VCRs are hard to find these days

[RSTech]

So my VCR went on the fritz; chewing up every tape I put into it. I have a whole collection of VCR movies so I don't really want to completely abandon the technology. My wife went to four stores today until she was finally able to find a new VCR. Believe me I know the technology is outdated but what am I going to do with my VHS collection? Anyone know of a reliable way to transfer them to DVD? I almost bought a combo VCR/DVD recorder but I've read lots of reviews that they only copy "home-made" tapes and not commercial copy-protected movies. I'm not looking to break any copyright laws; I just want to back-up my store bought movies onto another media.

[lookingforjob]

I don't think you'll be breaking any copyright laws, by simply making a backup of something you legally own. It's not that you going to resell it or anything.

You can buy one of these DVD/VCR combos, but you'll have to do a research first, to find something that will work for sure.

[RSTech]

I'm playing around with some different software packages on my computer to copy my VHS tapes to DVD. I just bought Roxio Media Creator Suite 9 and it has some interesting tools. I can edit pictures, videos, music, etc. One neat feature is I can convert a lot of different video files to iPOD accessible format which is great for watching movies on the iPOD I won from jobforum.ca

I have my VCR connected to my computer through a video capture card. It is a time consuming process. First I have to capture the movie which takes as long as the movie runs. Then it has to be converted to DVD format and burned on the disc. Good thing I can just set it and walk away.

[contractor]

Hi, good that you found some way to convert your movies in digital format. The DVDs entered households so quickly I didn't even notice... When you go now to rent a movie only DVDs are on the shelves.
And do you remember the first video players - Betamax...

[RSTech]

And do you remember the first video players - Betamax...

I remember the Beta; my parents bought one in the early '80's when we were living in Northern Alberta, I was just a kid. There was no such thing as a video rental store back then. There were 2 movies for sale which my parents bought, Superman and The Black Hole. Each cost $100. The Beta VCR was $1000.00. Now remember that's back in the early 80's so that was a ton of money back then.

[contractor]

Yes it was a luxury to own a VCR back then. It was like to own a PC and now everybody has one. We have 5 computers at home... 3 of them laptops. Not to mention that the PCs are no good now...