Where to Go to Convert VHS to DVD?

Todd

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Hi:

I have several (8, to be exact) VHS tapes (each about 30 mins
duration) that I'd like to have converted to DVD for archival reasons,
i.e., I'm afraid the content may be slowly degaussing to
nothing-but-snow.

My question is this: Where do you typically take VHS tapes to be
converted to DVD?

I see auctions on Ebay that will do the job, but I'd rather not put
the tapes in the mail. It seems to me there should be somewhere to
get this done locally...

....especially since I live in Los Angeles, media capital of the world!

However, when I look in the Yellow Pages, all I find (and I admit, I
must be looking in the wrong places) are a lot of "Post Production"
type facilities that seem to want to charge an arm and a leg for this
service, i.e., they don't cater to the general, just-a-few-tapes
public.

So:

1. Where does one typically - locally - go to convert VHS to DVD?

2. On average, about how much does this cost?

3. Does anyone have any specific recommendation in the Los Angeles
area (West San Fernando Valley)?

My tapes are fairly old, but maybe there's still time to save them!

Thanks,

Todd
www.wonderninja.com
Buy and Sell YOUR Personalized Services!
 
G

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Any small video company should be able to do it for you. Or if there's a
Wolf/Ritz Camera there, they do it. There has to be someone around with a
DVD burner. But if you really can't find anyone or they're too high, I'll
do it for $125.00, all digital and cleaned up.

--

Dave Jones
Independent Video Productions
www.vdoguy.com


"Todd" <todd@wonderninja.com> wrote in message
news:50ccb8bd.0405261502.5a95fa3@posting.google.com...
> Hi:
>
> I have several (8, to be exact) VHS tapes (each about 30 mins
> duration) that I'd like to have converted to DVD for archival reasons,
> i.e., I'm afraid the content may be slowly degaussing to
> nothing-but-snow.
>
> My question is this: Where do you typically take VHS tapes to be
> converted to DVD?
>
> I see auctions on Ebay that will do the job, but I'd rather not put
> the tapes in the mail. It seems to me there should be somewhere to
> get this done locally...
>
> ...especially since I live in Los Angeles, media capital of the world!
>
> However, when I look in the Yellow Pages, all I find (and I admit, I
> must be looking in the wrong places) are a lot of "Post Production"
> type facilities that seem to want to charge an arm and a leg for this
> service, i.e., they don't cater to the general, just-a-few-tapes
> public.
>
> So:
>
> 1. Where does one typically - locally - go to convert VHS to DVD?
>
> 2. On average, about how much does this cost?
>
> 3. Does anyone have any specific recommendation in the Los Angeles
> area (West San Fernando Valley)?
>
> My tapes are fairly old, but maybe there's still time to save them!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Todd
> www.wonderninja.com
> Buy and Sell YOUR Personalized Services!
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

If you have a PC at home you can do it yourself. Just purchase a video
capture card like Pinnacle and record the videos onto VCD/DVD using
the appropriate VCd/DVD burner/writer

the Pinnalce card will cost around 30-35$

it comes with built in software which helps you in DVD authoring.

happy recording

todd@wonderninja.com (Todd) wrote in message news:<50ccb8bd.0405261502.5a95fa3@posting.google.com>...
> Hi:
>
> I have several (8, to be exact) VHS tapes (each about 30 mins
> duration) that I'd like to have converted to DVD for archival reasons,
> i.e., I'm afraid the content may be slowly degaussing to
> nothing-but-snow.
>
> My question is this: Where do you typically take VHS tapes to be
> converted to DVD?
>
> I see auctions on Ebay that will do the job, but I'd rather not put
> the tapes in the mail. It seems to me there should be somewhere to
> get this done locally...
>
> ...especially since I live in Los Angeles, media capital of the world!
>
> However, when I look in the Yellow Pages, all I find (and I admit, I
> must be looking in the wrong places) are a lot of "Post Production"
> type facilities that seem to want to charge an arm and a leg for this
> service, i.e., they don't cater to the general, just-a-few-tapes
> public.
>
> So:
>
> 1. Where does one typically - locally - go to convert VHS to DVD?
>
> 2. On average, about how much does this cost?
>
> 3. Does anyone have any specific recommendation in the Los Angeles
> area (West San Fernando Valley)?
>
> My tapes are fairly old, but maybe there's still time to save them!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Todd
> www.wonderninja.com
> Buy and Sell YOUR Personalized Services!
 

Todd

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Hey:

Thanks for the recommendations. I struck out with Wolf and Ritz, but
I called a couple other big camera shops in L.A. and Bel Air Camera
said they can do it. Runs $39 for the first hour and $29 for each
additional hour, so for the approx. 4 hours of VHS I have, it would
run around $130, which is pretty close to what you estimated. Takes
2-3 days.

Thanks again for the heads up, I wouldn't have thought to call a
regular camera store about this.

Todd
www.wonderninja.com
Buy and Sell YOUR Personalized Services!
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Even Ritz Camera offers this at $39/49? per tape. Try that. Should be
one nearby.

Otherwise, many of the dept. stores like Walmart are starting to offer such.

Beyond that, any place like Samy's Camera should be able to do it for
you in the pro-dept. and/or refer you to places that'll do it for them.

---

Otherwise, any cheap <$80 DVD burner (see www.fatwallet.com/forums/ ->
hot deals for them) + any cheap capture device (eg. Plextor ConvertX
http://plextor.com/english/products/product_dvc.html)

or an all-in-one capture device + DVD burner
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001PFQ76/103-9855517-4794223?v=glance
HP DVD Movie Writer DC4000)

will do the job for you on as many tapes as you want to push through them.
 

Todd

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Hey:

This is something else I didn't really seriously consider. Don't you
also need a DVD burner to do this yourself?

Todd
www.wonderninja.com
Buy and Sell YOUR Personalized Services!



> technokraks@yahoo.com (technokraks) wrote in message news:
> If you have a PC at home you can do it yourself. Just purchase a video
> capture card like Pinnacle and record the videos onto VCD/DVD using
> the appropriate VCd/DVD burner/writer
>
> the Pinnalce card will cost around 30-35$
>
> it comes with built in software which helps you in DVD authoring.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Todd wrote:

> Hey:
>
> This is something else I didn't really seriously consider. Don't you
> also need a DVD burner to do this yourself?
>

Yes. But good name brand multi-format 8X burners from Sony, TDK, Pioneer can
be found at under $150, and some can be found for around $90 (the Sony drive
without software or cables).

I've been using my TV tuner card (PVR-250) to convert VHS tapes to DVD. All
the encoding is done in hardware on the board, and when the tape finishes
all I have to do is import the file into Ulead DVD Movie Factory and after
that it's maybe half an hour to finalize the files and burn the DVD. It's
pretty painless.

You can arguably get better quality by using software encoding, but from a
hassle-to-quality ratio, the hardware method has been working fine for my
purposes. Chances are, any camera store offering the service for under $50
is going to be using a real-time hardware encoder also.
 

dick

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Have you looked at YesVideo? They are available through Walgreens and
others. Put in your zip code to find outlets near you. I have used
them for 8-mm film to DVD transfers.
http://www.yesvideo.com/Code/


On 27 May 2004 10:45:25 -0700, todd@wonderninja.com (Todd) wrote:

>Hey:
>
>Thanks for the recommendations. I struck out with Wolf and Ritz, but
>I called a couple other big camera shops in L.A. and Bel Air Camera
>said they can do it. Runs $39 for the first hour and $29 for each
>additional hour, so for the approx. 4 hours of VHS I have, it would
>run around $130, which is pretty close to what you estimated. Takes
>2-3 days.
>
>Thanks again for the heads up, I wouldn't have thought to call a
>regular camera store about this.
>
>Todd
>www.wonderninja.com
>Buy and Sell YOUR Personalized Services!
 

Todd

Distinguished
Mar 24, 2001
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Hi Everyone:

Wanted to say "thanks" for all the thoughtful replies - got more and
better info than I expected!

The post about "Yes Video" (thanks Dick/Leadwinger) led me to a camera
store (Hooper Camera) that is less than 2 miles from where I live and
will do the job for less than the cost of a cheap DVD burner.

I thought (briefly) about installing a video card/DVD burner myself,
but I just bought my current computer (a fairly low-key Dell) and
didn't really want to crack it open and monkey around with warranty
questions.

Anyway, I'll be taking my tapes in soon to convert to DVD, and again,
I really appreciate the helpful response from this group.

Thanks again,

Todd
www.wonderninja.com
Buy and Sell YOUR Personalized Services!
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"Todd" <todd@wonderninja.com> wrote in message
news:50ccb8bd.0405280937.1ea0fb52@posting.google.com...
> Hi Everyone:
>
> Wanted to say "thanks" for all the thoughtful replies - got more and
> better info than I expected!
>
> The post about "Yes Video" (thanks Dick/Leadwinger) led me to a camera
> store (Hooper Camera) that is less than 2 miles from where I live and
> will do the job for less than the cost of a cheap DVD burner.
>
> I thought (briefly) about installing a video card/DVD burner myself,
> but I just bought my current computer (a fairly low-key Dell) and
> didn't really want to crack it open and monkey around with warranty
> questions.
>
> Anyway, I'll be taking my tapes in soon to convert to DVD, and again,
> I really appreciate the helpful response from this group.

One other option... Go get the LiteOn standalone DVD recorder from Compusa
for $200 after rebate and do it yourself. It will cost you a little more
but you will have a recorder afterwards that is great for copying TV shows
off cable. No PC required.
 

justin-hornick

Honorable
Jun 13, 2012
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0
10,510
Hi All,

I've seen the market rate be $20 for two hours at the smaller shops. Los Angeles Video Transfer Service in Pasadena, CA handles all the VHS to DVD tape transfers and photo scanning for archive. Give them a try, I used them and had great results. They even gave me a quantity discount for 5+.

lavideotransfer.com
626-795-3010