On Jun 2, 8:00 pm, Bruce Johnson <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 2, 2009, at 4:50 PM, glen wrote:
>
>
>
> > This idea has got my attention. I remember such a device from
> > Computer Geeks a year or so ago. Checking their site I see none
> > available. What combo deck do you or anyone else recommend?
>
> Many people I trust have said that Lite-on units are good...There's
> one you can get for about $100 (google 'Lite-on VHS + DVD recorder')
>
> --
> Bruce Johnson
On Jun 2, 8:00 pm, Bruce Johnson <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 2, 2009, at 4:50 PM, glen wrote:
>
>
>
> > This idea has got my attention. I remember such a device from
> > Computer Geeks a year or so ago. Checking their site I see none
> > available. What combo deck do you or anyone else recommend?
>
> Many people I trust have said that Lite-on units are good...There's
> one you can get for about $100 (google 'Lite-on VHS + DVD recorder')
>
> --
> Bruce Johnson
Keep in mind that VHS tapes are very limited in quality. Many methods
of dubbing to DVD are much more than good enough to do justice to the
best of VHS. That said, DVD recorders are usually very good and can
produce copies that are indistinguishable from the original even from
digital sources. And it is an easy one step process so if you have
many tapes to dub, it's the only way to go. Camcorders are the only
direct digital input most recorders will allow, though. If you want
to copy from a DVD to one of these recorders, you must go through an
analog stage...DVD player to analog input of the recorder. There's a
loss in quality but it is one way to beat copy protection. (I am not
advocating any illegal activity, though.)
I have experience with Lite--on recorders. The advantage with them
is that you can upgrade their firmware, and you can find hacked
firmware that will allow you to copy Macrovision tapes. The downside
is that the drives in the Lite-on machines are cheesey and the drawer
mechanisms can wear out quickly. But they are standard PATA drives
and can be replaced fairly easily with better ones. I replaced mine
with a Lite-on brand drive to assure compatibility.
The older Lite-ons will also record many different formats and media
types: they are nicknamed "Allwrite" This includes audio cds in real
time, which isn't a feature on any of the newer recorders, as far as I
can tell. I digitize cassette tapes on the recorder, then edit the
aif files from the CD on the Mac. Pausing the recorder creates a new
track on the cd.
And, they are a stealth way to convert from PAL to NTSC or vice versa,
maybe SECAM too, I don't remember. You simply set the desired output
format and feed it either input format. A feature you may never
need. But it can be pretty handy if you do. They will output to
either format monitor too.
Rich
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