Another Way from VHS to DVD

Readers write in often asking for advice on copying video from yesterday's VHS tapes onto today's DVDs. Chris Null offers some great advice on a few ways to get the job done, including sending it out to professionals if the videos are special family memories you want carefully preserved. And Gina Hughes has a way to capture VHS video through your camcorder to edit on your computer, then capture on a DVD.

But here's another option I came across this week that seems to require little knowledge about capturing and editing video. It's made for the nonprofessional who wants a simple way from A (VHS) to B (DVD). Honest Technology's VHS to DVD 2.0 offers a few ways to transfer video to DVDs. If your computer doesn't have a TV tuner card, the $100 version with the video capture box is what's needed. A USB cable connects to it from the PC, and S-Video and A/V composite jacks hook into the VCR.

If your computer already has a TV tuner card, you can transfer the video directly to your computer and use the software to edit and burn it onto a DVD.

The company vows anyone can do this "with a few clicks," and there's even a "Record and Burn" feature that skips the editing phase completely. Chris tells me he hasn't heard of Honest Technology's product, but he's tried others with lackluster results. I'd like to try it out to see if it is really as simple and effective as it sounds. Because if it is, this could be the do-it-yourself solution a lot of us are looking for.

Stay tuned.