Can this be used as a playback device as well? I.e...can I watch my VHS tape of Broken Arrow on here?

spd2base wrote:Can this be used as a playback device as well? I.e...can I watch my VHS tape of Broken Arrow on here?

yep.

This is a fairly low end VCR mechanism mated with low end video capture hardware. Sound is mono and from the analog track only. No HQ circuitry and the video quality is fair at best. No editing software to speak of, but there's free alternatives for that.

It is cheap, but it's cheap for a reason. It may be OK if you're not expecting a high quality capture.

spd2base wrote:Can this be used as a playback device as well? I.e...can I watch my VHS tape of Broken Arrow on here?

Yea, when you get the program up there's this small window that shows you what you're recording, i.e. the video. Not sure why you'd just use it for that, but here's a youtube link showing what I mean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTgB1Gx0xn0

EDIT: There is editing software, shown in the video above. It's scaffolding, so just use better specific freeware for that.

If you look at the additional photos the box looks better than the unit. You could buy it for the box.

Doesn't support PAL

Does this have auto tracking?

Does anyone know about what size it is (inches and weight-wise)?

Thanks.
- -
Edit -
Whoops, found it on Amazon: 16.2 x 14.6 x 6.4 inches ; 12 pounds (although Amazon says the shipping weight is 11 pounds - how is that possible?).

DarthVanderlay wrote:Anyone know what type of file this is saved as on the PC (avi, mpg, etc.)? Thanks

amazon says JPEG - which I thought meant picture files...

http://www.amazon.com/ION-Audio-Video-Computer-Converter/dp/B0017PJ5FI

Audiorents wrote:I take it that it is not HiFi Stereo, or even Linear Stereo. Just Mono.

That alone is a deal-killer. The difference in sound quality between conventional audio and HiFi is tremendous. If all you have is conventional audio or linear stereo (not meaningfully better than mono), then I suppose you could use this - if you need a VCR. As someone stated above, it's probably better to buy a patch kit and use your own machine for various reasons.

If you're looking for a good VCR for a project like this, check Goodwill for a Panasonic Omnivision HiFi machine. Very high quality and almost all of them are sure to work. Remotes are easy to find in thrift shops too.

allaroundsales2 wrote:I got this last time, it works great! It doesn't come with a video editor just the recorder..{you need to find something to cut and combine} but the picture quality is the same as it was on the tape. Finally I get to throw away all of my tapes! I will be passing this one around the family. great item, never thought I'd buy a VCR again.

It does come with a editor. you can cut..

Not too bad, but won't work with Win 7.

Resolution is NTSC, 720 x 480

ever-on49 wrote:Does anyone know about what size it is (inches and weight-wise)?

Thanks.

12 x 14 x 3.5 ish
All in inches

Sammysosadigan wrote:amazon says JPEG - which I thought meant picture files...

http://www.amazon.com/ION-Audio-Video-Computer-Converter/dp/B0017PJ5FI

It can take screenshots. Video is mpeg

Alchy wrote:@Superninja: It's perfectly fine, it keeps quality, and if you're looking for something that converts VHS to HD video files, tell me when you find one.

A stripped down, barebones VCR is not "fine".

If they can't even bother putting stereo in it, it's not worth it.
I wouldn't get something that is guaranteed to strip away something (audio) on the copy right off the bat.

no stereo and no s-video... pass
(yes, I know in this price range that would be wishful thinking)

where's my super8 to computer converter???

This unit does NOT burn DVD's if you use the software to edit your file. It's fine to copy and burn a tape to DVD. If you try to cut the file for an edit it will hang in limbo forever. ION tech support is nice but they cannot fix this problem. They have a standard list of things to try however nothing fixes this problem to date. I bought this from woot last time. ION cannot or does not know how to fix the issue of editing a file and not burning to completion.

I bought this the last time it was here....love it. Have all 137 VHS movies saved on an external hard drive...what a relief! Easy to use and set up. Did a great job.

Can I transfer a VHS movie, like "Back to the Future" for example to my PC and have it not be scrambled from the Macrovision copy protection?...Anyone?...Anyone?...Bueller?...Bueller?

Kn1nJa wrote:I am saddened that this can not play Beta....

But it's got inputs so you should be able to hook up Beta device.

manil wrote:Does this have auto tracking?

Hard to tell. There's a tracking control, but you can't tell whether it's an override to auto-tracking or the sole method of tracking control.

Typically, there are not dedicated override tracking controls on VCRs with auto-tracking - it's usually Ch Up/Dn or the jog shuttle dial. But this one doesn't have a tuner...

See what I mean? Hard to tell...

manil wrote:Does this have auto tracking?

Description says it does.

ralphe wrote:Not too bad, but won't work with Win 7.

I bet it will.

Will it toast a peanut butter sandwich or a Pop-Tart like my parents' VCR used to when I was a kid?

glazedfaith wrote:I know with audio cassettes you used to be able to record with high speed dubbing to copy quicker and the output was virtually flawless. Is this capable of recording at a high speed, or will you have to record at real-time (SLOOOOW)

In this digital age, it's almost worth it to buy the new media rather than WAIT for the old media.

VCRs are incapable of high speed playback without lines in the screen.

spd2base wrote:Can this be used as a playback device as well? I.e...can I watch my VHS tape of Broken Arrow on here?

From the description:

"Works as a standard VHS player with auto-tracking, so you can continue to enjoy your VHS tapes"

VHS? Is that like a USB powered toaster? I'd totally put a pop tart in there.

BlindWilly wrote:"Once you save your videos to your computer, they will be saved forever in pristine digital format"
Unless of course your hard drive fails...

That's why you put two hard drives in RAID or make regular backups.

I had wondered if this would be an improvement over what I had done some years ago (VHS to composite out to PC analog capture card). I did a scan on Amazon and read a few complaints on the audio quality. Example of a good technical explanation of why this could be:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2C9XXKHMOJQ6Q/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0017PJ5FI&nodeID=#wasThisHelpful

This definitely kills the deal for me. I'll stick with my analog capture card instead.

I'm guessing you mean audio cassette. I got mine from ThinkGeek a few years ago. Try looking there.

greatwhite35 wrote:Can I transfer a VHS movie, like "Back to the Future" for example to my PC and have it not be scrambled from the Macrovision copy protection?...Anyone?...Anyone?...Bueller?...Bueller?

Just pulled out Back to the Future II to try it out, [Don't have the retail VHS of I], it worked fine.

I like this thing. It is easy to get used to.

Problems:
The usb plug into the vcr didn't work right, I just replaced it with one I had and it fixed the problem.

The drivers aren't for windows 7. However you can manually download the drivers and manually install them.

The default video settings were scaffolding, but I scrolled through the different ones until it came out right.

Records in MPEG-2 and is really easy to switch over to aux input

over all I love it

spd2base wrote:Can this be used as a playback device as well? I.e...can I watch my VHS tape of Broken Arrow on here?

According to the write up:
Whoever you are out there, you should know that the Ion VCR 2 PC USB Videotape Conversion Player can be used as a plain old VCR as well, letting me pop in tapes and watch them on any TV.

michaelpc86 wrote:That's why you put two hard drives in RAID or make regular backups.

Raid 0 is great for the increased speed, but most folks don't need Raid 1 just to back up (just use backup software, such as synctoy). Only use Raid 1 if you need to back up in real time (or if you're really, really lazy and you don't mind decreased performance).

Another advantage of backup software over Raid 1 is that you don't have to worry about wasted space if your drives are different sizes.

freak6148 wrote:This would have been nice to have 3 weeks ago when I had to use my Tivo to convert all my VHS to Digital. Only took me 3 full days to do about 12 hours of VHS.

I was going to buy, but figured my regular VCR plugged into my DVR will do the same thing. It only plays in real time anyway, so I don't see why it would be any faster going into the computer.

I saw a question but not an answer in regards to Disney movies. Are all Disney movies (pal) and if so, I take it this will not copy them? I have about 20 Disney tapes I would like to save for my grandson. I have no idea what (pal) is but I know you guys have mentioned it a few times..thanks

here are some deep detailed reviews...I'm actually amazed at these folks...so good luck.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017PJ5FI/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=3205970447&ref=pd_sl_37mrbcem44_b

I use an old VCR with a video capture solution because I wanted to keep the stereo sound. Notice that this device only has one audio input/output so if for some reason you have some old stereo vhs tapes you'll be converting them to Mono with this.

Still, for the price and ease of use, it would probably be a great buy.

iwasdevine wrote:I saw a question but not an answer in regards to Disney movies. Are all Disney movies (pal) and if so, I take it this will not copy them? I have about 20 Disney tapes I would like to save for my grandson. I have no idea what (pal) is but I know you guys have mentioned it a few times..thanks

As far as I know, PAL is just a resolution it outputs as, while this outputs as NTSC.

I'll pop in a Disney flick and get back to you on that.

Alchy wrote:As far as I know, PAL is just a resolution it outputs as, while this outputs as NTSC.

I'll pop in a Disney flick and get back to you on that.

Thanks so much Alchy.. much appreciated