We ended up settling on a Sony HDD camera and Sony's "
DVD Direct" gadget (~$150). You could easily hook this up to the output of a VCR and use it to burn DVDs. It can even deal comfortably with multi-session (each time you hit "record", you get a new session, and it sorts out the title screen menus at the very end).
Funny you should mention this, but I do the exact same thing. I have an older DVDirect, but it accomplishes the same thing.
It appears to have some smarts, too. Example: recently my mother-in-law needed some very short VHS tapes (~20 min) converted to DVD. I popped the VHS in my Sony VCR, and a blank DVD in the DVDirect, which is just connected via composite video. I hit play on the VCR and record on the DVDirect. Then I forgot about it.
Fortunately, the DVDirect detected when the tape stopped and ended recording there, leaving me plenty of room left on the DVD.
I'm a big fan of it for this purpose. I would definitely recommend this setup or a combo unit (but like Rob said, only if you don't need to edit).
I've tried doing the analog pass-through with my camcorder, but it's incredibly flaky. I had it working a couple months ago, but last month when I hooked it all back up I simply couldn't get it to work (without using the camcorder at all in the meantime, so all the settings were the same). Plus video editing on a PC is a nightmare, IMO.
Previous Topic
Index
