Ion VCR2PC

This is my first foray into recording from an outside source (vcr tapes, dvr recordings, video camera) to my computer -then on to dvd. This doesn't seem to have many bells and whistles, it's pretty basic as far as I can tell, but it's perfect for what I want, and EASY to do. I'm so pleased, I wish I'd tried this sooner. Great price -just under 40. from Woot.com, including shipping. Since it's not compatible with Win7 I imagine the price may even go down further, but I'm hoping to see an updated driver from ION. If your dvr is getting too full, or you want your old vcr tapes on dvds, but it always seemed too difficult to try, get this, or see if ION has one that's compatible with win7. It's disgustingly easy to hook up and too use. :)

Updated on Dec 29, 2009

I went to Amaz n.com and this review was posted by an M. Roberts on 2.24.09. According to him/her there is a driver so this is compatible with Win7. I hope I'm allowed to post this. Due to the 1000 character limit, this will take several posts.

"just finished my first VHS Tape to MPEG conversion with the VCR2PC and it couldn't have been easier. the only issue i ran into was installing it on Windows 7 x64 because the driver on the CD isn't digitally signed. however, you go to the site and under documentation & downloads i got the instructions on how to update the driver and the digitally signed driver for x86/x64 XP/Vista/7

the video and audio quality was an exact replica of the original tape.

here are the steps i took:
1. plug VCR2PC into outlet
2. insert cd into PC
3. plug usb cable into PC and VCR2PC
3.a at this point it should have auto installed but i just got a message box in the tray that said your hardware was not installed correctly.
cont...

Updated on Dec 29, 2009

3.b i went to Device Manager and there a yellow exclamation on VCR2PC, i right clicked on it, updated the driver and pointed to the CD
3.c the driver installed successfully but Windows Vista/7 x64 disabled the driver because it was not digitally signed by the publisher
3.d i went to www.ion-audio.com/vcr2pc click on Documents & Downloads and downloaded the following:
3.d.1 VCR 2 PC - NTSC Hardware Driver [v1.43.07.50]
3.d.2 VCR 2 PC - Driver Update Instructions
3.e i unzipped the NTSC Hardware Driver zip file to a temp folder C:\Temp
3.f i went back to Device Manager right clicked on VCR2PC and updated the driver again this time pointing to C:\Temp
4. from the CD i ran the setup file on the root of the CD and ran the default settings
5. i opened EZ VHS Converter (ArcSoft product, excellent software package that is compatible with Media Center remotes)
5.a i got an error that said there is a problem with my sound device, i ignored this error

Updated on Dec 29, 2009

6. i put in Rush Hour VHS tape which wasn't rewound so it started automatically in the middle. i got audio perfectly and in sync so i figured the error about the sound device wasn't worth looking into
6.a i rewound the tape and played from the beginning
7. the movie box says approx 97 minutes so i set EZ VHS Converter to record for 1 hour 40 minutes
8. when the tape got to the point where i wanted to start the recording i just clicked Record
8.a 1 hour and 40 minutes later i had my MPEG version of my VHS in my Videos folder. (My Documents/My Videos)

you can also set it to record for more time and just click Record/Stop to manually adjust the length of recording time.
there is also a check box you can check for automatically creating a DVD.

the 1 hour 40 minutes converted to a 2.94GB MPEG.

it also has composite out and single channel audio out so it can double as a standard DVD player.

Updated on Dec 29, 2009

Well it seems that the update on the review has been cut short so here is the link to his/her review...http://www.amazon.com/review/R14KSHJSL7PW38/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&****=B0017PJ5FI&nodeID=#wasThisHelpful

Updated on Dec 29, 2009

ok, wow, I was wrong ...it's not cut off. here's the last part. Forgive the amateurness of my updates.

"the one drawback to this product is the lack of editing software. i don't need it but it is definitely something that should be included. however, there are plenty of free editing tools out there.

i'm sure some of the negative review are from people using underpowered computers that couldn't keep up with the conversion. i have no idea what the minimum specs would be as i haven't found them anywhere. you shouldn't need a real powerful computer but i could the average user with their junked up PC having an issue.

it says right on the FAQ that it isn't compatible with XP/Vista 64-bit. but in the drivers both on the cd and the downloaded version there is a 0140_x64.sys file and a 0140_x86.sys file so obviously the drivers are either compatible or they aren't fully tested yet. i've tested both Win7 and Vista 64 and both work fine"