Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Converting VCR tape to DVD

by mekanic May 27, 2007 6:41AM PDT

What program do I need to upload my VCR tapes to my computer and then to be able to burn them to a DVD? Some programs must be better at doing this than others, but I cannot afford to spend a fortune on one. I tried using Magix Movie Maker Pro 11 and it took 5 hours from the time I recorded the 50 minute tape to finish burning a DVD! There must be something better or faster. I am using a PC with Windows XP home edition. Thanks for your help

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
That's normal.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 27, 2007 6:57AM PDT

Video creation is CPU intensive. The faster the CPU, the more CPUs you have the faster this happens.

Then again you could get a DVD recorder that sits on top of your TV, connect the VCR then press play, the record button on the DVD recorder and it's done in REAL TIME.

Bob

- Collapse -
Bob's right!
by anmor May 27, 2007 8:09AM PDT

You have 2 choices, buy a new faster computer, or a DVD recorder which is a much cheaper option. No software will speed this process, cheap or expensive.

- Collapse -
Actually you have an additional choice
by lacsr May 27, 2007 9:27PM PDT

There are some assumptions, however.
Assuming you are copying non-protected tapes and you do not wish to do very many of these conversions. I have seen it advertised that a service is provided to do this for you. The service was advertised at Walgreen's in the photo department and was not very expensive. If you are doing more than two or three tapes, it would be much more cost effective (and very easy) to just buy a cheap DVD Recorder. See here:
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=LVC-9016G-R&cat=DVD
Or do some shopping around. There many to choose from.

Back to Computer Newbies forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info