Can anyone recommend a cheap and simple gadget to transfer VHS cassette tapes into .mpg files via a laptop?
I don't think people have understood my question - I DON'T want to transfer home movies from a camcorder, I want to copy some VHS cassette tapes of things like school plays etc onto my laptop in .mpg format.
I currently store all my .mpgs on a 250GB external hard drive. My laptop spec is 2GB RAM, with a 1.9GHz processor. I do my video editing on the default Windows video editor.
The Dazzle thing will do it fine (I'm using mine right now), but be aware of the minimum system requirements.
Traditionally laptops are not as high-spec as desktops. I am using a 1.8GHz PC with 2GB RAM, but I am thinking of upgrading to a 2.2GHz or 2.4Ghz CPU as my current system struggles a bit...you also need a lot of hard-drive space. Also note that my Dazzle came with 30 day trial editing software. It includes a basic recording program, but really you are going to need to edit the files before creating a DVD - I was a bit naffed off that this vital software was only a trial version... I then bought Pinnacle Studio 11 to do the editing, but found out that it won't install if you don't have service pack 2 - bit annoying as most people have moved on to service pack 3 (windows update) and I couldn't get SP3 to uninstall itself even after about seven attempts using different tactics...
Anyhow, check out your laptop specs before you buy a device as you may find that it isn't really up to the job, especially if you want to do any fancy editing...
Added: If you use Windows movie maker with Dazzle, then I hope you have more luck that I have trying to get it to link up - it recognises it but won't complete the video capture wizard without throwing up a 'class not registered' error and refusing to go any further... Your best bet would be to get a combined USB device with fully functional editing software included, and check the requirements of the package and try to upgrade your laptop to the recommended spec's (or use someone's desktop??). the minimum spec's don't cut it in my experience
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