converting vhs to dvd; also Q about rechaptering a DVD-R

[platform]

in the past week, i've made a few back-ups of commercial vhs to DVD (these vhs are not available on DVD and are for my personal use). equipment used:
panasonic DMR-EZ475V
panasonic vcr
sima CT-2
television set to see where i'm going

i discovered by accident that chaptering automatically occurs after the DVD-R has been finalized; custom chapters can be created w/this panasonic model ONLY on DVD-RAM discs. i want a custom-chaptered DVD-R.

i also went to the local best buy & circuit city and found out that they don't carry a DVR w/ a hard drive (except online). i then spoke to a guy in best buy's computer dept. he suggested trying Pinnacle Moviebox Ultimate. don't know what version it is, but i assume it's the most recent one. he couldn't recommend Dazzle (which i understand is made by Pinnacle).

at home, i have a basic computer (HP pavillion), no DVD burner. it's maybe about 6 years old? operating system is windows Xp.

questions:
1) is it possible to somehow read the DVD-R's that i've created and create a new DVD-R that has custom chapter points? i prefer to avoid having to re-play the vhs tapes in real time
2) if so, what would be the best equipment at the most affordable price/method?

hope i provided enough info, and thanks in advance.

[mpack]

I suggest you start by replacing your DVD-ROM drive with a DVD-writer. This is very simple - just open the case, undo a few screws holding the drive in place, swap drives and change over the cables.

Before ordering your DVD drive you should open up your PC box to check if the current one is EIDE (wide flat ribbon cable, usually gray) - or SATA (cord type cable with much small connector). If it's an older PC it's almost certainly EIDE.

After that you can do everything you need using freeware tools downloaded from this site. DVD Decrypter to rip and extract the audio/video streams to your PC. You need a DVD authoring tool to reauthor (including changing the chapter markers) - I can't recommend a freebie tool for this as I don't use one, maybe someone else can recommend the right tool. Finally ImgBurn can burn the reauthored DVD for you.

You will also no doubt find that a number of software tools come bundled with your new DVD writer.

[tinker]

mpack suggestion about checking your setup is a good one.
Do that first before you buy.
As for copy existing disc. Since you made it yourself, you do not need to use Decrypter or any other ripping tool, just insert disc in your drive and use window's explorer to open and drag Video_TS folder to your hard drive, you do not need Audio it is empty.
Than you need authoring software where you can re author your DVD with chapters and chapter menus.
If you open "List-Tools" on left side of this page and than click on Authoring DVD, you will find a range of software free and payed to choose from.

[mpack]

As for copy existing disc. Since you made it yourself, you do not need to use Decrypter or any other ripping tool,

My reason for this suggestion is that DVD Decrypter also provides a convenient rip-and-demux single step procedure, as most DVD authoring tools (in my limited experience) will not accept 1GB segmented .VOBs as source assets. DVD Decrypter also logs other useful information for you, such as the correct delay to be applied to the AC3 track to maintain correct audio/video sync.

Depart from my advice at your own risk...

[mpack]

One thing I forgot to say:

When changing out an EIDE drive you will notice that there's a little jumper block on the rear of the drive where the cables are connected. One of these jumpers will be labelled M/S (Master/Slave). You need to make sure that you have the jumpers set the same way on the new drive, particularly the M/S jumper.

You may know all this already: I'm only providing this much detail because you answer "don't know" for basic questions like HDD size in the computer details part of your profile - which makes me assume that you don't concern yourself much with the innards of a PC. It's worthwhile doing some checks to get more accurate info into your profile, as this allows replies from people like me to be more closely tailored to your setup. CPU and RAM size can be found in My Computer | Properties. HDD size can be found by right clicking on the drive in Windows Explorer and selecting Properties. Graphics card: right click on desktop, select Properties+Settings tab. Etc.

[tinker]

My reason for this suggestion is that DVD Decrypter also provides a convenient rip-and-demux single step procedure

I got your point.
I just wanted to clear a misconception, sometime expressed on forums, that to copy region free, unprotected DVD, you need a ripper.