confused , newbie (more like overwhelmed)

[fordman37167]

i have searched the forums and the more i read the more i'm confused
i have some home movies on my computer that are avi format? ( friend got them loaded from my dvr camcorder)
i want to put them on dvd and save them. ( the dvr camcorder bit the dust, daughter dropped it)
i figured out, i need an encoder program ? , i don't
want to buy one just yet, seing how i might not like doing this, also
i have several other camcorder tapes of the kids that , i want to convert to dvd
these being on tape i'm trying to figure out how to save them to dvd

[minidv2dvd]

ahhh... a dvr is usually a digital video recorder, sort of like a vcr. camcorders use tape, dvds, memory sticks.... a make and model of the dead cam might help.

for the files on the computer now, you can find out what format they are in by using mediainfo or gspot. it may be possible to use an inexpensive all-in-one program like convertx2dvd to create your dvd with them.

to get the tapes transferred onto the computer you will need the camcorder. do you still have that one? if so list it's make and model, to get some help on how to get it done.