Options for equipment for video 8 tapes?

[737mechanic]

Hi,

I have about 20 home videos on video 8 tapes that were captured using a Sony CCD-F401 camcorder and I want to transfer these tapes to my hard drive. The camcorder does not work anymore so I need to know what my best option would be. I have thought about sending them out to a company that does this which might be the best thing to do but if I can buy a player or camcorder and do the job myself I would much rather do that.

My question is what is the best equipment to buy from eBay or elsewhere that has a solid reputation? Camcorder, player or whatever equipment.

BTW I also have a JVC DV camcorder with Firewire and finished transferring to digital about 40 home videos and that was a nice experience but. I used powerdirector and that made the transfer very easy and perfect.