Companies that convert VHS to digital files?
December 16, 2010 11:25 AM Subscribe
As a Christmas gift to my parents, I want to hire a company to convert my parent's old home movies on VHS to digital files. My parents and the VHS tapes are located in Ohio and I am in NYC, but I am willing to pay to have the VHS tapes shipped somewhere. I don't need to do this before Christmas, but I do want to know what reputable company will do this and the cost.
I will let my parents decide which VHS tapes to convert, but before offering this to them as a gift, I want to get a sense of how much it would cost. Can anyone recommend any companies that would do this or that you have experience with? Is there anything else I should know or anything I should avoid? I don't have time to do this myself, so I am not interested in DIY options. My parents probably have 30-40 tapes, but a good chunk of them aren't important and don't need to be converted.
I will let my parents decide which VHS tapes to convert, but before offering this to them as a gift, I want to get a sense of how much it would cost. Can anyone recommend any companies that would do this or that you have experience with? Is there anything else I should know or anything I should avoid? I don't have time to do this myself, so I am not interested in DIY options. My parents probably have 30-40 tapes, but a good chunk of them aren't important and don't need to be converted.
If you have time, you can do it yourself fairly cheaply.
Just buy a VHS player for about $10 or $20 at most Goodwills, then buy the RCA to digital converter. I used the Dazzle DVD converter with a lot of success.
posted by nikkorizz at 11:50 AM on December 16, 2010
Just buy a VHS player for about $10 or $20 at most Goodwills, then buy the RCA to digital converter. I used the Dazzle DVD converter with a lot of success.
posted by nikkorizz at 11:50 AM on December 16, 2010
Sorry, didn't see the last part about not having enough time. Ignore my previous comment.
posted by nikkorizz at 11:51 AM on December 16, 2010
posted by nikkorizz at 11:51 AM on December 16, 2010
Sometimes local specialty photography stores do this; you might google up some photography/videography stores near your parents and see if you can find one near them that will do it and ask what they charge. You can drop off and pay, your parents can pick up!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:11 PM on December 16, 2010
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:11 PM on December 16, 2010
I've mostly just used them for scanning slides, but Costco does a good job at very reasonable prices.
posted by doctord at 1:56 PM on December 16, 2010
posted by doctord at 1:56 PM on December 16, 2010
My friends run a company that does this exactly in NYC. DiJiFi. I've known the owners for 10 years and they are excellent, hardworking, honest folks. I haven't used the service, but yelp seems to back me up on their awesomeness.
Call 'em soon! This is the busy time of the year.
posted by paddingtonb at 1:59 PM on December 16, 2010
Call 'em soon! This is the busy time of the year.
posted by paddingtonb at 1:59 PM on December 16, 2010
Here's the yelp link: http://www.yelp.com/biz/dijifi-brooklyn
Didn't stick the first time.
posted by paddingtonb at 2:00 PM on December 16, 2010
Didn't stick the first time.
posted by paddingtonb at 2:00 PM on December 16, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I went with Home Movie Depot because I can have a box sent to my parent's house and then they can just fill it and send it away to be converted. Since my parents and I don't live near one another, this was the best option for me.
posted by Falconetti at 1:01 PM on December 28, 2010
posted by Falconetti at 1:01 PM on December 28, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
And MeMail me if they have anything of historical import--I'm always looking for home movies for use in documentaries. If your parents are standing around with someone famous--could be $$.
posted by Ideefixe at 11:29 AM on December 16, 2010