Mac or PC for recording vhs to dvd?

[bluey61]

Hi,

I would like to get set up to convert some videotapes to dvd and spurce them up.
I am confused which way to go. My current system isn't good enough and I realize I need to invest in a new, more powerful computer. These are my options maybe someone can advise:

APPLE EMAC SUPERDRIVE
800MHz PowerPC G4, 256MB, SDRAM, 60GB, ULTRA ATA Drive, CD-RW/DVD-R (Pioneer A05 drive) Geforce2 MX
Comes with basic software iLIFE (iMovie3, iDVD3 ect)
This costs around $2700 aust (about $1400 US)

or
AMD ANNIHILATOR
AMD 2400XP CPU, 1024MB RAM, 80GB HDD, DVD burner (Richoh)
64mb VGA
I do not think this comes with any software and I can change the burner to Pioneer at an additional cost (not much)
This costs around $1800 aust (about $900 US)

Whilst I have heard the Apple is very good at editing and recording footage
I understand the software options are not cheap.
The PC based system is very attractive however I am worried about the sync problems I believe are mainly a windows based problem (Please correct if I am wrong)

I have received advise from a few people who unfortunately do not edit or have any way or experience to do this. Some say go the Mac option others say PC has caught up and their are some great programmes out there to work with.

My request is to have something reasonably simple but effective to record vhs to dvd as I plan to spend a lot of time (and hopefully enjoyment) making my own dvd's.

Any help as to which way to go would be very greatly appreciated.

Regards
bluey

[xsbs52x]

well, i think it is really a matter of opinion. are you using a PC now? or a MAC? have you used both and can you easily use both? I use the PC, but i have a lot of experience with this kind of thing. macs com with firewire ports, so you could do DV in easier than you could on a PC, but you are using vhs, so dv is not right for you. You could invest about a 100 - 200 dollars in a nice capture card for a PC and tou could connect a vcr to it using S-video. that is exccellect quality; just capture using 640x480 resolution and a loss less codec such as huffyuv, or maybe your capture card will come with its own codec to capture with. you could purches iuVCR for not too much on the PC so you could use that capture card. There are plenty of guides out there on capturing. Instead of buying iuVCR, I'm sure a capture card would come with its own, much simpler, software. On a mac, it would be harder to get your vhs onto the computer for editing because input they use is firewire, but you want to record from a vhs tape, not digital video. macs come with iMOVE and other stuff to burn DVDs and most come with dvd burners. i dont think PCs come standard with them...yet. If you do get a PC, you could dig out a little more cash and buy adobe premiere to do your editing, its a great program. And you probobly will need to buy a DVD burner, but that will come with all the software you need to burn them, add titles and menus, and you can even add multiple video clips to one dvd. if you get a pc (which i suggest, but that just may be because i own one and hate macs), you will have to pay a little more for that software and hardware, but the PC is 500 dollars cheaper than the mac anyway, so in the end you will have spent the about the same as you would have on a mac, but saved yourself some aggervation in trying to get the movie to the computer.

[Gil T Pleasure]

For the fastest, simpliest and easiest way of transferring VHS tapes to DVD, get a standalone DVD recorder.

[bluey61]

Hi xsbs52x,
Thanks very much indeed for your input. I still haven't decided with way to go. I hope to do a trial disc at an APPLE CENTRE here then maybe see what happens.

I have been following the saga with the imovie 3 software which is a worry although this mainly seems to be a problem with transfering dv
to the hardrive. My main intention is to copy dvdr footage onto the hardrive then "play around with it"

Also thanks to GIL for the advise regarding dvdr standalone recorders.
I have a friend who has one and at the moment that is what I have been using. You are right it is the easiest wy to do it although the editing programme is very basic.


Thanks
bluey61

[txpharoah]

For the fastest, simpliest and easiest way of transferring VHS tapes to DVD, get a standalone DVD recorder.

It may be simple, but you have no editing options and no real quality control beyond the few options given to you. Not to mention the lack of DVD authoring control.

Now onto the original poster:

FYI: You failed to get a capture card in those setups. Hard to put VHS onto DVD without one of those.

For SIMPLE VHS->DVD conversion, I always suggest a PC with a P4 (better than AMD+ for video, as a P4 has SSE, and AMD+ doesn't) and an ATI card. Get RDRAM if you have the money, or DDR or SDRAM if you don't.

The Mac systems are nice, and often better than PC, but pricey. You'll need a good card, and Matrox RTmac is one of the few cards I know of for consumers, PC cards fall in much cheaper.

I got a P4 1.7, ATI 7500 card, 80gig HD, DVD-R 4x Cendyne, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, all for $600 after about 200 in rebates. (I already had a monitor and mouse/keyboard). Add some software for a few hundred more, and you're set. I built it from Fry's electronics sales in January. You can just walk into the store and have a guy show you what to get and how to build it. Was simple.

Also, read the VHS->DVD guide below for info on transferring tapes.

[LanEvo7]

I'd suggest you go with a PC. I don't know why people would recommend a mac because it is a FACT that a PC of the same price is faster than a Mac at the same price, whoever tells you otherwise just doesn't want to face reality. You can do very good video editing on PC. Some say the operating system is more stable, but then there are also people who say its crap. Either way, I use win xp and it crashes very seldomly. If your willing to spend $1400, you can get a pretty good build. Do you know how to put a computer together? You can get all your parts at www.newegg.com. If not, you can find a company that can customize a computer for you at a price thats a little bit higher. AMD or P4 doesn't really matter. The only thing that p4 has over AMD is SSE2 and it doesn't help in all applications. AMD has its own optimizations.