VCR tape to digital file conversion

[Maddog]

I am in the information gathering phase of trying to convert some old VCR tapes into digital format on my computer. Then I plan on downloading the digital files to USB flash drive(s) or external hard drives. We have both a VCR camcorder and a VCR tape player.

Has any of you gone down this path and if so are there recommendations you can make?

I googled it and found some information, but I am not tech savvy enough to know what is better between some options.

We decided against recording the tapes to DVD's, solely driven by the eventual demise of DVD players. Our latest computer doesn't even have a DVD bay.

Thanks

 

[scrotcaster]

I think there are some companies where you can send them to and they will do it for you for not that much. or atleast there use to be.

 

[risingsun]

I think there are some companies where you can send them to and they will do it for you for not that much. or atleast there use to be.

They prefer to keep the bedroom frolicking private.

 

[espringers]

this ^^^ just send em in. or else you could find an old machine that converts VHS to DVD and then take the information off said DVD onto an external hard drive 1 TB drives are practically free these days. the latter is pretty simple too. but, ya need to find an old machine. ramsey photo in DL might still do that kind of thing for you.

 

[Browneye]

I am very interested in what has worked for people as well. Been trying to get this done for years. years back I bought a vhs to dvd burner and with several attempts using several different types of dvds have not been able to get it to work. And I have found the online companies to be very expensive. Legacy box and another one I checked out looked to me like it could end up being $300 to 400 for the transfer service easy. Have done alot of online research and ones you can buy on amazon that are basically a set of wires to run from your vcr adapted to plug into your computer and a software program but the online reviews for most all of them are horrible. Unless your super tech savvy there seems to be always probems missing windows drivers that you need to download and people cant get them to work or video works but wonky sound. If anyone has a surefire easy to use device they have used please let me know. I have family videos on vhs that are going on 30 years and if they aren't already degraded I'm sure soon will be.

 

[Vollmer]

Amazon product

^ these work pretty dang well, I thought. We captured some videos from the wifes High School bball days.

 

[riverview]

wife had vhs tapes put on dvd quite a few years ago in grand forks.

 

[Maddog]

I am very interested in what has worked for people as well. Been trying to get this done for years. years back I bought a vhs to dvd burner and with several attempts using several different types of dvds have not been able to get it to work. And I have found the online companies to be very expensive. Legacy box and another one I checked out looked to me like it could end up being $300 to 400 for the transfer service easy. Have done alot of online research and ones you can buy on amazon that are basically a set of wires to run from your vcr adapted to plug into your computer and a software program but the online reviews for most all of them are horrible. Unless your super tech savvy there seems to be always probems missing windows drivers that you need to download and people cant get them to work or video works but wonky sound. If anyone has a surefire easy to use device they have used please let me know. I have family videos on vhs that are going on 30 years and if they aren't already degraded I'm sure soon will be.

Thanks for your comments. Similar to what I have read. I will keep you posted. My wife will keep me going on this. LOL One possible solution that I found had a low cost "cable/adapter" around $25 which sounds like the total cost. ?? But not sure. I don't want to mail them in and have them done as the cost seems high. But perhaps that is where we will end up. ?? I need to talk to my "computer" friend and get his take on all of this.

 

[Maddog]

Amazon product

^ these work pretty dang well, I thought. We captured some videos from the wifes High School bball days.

Thanks! This looks more promising. More investigating . . .

 

[Browneye]

Amazon product

^ these work pretty dang well, I thought. We captured some videos from the wifes High School bball days.

I have seen those and glad to hear they work good but you have to remember, You have designed your own website. LOL Do you think that would reasonable easy to use for someone not quite as tech savvy as yourself?

 

[zoops]

Once you get them converted you might be able to upload them to a cloud-based service; I've used Google drive for some fairly large videos with no issues. Or you could put them on YouTube and make them private. No expert but could be a good backup in case a hard drive goes bad, etc.

 

[Vollmer]

I have seen those and glad to hear they work good but you have to remember, You have designed your own website. LOL Do you think that would reasonable easy to use for someone not quite as tech savvy as yourself?

I can’t think of an easier way to do it, but a little bit of tech savy might be needed.

 

[ORCUS DEMENS]

There are several video adapters/dvr available for pc's. I had one that went into one of the card slots. Worked as a tuner and DVR. Converted the old VCR tapes and got rid of them. I think it put them in MP4 format. This is similar to what I had.
https://computer-hardware.wonderhowto.com/how-to/make-dvr-from-old-computer-196865/