First Look: Roxio Easy VHS to DVD for Mac

Those of us who are old enough to remember the VHS versus Betamax wars are also old enough to have a box of VHS cassettes stored somewhere, filled with memories of vacations, birthdays, and weddings. In the jump from the analog media of VHS to the digital world of DVD, many of those tapes were put away and forgotten.

Today, Roxio announced a way to bring those old memories to life on your Mac. The Roxio Easy VHS to DVD for Mac kit (US$79.99) includes a USB 2.0 video capture widget that gets plugged into any USB 2.0 port on your Mac, then connected to your VHS deck or analog camcorder. The Easy VHS to DVD software provides step-by-step prompting for connecting video and audio cables to the capture device, records the video onto your Mac in either standard (4 Mbps VBR) or high-quality (8 Mbps VBR), and then offers you the choice to either edit the movie in iMovie, send it to the included Roxio Toast Basic DVD-burning software, or view it in QuickTime Player.

If you already have an Elgato or Blackmagic video adapter, you can use those to achieve similar ends, without the straight-to-DVD option of the Roxio product.

I think it's finally time for me convert and burn the VHS video I shot back in 1980 in the U.K. with a 21-pound "compact" Panasonic VHS recorder and separate video camera. What old VHS tapes would you want to burn to DVD? Leave a comment below.

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Source: http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/easy-vhs-to-dvd/mac/overvi…

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Peripherals Video Odds and ends First Look

Those of us who are old enough to remember the VHS versus Betamax wars are also old enough to have a box of VHS cassettes stored...

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Aymeric

on amazon.com the reviews for the pc version are very bad!!!! Just wondering how it will work on a mac. Anyone has tried it yet?

May 28 2009 at 3:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

clasqm

Ah, but will it convert my Edison wax cylinders?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_cylinder

May 27 2009 at 4:56 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

RogueFive

What is this VHS they talk about?

May 26 2009 at 11:38 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

JonnyDeco

Has anyone tried the Neuros OSD for this and similar uses? I've heard it recommended in several places, including from Leo Laporte and the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/business/06novel.html?_r=1). The NY Times quotes a price of $230 but it's $99 at Amazon--$20 more than the Roxio but seems much more flexible. Would love to hear if anyone's tried it.

May 26 2009 at 10:33 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

required

DVD is too small and on its way out. DVD/VHS to Blu-ray makes a lot more sense. The blank media is currently less than $5/25GB making it a lot more feasible for backing up and sharing data such as home video.

May 26 2009 at 7:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Wojtek

Well, the point is... I do not have a VHS VCR for some 5 years now... And I really don't know why am I actually keeping all these tapes...

May 26 2009 at 6:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

greg

I'm thinking it'd take me months to convert my VHS tapes to DVD. Nice idea but, unless they figure out a way to put 48 hours into a day, it's not worth it.

May 26 2009 at 4:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Javier

15% discount code -- ROXIO15

May 26 2009 at 2:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

mark

I can't believe there are still products being made that cater to this need. We've been able to do this for like 10 years now using any DV bridge.

May 26 2009 at 1:30 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to mark's comment

phlavor

So you're saying that there are Hardware/Software solutions that are more cost effective and have ease of use already? Great! List them.

May 26 2009 at 3:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Dograbot

Will this work for those of us who want a copy of our old store-bought VHS tapes that have been smeared with that god-awful Macrovision copy protection?

All of us who bought VHS tapes are screwed because we can't make fair-use copies of our tapes. It's ridiculous!

May 26 2009 at 12:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply