VHS TO DVD

[Bonibelle]

I have a ton of home videos (on various types of tape...VHS, Hi8, regular 8mm and VHSc)that I would like to burn to DVD's It takes hours on my computer and I am limited to the types of tapes that I can upload to the computer through a newer camera. Has anyone found a good VHS to DVD burner with a 1394 input (firewire) that burns in multiple DVD formats?
I am finding such mixed reviews on line. I must have 200 tapes that I would like to convert to DVDs.  

And to keep it hot tub related, some tapes are of my hot tub installs  

Thanks

[Vinny]

Hey Boni,

My advice would be to get a dual deck - DVD & VCR combo. It will be able to do the VHS & VHS-C formats. I have one but haven't done any conversions. Somehow I think they do it at a higher speed than just playing and copying.

As far as the 8mm - I have no clue how to go about doing that. I have a few tapes that I have lost due to the camera dying. As a matter of fact our newest camera - a VHS-C just died and whe have no clue what we are going to get - whether a hard drive or flash memory type. I do have to say this age of digital is a PITA to me ... it seems 10x harder to transfer the stuff we take to a usable format - heck we don't even look at the picts we take!

Back to the DVDs though, I have heard that the re-writeable (RW) are prone to losing their data - I would stick to the write once types and buy high quality ones at that. Sony, HP, TDK to name a few.

[Bonibelle]

Thanks Vinny,  I bought a Sony camera about 2 years ago that can back play those old 8mm tapes but uploading all that into the computer is a pain and very time consuming, so I was looking for a quality VHS to DVD recorder..my online research has yeilded mixed reviews and I don't know what to buy. So at this point I am looking for someone who has had luck with a brand of VHS to DVD recorder and will take your advice and only record to non RW disks

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