AAUG Reviews

by Randy Brandon, AAUG Member

Easy VHS to DVD by Roxio is exactly what its title say’s it is.

It consists of a CD install disk, and an adapter cord that ties in your VCR player to a USB 2 plug. This adapter setup contains both an “S-Video” and a standard composite RCA connectors that will fit almost any of the numerous VHS recorders made.

After a quick and easy install, I started up the program, and plugged in the adapter cords. The program window came up, and after a few simple clicks, I was recording!!

So, I thought, Hey..this is pretty simple, and thought that I would go ahead, and try to record my first full length VHS tape.

Then the troubles began. My laptop showed that it was full, and the project was obviously a lot larger that I thought it would be. And so the program, and my first attempt was bungled. I remembered that the program calls for 15 GB of free disk space, and I had freed up about 10 gigs of space just to test this program, so obviously, I was mistaken.

So,I went back to square one, and tried to free up as much free space as the program calls for (15 GB), and tried to start again. The second problem that I encountered was that I could neither find, nor trash the very large file that I had erroneously tried to record on my first try. So, after several tries, and an email to Roxio tech support, I was finally able to clean everything up, and try again.

I then put in another VHS tape, and thought that I would do a full 10 minute Test video first to double check that everything was working correctly.

I recorded the 10 minute test, and tried to play it back to see if all was working.
I was so glad that I did this test, and as I soon discovered that the VHS tape I was trying to copy was producing some very bad video effects by itself, and those bad scan lines, etc, were naturally being transfered onto my copy.

So, I backed up once again. I erased everything, and put in yet another VHS tape.
I now felt confident that I had the bugs worked out, and pushed the Record button again. This time, I just let it record the full movie.

Several hours later, the recording had ended, and I tried option one, which was to send it to IMovie. After I had selected that option, some additional processing occurred, and then I got an error message stating that IMovie could not be found??

Oh, great…Now what? I know for a fact that I had IMovie HD installed, but for some reason, the VHS to DVD program could not find it?
So, I saved it under option three, which is to save it as a Quicktime file.

I saved it as a Quicktime (MP4) file, and was finally able to bring it into an IMovie file.

So, I would like to think that most people would not experience the same problems that I encountered in getting started.

OK, so I will plead guilty to having a bit of a learning curve deficit initially with Easy VHS to DVD, and perhaps it was due to me over thinking what was necessary to do?

I finally got the workflow process down, and have had good luck since then in capturing, and burning DVD copies of my VHS movies.

The instructions are very simple, and straightforward(no wonder that I had problems), and the adapter setup is also very simple as well.

When the process works, it takes just few short minutes to get the recording process started, then just walk away. Hours later, or however later that the movie finishes, then the user picks one of three options on how to save it.

My preferred option was to save it as a Quicktime file, and then, bring it into IMovie, and edit, and burn a DVD from the finished edit.

One problem that I kept noticing was that I continued to have difficulties in emptying the trash? I have not confirmed the root of the problem, but suspect that there is something in the VHS to DVD program that is producing invisible files in the trash that I cannot throw away??

I am certain that a lot of my initial problems with the Roxio VHS to DVD program stemmed from simply not having enough free hard drive space available. And I certainly cannot believe that I am the only user who always has an almost full hard drive at any given moment, so please beware that free space(a lot of it) is necessary, and not optional. Why the good folks at Roxio failed to give users the option to have their files stored on an optional external drive is beyond me?? This option would seem like a given, but it is just not offered. Maybe version 2??

In summary, I think that Roxio Easy VHS to DVD is a neat little program.
It fills a badly needed void that desperately needed filling.
I mean, just how many of us still have shelves still filed with old VHS tapes that we seldom view any longer?? Answer…all of us. And Easy VHS to DVD fits the bill to a T.

The program is easy to install, easy to run, and sits at a really fair price level that anyone can afford. Given the potential expense of paying a service facility to do the VHS to DVD transfer for you, Roxio’s program does the perfect job, and will actually save you money in the long run.

My advice….Get the Easy VHS to DVD program from Roxio, and you will be an instant expert!

System stats: I ran this program on my Intel 13” Macbook G5 running OS system 10.5.6

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Macintosh
• Dual processor, PowerPC®, G5 Intel processor
• Mac OS X v.10.4 and up.
• 512MB of RAM(1 Gb recommended)
• 15 GB Free Hard Drive space
• Available USB 2 Port
• DVD-ROM drive
• IMovie HD, 08’ or ‘09
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