Need to back up VHS tapes

[Harsky]

At the request of family, I'm tasked with having to backup several camcorder tapes to be preserved so that future generations can see me with horrible 90's fashion. At the moment, the only thing I can think of is getting a cheap DVD-recorder and then using that to backup the VHS to DVD but what about the AV devices that connects to the PC? Is there any recommended brand for one of those?

 

[Foppzter]

It exist tons of cheap USB devices that lets you connect a analog TV signal (and sound) to your PC.
I'm using a Terratec Grabster AV 250 MX that works perfect.

 

[Urza]

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=100490

 

[shaunj66]

Besides getting a tuner card, I remember once seeing a VHS player that has a USB output (basically a tv-in/out card) with software that converts it to AVI. About £75 I think it was.

But your best bet is probably just to send the tapes off to someone to convert them, online or in the high street. Should be less expensive than buying all the parts you need to do it yourself. And you will probably get a much more professional looking conversion.

 

[Harsky]

Besides getting a tuner card, I remember once seeing a VHS player that has a USB output (basically a tv-in/out card) with software that converts it to AVI. About £75 I think it was.

But your best bet is probably just to send the tapes off to someone to convert them, online or in the high street. Should be less expensive than buying all the parts you need to do it yourself. And you will probably get a much more professional looking conversion.

In the space of me typing the topic, my mum just dropped off a bag full of camcorder recording. At a glance, there was about 40 with more to come. We have a big family so it's filled with tons of, "first birthdays, christmas, family gathering" etc. I see these type of things on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-2-0-VIDEO-AUDIO-...id=p3286.c0.m14

Although cheap I realise that I don't want to thrift on quality just for the sake of price. Would those dedicated VHS to DVD recorder decks be better?