ldsant

I did a search (using keywords VHS - DVD) and nothing appeared. I'm looking to have somebody take all of my VHS tapes and transfer them into DVDs. I'd like separate DVDs for each VHS tape. Has anybody had this done and can you recommend a reliable, excellent quality place that does this? Any indicators re: pricing? Thanks! If it matters, I have approximately 30 tapes that I'm looking to have transferred to DVD.

Somewhere Over the Atlantic

Believe it or not, I've had reasonable transfers performed at local WalMart photo centers, including PAL-to-NTSC. As far as I can recall, it was ~$20/transfer. YMMV...

ldsant

Thanks but I'm searching for something that might provide a bit "higher" quality since some of the videos are work-related. Any other suggestions?

myfrogger

The process of converting a VHS tape to a DVD is very, very simple. You could do it with a $15 piece of technology. There is not really going to be a "higher quality" way to do it because VHS quality is already way below DVD quality. There really isn't anything you can do to make the quality better if you have a poor source.

What I think you may be trying to say by "better quality" is that you want a DVD menu and chapter structure created on the DVDs. Is that right? This is quite a bit more difficult as it takes someone manually going through each and every tape and adding the chapters. There are some software programs that do a decent job of "auto selecting" scenes but it still takes a considerable amount of extra time vs. just copying the VHS.

If you play a DVD, most all DVD players will start the DVD playback from the beginning. If you're used to starting a VHS tape in the middle of the tape and then rewinding it partway, having DVD chapters is the best way to go. If you're watching the movie playback beginning to end, it's not as big of deal if you have chapters.

There are all sorts of things one can do with the menu feature...As much or as little as your imagination desires.


I've found that a lot of local photo shops have the capability to do what you're looking for. If these VHS tapes are irreplaceable, I would be very hesitant to send them anywhere. That's why I would prefer to do the conversion myself.

I would assume that basic VHS to DVD transfer would be $20-30. Adding a chapter system with simple menu, $40-80 more. Adding a complex menu system, $20+ more.

UAVirgin

I have used Yesvideo in the past and was very pleased with the results.

BLI-Flyer

If you have a lot of tapes, wouldn't it be less expensive for you to just purchase a unit that has a VHS and DVR built in so you can do it yourself? Just do a search on Amazon for "VHS DVR," they have units for $135 - $390. 30 tapes at $15 - 20 each would buy you the high end unit with money to spare.

ScottC

I concur with the "diy" solution. Sending out tapes means you are trusting someone else not to screw up (or lose them).

These $100 VHS/DVD recorders almost all do one-touch copies and all you'd need is a stack of blank DVD's.

Random_Flyer

That isn't entirely true. There are many things that can be done to improve the quality of a VHS -> DVD transfer beyond what a basic DVD/VHS unit can do. Without even going into the menu/chapter options, how you handle the initial encode, dealing with interlace frames, cleaning video noise, converting audio, fixing an improper time signal, etc. can all make a noticeable difference.

Like anything else, you get what you pay for. If these aren't important videos and the original VHS quality is relatively high, then simply using a machine or sending them along to a generic transfer service (which is just going to use a machine to do it anyway) is easy enough.

But if this is an older tape or one that is irreplaceable you'll want to have the conversion done manually so that the maximum amount of visual data can be preserved. The end results are going to be better, but you're also going to pay more than $20/tape for this. Of course, once you have a DVD master it's incredibly easy to make duplicates of said disc.

ldsant

Thanks everybody for your suggestions! What's ironic/funny is that this same exact question came up at work this week by a colleague - pointed him directly to this forum

BLI-Flyer

So what did you decide to do?

Non-NonRev

OK, I have a challenge for the Travel/Technology gurus (guri)?

How about a service that will repair BETA tapes and them transfer them to DVD? I've been looking for this one for a lonnnnng time

Thanks for your help!

ScottC

What kind of repairs?

Non-NonRev

The tape (a 1979 off-the-air live television broadcast) is physically broken about halfway through.

Justme123456

http://www.transfermyhomevideos.com A co-worker used this service. The turn around (about 30 days from start to finish) was reasonable and the price, too.

ldsant

I took the advice of this group and purchased the Sony VHS-DVD machine. Also converts my photos to DVD as well. It does it in real-time e.g., when I put it in the VCR and connect it starts burning to the DVD. Thanks again for everybody's help!

BTW - this definitely was a MUCH more cost-effective solution - $186 at costco.com