VIDBOX VHS to DVD 8.0 Deluxe
-
BC
> 24 hourI gave this a try after reading mixed reviews. Some people had good luck and some did not. I did not. The video portion works fine, however, audio is a problem. Further, a call to customer service left me thinking they have no idea what they are talking about. The issue is very poor audio quality. As soon as there is a useful (proper) level going into the device it distorts. The software shows strong audio levels when the output of the audio mixer was silent and even when no audio connections are made to the device. Support told me that it will not work with anything other than a camera output or videotape machine output. Come on! Plugging the device into a video deck is going to cause phantom audio levels to go away? When I play back the file with the strong-level audio (as indicated by the software audio meter) there is nothing there. It is silent. I am an audio - video professional and have worked in this position for a couple of decades. I was looking for a low-cost and simple solution for capturing audio and video at our Church and was not concerned with top quality. I at least expected something usable. Personally, I think I received a defective unit. I would have just tried to exchange it for another unit until the call with technical support which left me with no confidence in this company. I will return this unit and probably try the Elgato video capture device. UPDATE 3-7-16 Apparently this review caught the attention of the companys technical support group. The reply illustrates my frustration with the company. For those that like technical detail, read on. This device captures analog audio and video. Video is in the form of standard NTSC via RCA jack input - just like the output of a typical consumer VCR. Audio input is analog unbalanced -10 dBV left and right via RCA jacks - just like the output of a typical consumer VCR. Recording from a VCR is the primary purpose of the device. What I attempted to do with the device was to connect the video to a camera that provided analog NTSC video output. The video recorded properly with the device. Audio was provided via two unbalanced RCA jacks on the tape output of a Mackie audio console at a nominal level of -10dBV - EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE OUTPUT OF THE TYPICAL CONSUMER VCR. The audio level could not be brought up to a usable level without distorting. The audio meter on the device software showed about one bar shy of going into yellow with no signal being output from the audio console. It showed the same with the audio cables disconnected from the device! How is it measuring a strong audio level with nothing connected? Playing back the file recorded with this mysterious signal yielded no audio. The purpose of buying this product was to capture audio and video that was just usable, not high grade. I have worked in audio / video (analog and digital) for over two decades. This includes broadcast, theater, and running an electronics repair business where most of my work was on VCRs. I strongly suspect I had a bad unit or there is something about the Windows 8.1 laptop I was using that it did not like. As noted, I wanted to exchange the device, but I really felt that the technical support person wasnt very interested in helping or in understanding how this was being utilized. The quick reply was that the device would not work with live streams. In the analog world devices like this cannot sense the difference between video and audio coming form a VCR / camcorder or a live camera with audio sourced from a sound board. The video worked - that is the more complicated part of the device. Audio should be simple but that is where the problem is. I have ordered a different device which is basically the same thing (and same price) but from a different manufacturer. I am very eager to test it when it arrives. I really wanted to give this device another try with a replacement unit but the manufacturer showed no interest in this. UPDATE 3-18-16 I ordered and received the Elgato Video Capture device. The connections are the same as the Vidbox VHStoDVD. It works perfectly. After ordering, the price of the VHStoDVD went down and the Elgato Video Capture went up so there is now a price difference. The only thing I dont like about the Elgato is that the audio meters are not present while recording, just in pre-recording setup. Other than that, the audio and video quality are good and it is easy to use.
-
vince1980
> 24 hourI followed the directions step by step and had a problem at first. I called their tech support line, and they were quite helpful. I think the only issue with this product for me is I do wish there was a faster way to record the VHS as opposed to real time. Ive only messed around with this for about an hour, and it does what its intended. I will try to call the tech support to see if there is a faster way to record.
-
Bob Accardi
> 24 hourI do like it. The video quality is not as good as expected. But that could be my DVD burner. I would recommend it to any one that has great old stuff that they would like to hear and see again digitally.
-
John
> 24 hourThis product works flawlessly, but it does not enhance the video in any way. I had hoped I would get a clear picture from my 8 millimeter tapes and micro tapes. The video I did get is acceptable and I assume the best possible on any device. My point is I would have liked it to be much clearer. That may be due to my tapes themselves and the video recorder or camcorder I was using
-
JerryAlter1950
> 24 hourI love this Vidbox VHS to DVD! Ive had two video capture devices before. The first one the picture quality was awful. The second one no longer worked after I upgraded to Windows 10. I ordered a Vidbox VHS to DVD and tried it out and it worked like a charm. It did a beautiful job of capturing video from my Handycam! The picture quality is superior! At first I had some frustrating experiences trying to get it to work properly. This is expected. It takes some practice to get this contraption to work properly, but youd get the hang of it.
-
Doodle
> 24 hourMay change this if I get a hold of support. But got this for my wifes birthday she wanted old vhs home movies transferred. Each tape is 30 minutes. The first time I tried easy mode and it said it recorded it all but ended up with only 8 minutes. Then I did it again in advanced mode mpeg2 and got the full 30 minutes so was like ok now we are in business. But later started anther tape recorded 30 minutes at 1.8 gig, but then after it stopped it said 30 minutes at 1.8 gig, but only wrote a 700 meg file with the last 9 minutes on it. Thats also what it showed in the edit part. Tried 3 times same result. Now trying a 4th in wmv to see if that makes a difference. I do not care the format I will be re-coding in handbrake to hevc anyway. I raised from 1 to 3 stars, because it actually does you just have to leave it running on top of the screen or it will cut it. At least in windows 10 if it gets tabbed down you have to start over. I have used a lot of encoding software and this is more like a screen capture software that catches its box only and only when its on top.
-
Momtographer
> 24 hourThis met a need for a fraction of the price sending it out to a service for conversion would have. The bad thing is you HAVE to have a VHS machine to convert VHS movies (this is a duh for many of you, but I had no idea how this worked). My in-laws asked me to convert their VHS movies of my husband and his brother to DVD. We borrowed his grandmothers VHS machine. This kit consists of two main things: a conversion box and software. The conversion box connects to your line out on your VHS machine and there is a USB cable that goes from the box to your laptop or computer. The software installed easily. I like that you can see the movie playing on a little box in the software. I thought I would just be licking my finger and sticking it in the air to see when I thought it was time to stop the VHS so this is really handy. The quality of the video is just OK and be careful about the volume you choose. I really wish I had just kept it at 0. I put it to 1 and I think it created some white noise that is minorly annoying. Not sure if that noise was already on the VHS, though, honestly. My father in law had a movie he was in as an extra and wanted me to make a DVD of the VHS he taped from TV. The sound didnt have the white noise which makes me think maybe it was just the amateur video of my husbands Eagle Court of Honor that caused it. At any rate, the quality is ok and good enough for preserving memories. Not HD by any stretch, but our kids can now see daddy with a full head of hair and can hear him. Its pretty neat for me as I had never seen any videos of my husband that young. Mission accomplished. I only took off a star because the quality is just so-so, but that isnt fair since VHS quality is just so-so. I would rate this a 4.5. We used this on our laptop running Windows 7 with no issues. I am not even close to an A/V professional. I am a homeschooling mom with an engineering degree, but I dont think that degree gave me any leg up on anyone else in hooking this thing up. I am glad we bought it. I guess the only bad thing is you pay $60 and then copy your 5 DVDs from VHS and just have this useless device and software :). But, $60 is much cheaper than the quote I got from one of those services!
-
Marlon aldenys Oviedo
> 24 hourWonderful video bóx, its Powerful for different old devices, as vcr, camcorder, Betamax, turntable. Etc, and the software its great, and can récord from turntable too for music mp3 files. Was the best choice I did, the video editor its soné kind basic, but you can capture your video in Mpg format, export to Avi or MP4 and can handle with another video editor as Camtasia, or Sony Vega
-
Cris M.
> 24 hourThis product has worked perfectly for the purpose for which I purchased it, that being to transfer years and very many hours of vacation and family video tapes to DVD. The Easy Wizard Mode is the method I use as it is just that,...Easy! The device is easy to set up, instructions are easy to understand and easy to follow. Although the device has numerous other features, I have not had a need to utilize any of them at this time. Thus far I am very pleased with this product.
-
GRP29
> 24 hourI converted 54 hours worth of tape into a 7 hour family film. Great for beginners, easy editing.