Roxio Easy VHS to DVD 3 PLUS - $39.99

A UTV007 is $10 out of china, but I really feel the extra $30 for an AIO with driver and software support is worth it. Took hours to align the freeware workflow to make menu'd DVDs that fit the disc. If you just want a giant file, the UTV works. If you want a finished dvd to give grandma get this.

Thanks OP
costco refused to convert my graduation VHS tape to DVD. They mentioned privacy issues. The private photography stores charge too much. It comes to 70$ for the graduation tape. So I still have it with me and don't want to lose it.
There is a Newer version , they look the same except for 2 bonus dvds. Do you guys see anything different? I need to convert VHS and some camcorder tapes of my kids.

sandyriver wrote: ↑ Thanks OP
costco refused to convert my graduation VHS tape to DVD. They mentioned privacy issues. The private photography stores charge too much. It comes to 70$ for the graduation tape. So I still have it with me and don't want to lose it.
There is a Newer version , they look the same except for 2 bonus dvds. Do you guys see anything different? I need to convert VHS and some camcorder tapes of my kids.

I believe they are the same, just 2 blank DVDs so the one on sale is definitely worth it. The software alone as the first poster mentioned is what makes this so value worth it. You could use any cam capture software but I find it works natively well as a package.

Bringing old memories to life, will be a nice surprise for the family.

It has been a very long time since I heard of the brand Roxio It reminds me of the days with CD-RW drives...

The main issue with this type of package is the setup and work flow. Ok for one-time conversion of one or a few videotapes, a pain if you're converting many.

Note that this unit does not have SVideo input, so you may not get the best quality from your VCR. But it's also true that many cheap units with an SVideo input cheat by using it as a regular composite input.

Scote64 wrote: ↑ The main issue with this type of package is the setup and work flow. Ok for one-time conversion of one or a few videotapes, a pain if you're converting many.

Note that this unit does not have SVideo input, so you may not get the best quality from your VCR. But it's also true that many cheap units with an SVideo input cheat by using it as a regular composite input.

It looks like it has Svideo input?

Scote64 wrote: ↑ The main issue with this type of package is the setup and work flow. Ok for one-time conversion of one or a few videotapes, a pain if you're converting many.

Note that this unit does not have SVideo input, so you may not get the best quality from your VCR. But it's also true that many cheap units with an SVideo input cheat by using it as a regular composite input.

Then what do you suggest for converting many and what’s the price premium. This product is made for home use.

Thanks for posting this OP! I've been looking for a product like this for a while and have been sitting on the fence since variety, packages, quality, and pricing run the gamut. The reviews are quite split on this product with some people saying it's garbage and didn't work for them at all and some swearing by how bulletproof this product is (with some having some rocky installation issues in the beginning). The more recent ones tend to lean towards the positive side of things. I also read in one of the questions about activation. I take it that the software requires activation to run? I understand the need for DRM and to protect their investment, but from a consumer's perspective, this is a royal pain the butt when Roxio's activation servers are taken offline which enforces a definite expiry date on their software rather than an OS incompatibility that stops the software from running.

Does anyone have any experience with this product and would this be recommended?

It's a lot cheaper and easier to just go to your local goodwill store and buy a VCR for under $10 and a DVD recorder for under $10, plug the VCR into the DVD recorder, set the recording length, and press record. That frees up your computer and you don't have to monitor anything.

jbone14 wrote: ↑ Then what do you suggest for converting many and what’s the price premium. This product is made for home use.

Slightly easier are VHS + DVDR machines that have an auto-copy function. Slap in your VHS tape and a blank DVDR and press Copy. They're obsolete and hard to find now, and the few available for retail sale online are stupidly overpriced, but an old one wouldn't cost much if you could find a secondhand unit.

Easiest is to just pay for a bulk copying service. Shop around for the cheapest price.

I've tried doing the manual copy thing with the adapter, and it works, but my patience wore out after just a few tapes. What is your time worth?

Hmm this looks tempting but not a fan of DVDs either as it’s dated tech and those dont last forever (especially DVD-R). Might be better to cobble together a DIY using some video capture device. And then re-encode that to H265/HEVC for smaller video sizes (or just upload to a private YouTube channel) and redownload the optimized versions from YT in bulk to external HDDs

Still a hassle but you dont need to mess with discs and potentially transferring them later again

What kind of capture device would you need ?

saudor wrote: ↑ Hmm this looks tempting but not a fan of DVDs either as it’s dated tech and those dont last forever (especially DVD-R). Might be better to cobble together a DIY using some video capture device. And then re-encode that to H265/HEVC for smaller video sizes (or just upload to a private YouTube channel) and redownload the optimized versions from YT in bulk to external HDDs

Still a hassle but you dont need to mess with discs and potentially transferring them later again

This is marketed as VHS to DVD but the Roxio software lets you export it as an MPEG file.


I then used Handbrake to convert and encode it into an MP4 using H.264 encoding.

I see some people mention it takes a lot of time. I disagree, I just plugged in the tape, hit record on the computer and it automatically stops when the tape is done. You export as a digital file and then can run it through Handbrake.

Bulk copy services might charge you $15-20 per tape...if it's a few tapes it might be worth it. But I have about 10 or so VHS tapes, I'm not in a rush to convert them all so I'll do a couple every weekend.

VHS to DVD? Am I back to the nineties?

I'm so old I even remember Adaptec Easy CD creator

bunyan69 wrote: ↑ I'm so old I even remember Adaptec Easy CD creator

OMG yes!!!! And Golden Hawk CDRWin!

DJ Trance AZ wrote: ↑
OMG yes!!!! And Golden Hawk CDRWin!

Cries in dreamcast (only two softwares that would image the cdi file correctly) forget the other software. Then imageBurn came along

If you have important videos that you are trying to preserve, make sure you have a half decent VCR. Here is a list:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-r ... guide.html

If you're going to be converting VHS to digital, it's a 1 time thing so might as well do the best quality transfer you possibly can then throw away the analog copies.

If you really don't care then a $10 VCR will be fine. Just mentioning this for people who might not realize that VCRs are not all equal

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