 minute clip? Real-Time? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? and how was quality?

JonB

 

[frogster220]

I've used my replay to convert VHS movies. It converts in real time, then you have to transfer it to a PC, convert the mpeg (NOT Re-encode though), and burn to a DVD.

DVD-R media can be problematic. Some burn fine, but then have read errors. Some work on some players but not on others. Also, data retention lifetimes are unknown. Some people have reported disks being unreadable after a year.

 

[Slick5150]

I've done this many times using a ReplayTV 5504 unit. I hook the VCR up to it, hit play and hit record on the Replay. After its done, I use a program called DVArchive to download the recording onto my PC (it'll be an MPEG 2 file). You can then load that into DVD authoring software on your PC, add any chapter stops you want or do whatever other editing you want to do, and burn it to the DVD). Pretty simple.

 

[JonB]

You can then load that into DVD authoring software on your PC, add any chapter stops you want or do whatever other editing you want to do, and burn it to the DVD). Pretty simple.

This is what I want to avoid. I can already do this, but it ties up my PC completely while I do it.
I have almost 100 old company videos to archive. (training stuff mostly)

Chapter points aren't important. It will be pretty much one tape per DVD with no concern for "filling up the disk to save money."

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

You can get a standalone DVD recorder then...it will do exactly what you want. Some were on sale a couple weeks ago for nuder $200.

Or see how much it would cost for a lab to do it.

 

[JonB]

I think we've settled on the Pioneer 510-H.

The signle pass hardware mpeg-2 encoding isn't as good as using a PC and TMPGEnc's two-pass VBR (or Ligos), but it is definitely a hands-off machine for simple transfer.