Converting VHS to DVD and need some suggestions

[cucucachu0000]

I'm converting some old VHS tapes to DVD or atleast putting them on a hard drive. i was looking for a tv tuner for my computer anyway and ive seen some that you can do both. i was wondering if anybody has any recomendations for something in this category?

Im looking for something that fit in either a pci x8 or x1 (will there be any difference in quality?) i have two of each and im not sure if i'll ever have any other uses for them. Also i wanted something that got both the new over the air HD channel and digital cable. While also being able to connect to my vcr to convert my vhs. and something thats easy to setup and works with windows media center on vista 64 bit.

I hope im not asking to much im just looking for any good experiences or if you heard anything good about a product.

 

[Adhoc]

If you have a vcr, you could use something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815144028

 

[cucucachu0000]

yea i have a vcr but i know they have the same thing except it is a combonation of a tv tuner and one of those that plugs right into a pci slot. theres so many of them im not sure which one im gonna go with

 

[Old Thrashbarg]

First of all, what sort of videos are you wanting to convert? If you're thinking of doing commercial tapes, it's going to influence your hardware options, since you'll have copy protection to contend with. I have an ancient first-generation Hauppauge WinTV card which doesn't seem to care much about such things, and it does decent quality captures with the BTWincap drivers and Virtualdub. I use it when I want to rip something to Divx or whatever.

Honestly, though, my best results in VHS->DVD conversion don't involve a computer at all. I run VCR->timebase corrector (which gets rid of some horizontal wavyness and strips the Macrovision)->proc amp (for color and contrast correction)->a cheap standalone DVD recorder. Any adjustments are done completely on-the-fly, so there's no waiting for stuff to encode... just play with knobs until it looks good, hit 'record', and wander off for however long the video is.

If you're not too picky about getting the absolute best quality, you can forego the TBC and just get a proc amp with a stabilizer built-in. Something like a Sima SCC-2 would do well, they pop up on eBay from time to time, and seem to run $50-75.

 

[cucucachu0000]

thanks ill check that stuff out. im just doing some home videos of me as a baby and stuff and i was kinda looking more for a combo tv card just because i plan on getting one anyway id rather get it all in one, plus im not too worried about quality as long as i can see faces and hear voices.

 

[Old Thrashbarg]

Ah, ok. Well in that case, pretty much any TV card with an S-Video or composite input will probably be acceptable, so I'd say you should focus more on the features you want for using it as a TV card. And sorry I can't help you there, but like I said, I only have a 10-year-old Hauppauge card, and I don't use it for TV tuning.