Transferring analog to DVD

Except the unit is optimized for its job, and does a much better job of capture than seperate parts are likely to produce. I have lots of different capture options available to me including ATI AIW and conversion via firewire and a digital camcorder into Sony's Vegas 5. I have been impressed with the quality of the captured video coming from the HP unit. It's also a no brainer, get it done approach. You do not have to learn the details of capture, render, burn, etc., and you can start the conversion of a tape and walk away or go to sleep. When you come back, the job is done. It also gives you a dual layer burner which is not run of the mill, and the software knows how to use the dual layer capability. That means twice the capacity of a normal DVD burner. I'm getting VHS conversion done that I have put off for years because I hadn't gotten around to doing it with more time consuming approaches.

Analog video to DVD HP DC5000 is a DVD Burner with a capture card inside, at their proper price. I would rather suggest to have one capture card (when you already have a DVD burner) rather than ending up in having two DVD burners plus a capture card in total.

Your ten year old Panasonic camcorder? If so, I sure hope the camcorder has some way to send the audio/video on its tapes to an external device. If so, you can use the HP dc5000 to covert your tapes. It will capture the tape contents, and burn it to DVD without very little required from you. It does need to be connected to a computer when it operates, but requires no special knowledge on your part. It will burn the DVD, and, optionally, save a copy of the video on your harddrive if you wish to edit. It can also serve as an external DVD/CD burner when not engaged in video conversion activity.

I envisage two options for you: 1. Install a video capture card in your pc. Choose one that has ports that match your analog camcorder ports. Best option: Separate capturing using S-video + a separate audio connection. Common and simpler option: Campture "composite" video using one video + one audio jacks. You don't need a new camera to make DVDs from your analog tapes. 2. Buy a pass-through (must be this type, not all digital cameras have this function!) digital camera. Connection and flow: analog camera (or your analog VHS VCR)to digital camera (via RCA cables); digital camera to pc (preferably using Firewire)- all simultaneously. Here, the digital camera will perform the function of a capture card. You will certainly need a software to capture via capture card/pass-through digital camera to your pc hard disc. Your captured video on pc can be initially in AVI/ DV AVI(better options to edit) and then convert to MPEG2 (DVD) format, or directly in mpeg format (with poor editability). Frame size (capture resolutions) should be as big as possible. In any case you will need some basic knowledge on digital video, capturing, and editing. And all the nitty-gritty that you will need to know can be found somewhere like "Digital Video Primer" and "DVD Primer".