Best VHS to DVD/XVid stand alone?

[Unikfreak]

So I finally decided to transfer my entire tape collection to DVD. However, using my computer and my Matrox Xtreme Pro 100 capture card, it's going to take forever so I'm looking to invest in a VHS-DVD stand alone recorder that can do on the fly VHS to DVD capture with little hassle and the best possible quality from analog to digital. I've looked at a lot of models but honestly, I'm way over my head, even with the ratings. And since my request is quite specific, I don't want a model that will output to HD or any bells and whistle that I might not find useful. The quality is the most important feature since all the tapes I will export ARE NOT available in DVDs. I've already bought my VHS movies in DVD's years ago so all that's left is stuff that aren't available on DVD or if they are, have been modify and trim heavily (ie I have a lot of sports games that I want to keep)

Please let me know if you need more informations.

Thanks!

[trhouse]

If you are trying to copy copyright protected tapes to dvd, then there is only one brand of combo that I know of that can do it, Panasonic. Panasonic combos allow hardware like a TBC to be inserted between the VHS/DVD output and the DVD inputs like IN1. Cards do not have the copy protection required of DVD recorders.

It is more difficult using a combo than separates to do this but if you do not have the space it works.

[Unikfreak]

Thanks for your answer but there's no tape in that bunch that is copyright protected. So I guess that leaves me with a wider (too wide imo) range of choices.

[trhouse]

The only combo capable of recording seamlessly to dvd+r DL is the LG RC797T. Every other combo I have tested has a glitch at the layer change including the newest Panasonics.

Some including the older Panasonics ( DMR-ES30, ES35, ES40 ) have flexible recording mode so you can fit the VHS tape to the dvd. The new Panasonics ( DMR-EZ37V, EZ47V ) can do it from external sources but not the internal VCR direct to dvd which seems silly.

JVC's have the flexible recording and have industrial strength noise filtering if your tapes are noisy but they are harder to find these days.

[Unikfreak]

Some including the older Panasonics ( DMR-ES30, ES35, ES40 ) have flexible recording mode so you can fit the VHS tape to the dvd. The new Panasonics ( DMR-EZ37V, EZ47V ) can do it from external sources but not the internal VCR direct to dvd which seems silly.

I've checked both the DMR EZ37V & EZ47V and both seems to support the internal VCR to DVD recording, unless I'm missing something. Also, from some reviews, it looks like the EZ47V is actually capable of making your tape look a little bit better. It got a pretty good note in the VHS to DVD transfer but was awful in converting to 1080p which I will not use so it doesn't really matter since my HDTV only does 720p. Also, I've always like Panasonic, I got all my VCRs from them and never had any problems.

JVC's have the flexible recording and have industrial strength noise filtering if your tapes are noisy but they are harder to find these days.

What do you think of this model JVC DR-MV78B? There's not a lot of comments about it around the web.

[trhouse]

What is missing is this. The DMR-ES30V, 35V, 40V, 45V, and 46V combos could all record directly from the VCR to the DVD in flexible recording mode. This mode allows you to tell the recorder that your tape is, for example, one hour and 10 minutes long. The recorder will adjust the bitrate so that the one hour and ten minute tape fills the dvd.

The EZ37 and EZ47 have lost this feature. They can only record from the internal VCR to DVD in XP, SP, etc modes. This means the one hour and ten minute tape would have to be recorded in SP ( 2 hour ) mode leaving 50 minutes of space left over on the dvd and the one hour and ten minutes would be recorded at a lower bitrate than necessary. That was a bit disappointing. The EZ37 and EZ47 do have flexible recording mode but only for the external inputs. The EZ37V was tested on this thread,

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic279460.html

I have not tested a JVC combo, so I cannot really speak for how well it works. I have tested two JVC DR-M10's. The only problem I see with these units is that they were set up for IRE=0 where VHS is IRE=7.5. The IRE numbers represent what the device thinks is black. Since the M10's think that IRE=0 is black and VHS thinks black is 7.5, then VHS never goes down to IRE=0. The result is that JVC recordings of VHS look sort of light. JVC's do not have IRE adjustments. The Panasonics allow either IRE=0 or 7.5 so you need to be careful that you have it set up right.

I think you might be confusing the ES45V and the EZ47V reviews. Cnet said the ES45V had bad upconversion but that the EZ47V has good upconversion.

http://yahoo-ssp-cnet.com.com/video-players-and-recorders/panasonic-dmr-ez47vk/4505-64...?tag=b_readful

http://reviews.cnet.com/dvd-vcr-combos/panasonic-dmr-es45v-dvd/4505-6505_7-31850677.htmll

[Unikfreak]

Well, would it be more simple not to buy a combo and just hook my old VCR on a high end DVD Recorder? Or would I be losing more in terms of transfer quality?

Btw, thanks for all your answers. They're really helpful.

[trhouse]

Combo manufacturer's mention that transferring internally from VCR to DVD avoids having to create composite outputs which the dvd recorder accepts then has to change back to another form to record. There may be something to this argument although I cannot say that I have seen this to be true.

Separates are more flexible and I do use them for troublesome tapes. That said, I do most transfers with a combo because most tapes do not have problems requiring TBC's, color correctors, process amplifiers, etc. Combos can make the work go a lot faster since they are one touch solutions.

I would suggest, go separates if you have a lot of tapes with problems and combo if you have good tapes with an occasional troublesome one. The combo will accept external VCR inputs just like a separate.

[FredGarvin]

What is missing is this. The DMR-ES30V, 35V, 40V, 45V, and 46V combos could all record directly from the VCR to the DVD in flexible recording mode. This mode allows you to tell the recorder that your tape is, for example, one hour and 10 minutes long. The recorder will adjust the bitrate so that the one hour and ten minute tape fills the dvd.

I'm in the market for my first combo unit, and this is good to know. I will definitely shop for one of the flex mode models. I am primarily needing a unit to copy my old VHS tapes to DVD. The tapes are not of movies or TV programs, but stuff I shot myself on a full-size VHS Quasar camcorder.

Reviews I have read of various units also mention that they seem to clean up or improve the quality of the VHS video. Is that just wishful thinking, or are there units truly capable of doing this?

Another point I've seen in many reviews is the fact that a lot of units have trouble copying, particularly in one-touch mode, if the tape has gaps or snow in between scenes, causing the copy session to end prematurely. Is there a unit you know of that offers more manual control of the copying process, allowing me to pause the recording and scan forward to a new spot on the tape where I want the copying to resume?

Thanks for your help!

Fred

[jjeff]

I have a ES-30(several year old) Panasonic which I have made many VHS copies with. It has a VHS and DVDR in one. Note while I have used this setup for copying tapes, I actually prefer to use a standalone VCR and feed the ES-30. I find it easier to have 2 remotes, instead of trying to juggle everything with one remote, and remember what device I last paused etc.
Now Panasonic has a couple new EZ series DVDR's w/VHS's but I have also read about the DVDR going into pause mode when the tape hits a blank spot. Not sure if there's a workaround for this, but what I do on my ES-30 is to play the VHS, then record from the TP input on the DVDR. I don't use the one button copy, that may be the problem on the EZ series machine. I would want to make sure you can do the manual copy method on the EZ machines before purchasing one. But again what I would do is to use a separate VHS to feed a DVDR only. It would probably be cheaper and definatly more handy than the combo unit.
And yes, the copies of VHS's that I've made seem to look better than the original. Note I believe other people think JVC's seem to do about the best job of cleaning up VHS's, but I don't believe they still produce a DVDR of the quality they used to and I tried looking for a new JVC DVDR a while back, but came up empty handed.