Our last VCR just died. We have a lot of VHS tapes (home videos and stuff taped off the TV over the years) that I need to convert to DVD. I would like to buy a combo unit to record the tapes onto DVDs.

Looking at online reviews of many different units from different manufacturers, I have never seen such a variance in the reviews for each unit. Many have large numbers of "5-star" ratings and also large numbers of "1-star" ratings. The same unit will be praised by many and also denounced by many. Expensive units often fare no better than "off-brand" units.

Also, it seems that many of the units died just out of warranty or suffered from software glitches that locked up the units, requiring a call to the manufacturers help line to find out the hidden reset procedure.

Does anyone have a combo unit they can recommend based on personal experience?

Thanks
Steve

 

I'm not sure they do make a good one. I have 3 different brands and they are all junk. None of mine can record from VHF to DVD and they are all over 3 years old.

 

My dad has 2. A Brocksonic and a Sony. The DVDs the B.S. makes only play in it and not on any other player. The Sony works fine. I'll ask him for more info tonight.

 

You can buy them now with a DVD burner build in to record direct from VHF, but I have not used any of them. THe VHF tapes I have are fine for now, and if I wanted them on DVD, I would just burn DVD to DVD on my computer.....

 

I get better results using a VCR to a video input card on the computer, much more control over the results, then burn to a DVD. I usually compress them too, but then only plays back on a computer.

 

yeah, getting the device to put the tapes in to your computer first and then burn to dvd is the way to go. Much more control. Plus, you can take all of the video files you made, put them all on an external hard drive and then keep that in a safe place. Just in case something ever happens to the dvds.

Just don't expect the quality to be that good.

 

Sony RDR-VX525 is what I have. It works fine for that purpose with direct sync dubbing button to VHS to DVD with one touch. Quality will depend on your VHS quality, but overall satisfied.

Steve

 

Phillips makes a machine that has a hard drive in it. You can rip the VHS to the hard drive, edit, and remaster to DVD-RW. It also has an ATSC/QAM tuner so you can use it as a DVR too.

 

I also have the same Sony RDR-VX525, have done over 150 VHS to DVD. The one thing you have to do, or your SOL on any other player is to make sure you finalize the DVD when done recording. Very happy with the unit. Good luck.

 

I bought a Panasonic that is a DVD recorder, VHS recorder, and has a SD slot to transfer video to your computer. Unfortunately, it's in for service work for the second time in 6 months. Something happens which causes it to not want to turn on. It's been in the mail more than in my living room.

Go to ZDnet.com to find reviews on all types of electronic equipment. I refer to it all the time. I don't recall if they recommended the Panasonic or not.