VuPoint Digital Video Converter

Read the specs. Its all there.

Looks to be the same premise as the V-mate, which Sandisk offered a while back. Same VGA and 30 fps. The V-Mate also offered a couple of cellphone formats (3GP, 3G2) and recorded to memory stick in addition to SD, but SD card size was limited to 4GB, IIRC. Playable on a TV through the V-Mate, or on various devices (PDAs, cellphones, MP3 players and PSP). Portable media players with a card slot and MPEG-4 SP support, allowed direct swapping in of the memory card. Other devices without a card slot needed to use a PC to load the video (possibly also needing video conversion by some PC conversion app if the player didn’t support the MPEG-4 SP codec or 3GP or 3G2).

While the V-Mate seemed advertised more as a tunerless VCR whose primary purpose was for swapping the card into a cellphone, this seems to be advertised more for analog-to-digital conversion. But both seem to be doing similar things, at similar quality.

I need to find something that will allow me to use with old tapes Hi-8 and other small tapes I’ve used that I no longer have the video camera for to play them on. Whenever ours broke we went and bought a new one and usually the tapes, by then, had changed. Does anyone know if there’s some type of converter for these tapes?

FWIW, here’s a vid when HSN had these for sale:

That’s the Beauty of this plain looking box. Anything you have at home that you have been saving hardware to watch old stuff on you can convert the media to SD, Like your BetaMax, VHS, etc. Then throwaway your old hardware when you have your SD in hand. Right?

I’m curious what bitrate this records at. More to the point, is there a minimum class requirement for the SD card, or do you think a cheapo class 2 will be fine?

If it were me, I’d test the videos to make sure they look “good enough”, back up the videos in some other format (hard drive, online, DVD for the non-DVD videos, etc.), then think about getting rid of the hardware (preferably to someone who could use the spare parts). I’m not an “envirnomentalist”, but we do have a company here that takes any old electronics in hopes of re-using or refurbishing them/harvesting the parts (and helping provide a way for others to learn a new trade/job).

When I get the time, that’s my plan. I still have my old VHS player and cassette (yes, cassette) player for that time to convert the old media.

I was hoping for those answers by now when I asked earlier. My gut feeling (not based on experience): I would hope that a cheapo class would do, but I would imagine a class 6 would be best/necessary (and I hope that we don’t need a class 10 (although sales do pop up for these)):

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/3c352fc6-bd55-4d19-8280-78aea56cee33/kingston-8gb-class-10-secure-digital-sdhc-flash-card#9

(okay, Woot, do I get a commission?)

I have 2 of these, but mine are white, same model number. Haven’t had too much trouble with them, but the A/V cables that came with them aren’t good (probably why they were $16 buck each). The cables are cheap, and you may have some in a drawer some place, like I did. Their the 1/8" plug, to RCA types you get with some portable DVD players, or cameras. These record pretty much what you see on the screen, it passes through. You won’t need 4 gig for VHS movies (1.3 gig). The file is easy to convert, or burn straight to DVD. I’ve had no problems on my Vista machine. Haven’t tried it one commercial video, so can’t say anything about protected stuff. You have the right to make a copy for personal use, the problem comes when you distribute or sell, long as you purchased the original.

Can I convert my PAL-video tapes with this?

There’s a PAL/NTSC switch on the back, so I would assume yes.

Thanks

  1. Would you buy new cables?
  2. What class SD card did you use? Can you use an SD6 or slower?
  3. Reliable hardware (when you say you haven’t had too much trouble)?
  4. Dependable transfer?
  5. Not too slow?
  6. The video “good enough”?

Description for Woot says “Supports PAL or NTSC television systems” and on product website says “Video Format PAL, NTSC”. Does this mean it can convert PAL tapes? I hope so.

I have used one of these. I would not get it. It is very time consuming, so if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, don’t get it. The software is only capable of burning onto cd’s not DVD’s. When recording from vhs to sd, it worked flawlessly, but when I tried hooking it up to a sony 8mm videocamera, it would not work. I had to have the vcr hooked up in between the box and the video camera for it to work. I used Nero to edit and burn because if you want to split up files, you either have to do it while you are converting or after. If you have time and are patient, good device. If you have a busy life, you will never get anywhere.

Most of what I saw so far in comparison were VHS to DVD type converters, like this page:

http://vhs-to-dvd-converters-review.toptenreviews.com/

or Converters straight to computer (via firewire), like this $220 Canopus machine:

http://www.amazon.com/Canopus-77010150100-ADVC110-Converter/dp/B00030ATTO/ref=dp_cp_ob_p_title_0

Any other owners of this/reviews found?
Edit: to mrrainmaker123, thanks.

Aren’t all VHS converters time consuming?
(from what I’ve heard, and yes, that’s a serious question…)

If this one isn’t acceptable, what would others recommend? I also have a bunch that I’d like to convert as well.

Windows Movie Maker is also a free download even if you do not have Windows 7.

According to Copyright Law it is illegal to convert formats as long as you can purchase the movie in the format you want to end up with. This is the law which the music industry argues that it is illegal to convert music file formats.

I have not read about anyone talking about the quality of the final product.

Tech:Video recording rate up to 30fps, 640 x 480 with audio (4GB max for each individual file, then generates new file automatically)

Is up to 30 fps good?

Is 640/480 good?

4GB max for each file. How long is that?

I have several old VHS and 8MM tapes over the last 20 years I would like to convert. I don’t want to be spending a lot of time editing. I just want to plug and play. So if I put a VHS tape into one of these will it give me a SD card with it completely copies that I can label and play on my computer as I would the VHS in my VCR?

Will it even convert my 8mm?

i own one of these things, i got it to get programs off my dish network dvr onto an sd card. it works like a screen recorder basically, but theres no hdmi or component, so sound and video is shotty. i also brought them onto my computer to edit out the commercials and what not. personally i was very dissapointed by this product, but we bought ours at 99.99, this is a pretty good deal

It’s quite a bit more complicated than that, though. If anyone wants to learn about it, you can start here.

It certainly doesn’t seem that the act is limited to formats that are for sale.

“In August 2009, the DVD Copy Control Association won a lawsuit against RealNetworks for violating copyright law in selling its RealDVD software, allowing users to copy DVDs and store them on a harddrive.”

I’ve never heard of movies for sale in Real format.

By far the most time is consumed while you’re playing (and copying) the tape itself. For example, it takes me about 115 minutes to make a copy of a 90 minute VHS tape with my DVD recorder. This should be faster, since it’s only writing a file.