? VCR/DVD set top combo players

[rotuts]

Hello
Has anybody tried the new VCR-DVD set top box combo players that various manufactures make, that suposedly make DVDs from your old VCR tapes?

a local Quaker group may get one to make DVDs from there old VCR tapes of various meetings.

Ive made some of these for them trough my Mac, ie VCR >> Canon digital movie camera >> iMovie >> simple edit >> QT movie or >>iDVD >> DVD.

since it take my dual G4 4 hours to iMovie >> iDVD, how do these stand alone contraptions work? id their DVD output 'lower grade' than though a computer if its faster than this?

do the boxes have a mystrey 'supercomputer' in them that no one talks about?

Id hate for the Quakers to get someting that then makes infierior stuff.

thanks rotut

[Frobozz]

I suggest that anyone considering these combination units read the user reports in the DVD Recorders section of this site. The manufacturers seem to think such consumers are interested in the lower-end of quality.

I have a Pioneer standalone recorder that combines a hard drive with a DVD recorder. This is very nice for making DVDs from tapes, laser discs and TV programs. It also has a DV input that can make a DVD directly from iMovie in real time.

If they already have a decent VCR then I suggest avoiding the combination units and getting a good-quality DVD recorder.

[Mark V]

I just bought a Panasonic DMR-E85H and it works great. I have been backing up my old Out Of Print VHS tapes on it and they look great.

Mark V