vhs

Death of The Video Rental Store

Death of Video Rental A few weeks ago, I was sitting at a traffic light by the Hollywood Video store near my home and glanced over at the empty parking lot. This was not an unusual sight because for years the parking lot at the Hollywood Video was always empty. But looking a bit closer, I realized the space was being gutted and prepped for an upcoming Advanced Auto Parts store. The Hollywood Video store was gone for good.

To be honest, I have not entered a video rental store in probably 10 years. But, I still felt a bit sad and nostalgic for all those Friday and Saturday nights back in the early 1990’s that I spent in the video store perusing the shelves for the newest flick with my boyfriend (who is now my wonderful husband). Rows and rows of videotapes, which eventually changed over to DVDs, were all lined up right at our fingertips. We really enjoyed going to the video store.

But then my husband and I stopped going to the video rental store. And it looks like everyone else stopped going too.

One-Button VHS to DVD Converter

vhs to dvd converterHere’s another VHS to DVD converter that’s an all-in-one unit being sold at Hammacher. It’s a one-touch system – stick in the VHS tape, and a blank DVD and press a button for conversion.

This also includes a built-in HDTV tuner so you can record from your TV/cable/satellite as well. It can also read and convert DV/Digital8 camcorder videocassettes. Includes an HDMI output.

A bit pricier than the other hardware/software options, but you may prefer the easier learning curve.

Buy now!
Price: $349.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Honestech VHS to DVD 4.0 – transfer VHS video tapes to DVD

We reviewed Honestech’s VHS to DVD 3.0 product in depth last year and found a top-class product that quickly pays for itself if you have any amount of analog media to save. Well now, Honestech (Honest Technology) has an updated version, VHS to DVD 4.0 Deluxe.

The gist of the product is still the same: it has an A-to-D (analog to digital) converter box that attached to the your computer via USB 2.0. It accepts inputs via 3 RCA cables (1 video, 2 audio) and/or S-Video. This also means that this device is not just about VHS, but can handle pretty much any audio and/or video input that you can push out via one of those cable types. So get those VHS tapes out of mothballs and transfer them today!

In case you were considering v3.0, here’s (just some of) what you can find new in v4.0:

  • HDV camcorder as input
  • 16:9 widescreen
  • HD editing
  • Burn to Blu-Ray DVDs
  • Chapter menus
  • Higher resolutions up to 1920×1080
  • Handles WMA audio
  • Upload to YouTube

Buy now! (Price: $50)

(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

And if you’re looking for other possible VHS to DVD converters beside this one, take a look at our article with 3 other products or our article covering 2 all-in-one units.

VHS2DVD Wizard – Converts VHS to DVD

VHS2DVD Wizard

VHS2DVD Wizard is another competitor in the VHS to DVD conversion market. It presents a simple and tidy way to transfer your VHS video tapes to DVDs. Sure it might not have the same features as some of the other competitors (round up) but it does it cheaper and perhaps with less hassle.

Plug in the 2 video cables to connect your PC via USB to your VHS player, install the software and simply hit play on your VCR. The software will capture it as it is playing and allow you to edit unwanted sections out at the end (such as ads) before finally burning it to DVD, or simply saving it on your computer for future viewings. The price ($50) is very similar to that of Honestech’s VHS to DVD Deluxe (which we’ve tested and reviewed in depth), but keep in mind that the Honestech product doesn’t care whether its VCR or any other analog source (audio and/or video) as long as it has RCA output jacks.

Buy now!

Price: $49.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

4 Top VHS To DVD Converters

VHS to DVD Conversion

I recently got rid of all my VHS tapes, simply because I decided there were only 4 or 5 worth keeping, and I might as well just buy them on DVD if I ever wanted to watch them again, but what if you have hundreds of VHS tapes that you don’t want to throw away? How do you convert those VHS tapes to DVD? Well, over the years we have featured a few solutions that will allow you to copy your VHS tapes to DVDs for a fraction of the cost of buying new ones. Here’s our Top 4 countdown:

Analog to Digital Converters – Round Up

Slide and Negative to Digital Converter

Here we have a furious round up of some of the many analog to digital converters we’ve featured over the years to persuade you to digitize your precious analog collections of audio cassettes, vinyl records, photographs, slides/negatives and VHS tapes. Let’s go!

Audio Cassettes

With CDs looking like they’re being overtaken by new performance discs and music simply being downloaded and stored on computers, it’s amazing that some people still have audio cassettes – we’ve said our goodbyes, now it’s your turn. The Ion Tape2PC USB Cassette Deck lets you do that by sticking your tape into the slot and transferring it to your computer in MP3 format. Audacity and EZ Tape software suites are included to make make everything run smoothly and is compatible with PC and Mac.

Buy now! – $125

Slides, negatives, photographs, vinyl records and VHS tape still to come. Read on.

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