Roxio Easy VHS to DVD for Mac | VHS, Hi8, V8 Video to DVD or Digital Converter [Mac Disc]

I had OLD VHS home movies I needed preserved it paid for itself. Although it is pricey there isnt much out there that is easy to use. I bought it for my parents to do there own conversion not very tech savvy so this saved me some time in having to do it myself and they had no problem using it.

I purchased this product to convert my home videos from VHS to DVD to preserve family memories. The Mac version works really great. Setup was simple. Install the software and plug a VCR into the adapter. Start the software, continue through the sound and video connection screens, hit play on your VCR, and click on record when youre ready to start the conversion. Most of my home video was recorded in EPP so I could fit up to 6 hours on a tape. The longest I have converted so far is 2 1/2 hours into a single file which used just over 75 Gb. I then use iMovie to edit and iDvd to produce the DVD. Time consuming but simple.

I was quite worried with all the bad reviews, but so far this product has worked exactly as advertised except for the fact that after copying a DVD, the selection to burn a disk with Toast did not work automatically. I had to open the Toast application and than drag the video to start the burning process - not really a big deal. The Toast application is actually Toast 9 and seems to be the full version. There was an upgrade for both the copy program and Toast, which I downloaded before trying the software. I am still a bit concerned about the reported poor support by Roxio, but hopefully, I wont need to contact them. By the way, I am operating Lion 10.7.1 on a 3.06 GHz intel Core 2 Duo iMac with 4 GB RAM. One caveat - dont expect great DVDs from poor VHS tapes. You still get the quality of the tape, which, of course, pales in comparison to what we have gotten used to with DVD.

The recording works very smoothly and the finished product is good, although there is a probem when the recording is finished. A screen gives you choices, which include going to Toast, in order to burn a DVD. However, this does not take me to a version of Toast that works on my Mac. The version of Toast that was included in the purchased software is Toast 9 Basic and so I have to quit the Easy VHS to DVD and open Toast 9. Furthermore, if I want to edit the video I just recorded in iMovie, the problem is then that iMovie does not recognize the file the Easy VHS to DVD has created (withan .mpg format). I have to use a third party application, such as Handbrake, to convert the file so that it is recognized by iMovie (with an .mp4 format).

I got this product a few short days after ordering it(via free shipping!) and brought it in to my workstation. Then I: 1)Installed the software. 2)Plugged in the intuitivel usb interface to my Mac Pro. 3)Hooked the other end up to my 10-year-old Sony VCR. 4)Popped in a VHS tape. 5)Hit the Start Recording button in the software window And BAM! had a video well on the way to being a DVD. All inside of 5min. This software is maybe TOO easy to use. I dont know if there are options missing that I will discover I need down the road, but for my immediate needs-pulling video from deteriorating VHS taped and digitizing it for DVD-this software/hardware package is elegant and perfect. This product has not been rated very highly anywhere I have seen it and I was reluctant to order it for that reason. I did so figuring I would return it if it didnt work for me. I cant stress enough how easy it was to set up and start working! Possibly the most mind-bogglingly simple-to-use setup Ive ever encountered, especially with video. I used to use Formac Studio TV firewire interface for my conversion needs. It never seemed to work as advertised, and when it did work, it invariably rendered choppy video that cut out every time there was the slightest flaw in the video tape playback. The Formac interface cost me over $200! Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed with this machine but didnt know what else might be out there! When I found the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD for Mac I was at once excited and hesitant. The reviews nearly scared me off, but the price([...]) was right. I realize that this price is higher now, but having had the chance to use it for a while, I can say it is worth the $60-$70 I normally see it advertised for. If you are a CONSUMER LEVEL user who doesnt own professional video equipment, and you need to convert some old VHS tapes to DVD or Quicktime, this is what you need! Check the system requirements against your machine and go for it!

The Good -- Ive used Roxio products for many years off and on -- always found them useful and user friendly. Always accomplished what I bought it for. The software on this product for MAC is great. Once installed it was simple to set up and begin converting VHS tapes. the BAD -- the device that connects to my laptop is terrible. First it took a lot of time and effort troubleshooting why there was no picture. I had to google it -- and found out you have to plug it straight to the laptop usb. New Mac laptops (at least mine) does not have the standard USB port anymore. Got out my older laptop, confirmed all was in working order and tried again. You have to wiggle and maneuver and wiggle and pull and wiggle, etc. ALOT before the picture will display. The tape is running, all the audio is playing but the video is not. Once you get the cable and USB JUST RIGHT -- DONT TOUCH IT!!! It will take forever to try and wiggle it back in position. Its like the USB on the Roxio device just does not fit and connect well in the usb port on my laptop. now -- its not displaying a picture anymore. It was an hour ago, now nothing. the video still plays, sound still going -- and I didnt touch the device or move the laptop at all. So very disappointed in the quality.

I had a Sony VHS to DVD player-- would play either medium and you could dub back and forth. I copied hundreds of VHS tapes (both commercial and things I had taped from television and rented DVDs) to DVD. It was a bit complicated to follow the process at first but once you had it, it was easy and the quality was great. After 12 years it ceased to function, and I wanted another one. Couldnt be found other than random models sold independently for a staggering amount of money. When I went to a big box electronics store, the salesperson recommended this Roxio product and showed me home video she had copied and stored on her phone. Seemed like decent quality and so I bought it. Had to return it because even though I said multiple times I am a Mac user I got it home and it was for Windows. So I found the Mac version on Amazon for considerably less (about $40 savings). It was fairly simple to hook up and the instructions to begin taping are fairly simple, also. You will need a VCR, which I happened to have in a box in the closet. So far, so good. You start the VCR, (or a video camera, apparently, can also be used) which is connected with the actual Roxio device to the computer. I hit Play on the VCR and Record on the computer screen where the Roxio window was displayed. Again, so far so good. After one tape was completed I wanted to watch it to check if it had worked (I had been burned on another companies similar device to turn cassette tapes into computer files). Its a bit of a challenge to even find where the file gets stored on the computer. Once found I attempted to drag and drop to iMovies but that didnt work, nor did moving the Roxio icon to the dock. So I had to search to even locate it, and still dont know precisely where on the hard drive it has sent the file. But then , the bad news... The picture quality is faded (even in the small window where it displays on the computer, so no telling what will happen when played large on a TV screen) and, worse, the sound does not sync to the picture. Its like the scene in Singing in the Rain where the picture gets ahead of the soundtrack. I happened to be copying old episodes of TV variety shows, so both the speaking and the singing are off-kilter. I will call tech support for the company-- remains to be seen if that is even responsive. If not this will be returned. I dont know if there are other equivalent products-- this was the only brand I found-- but it is NOT recommended. Looks like I will be keeping my VCR and finding a place to store the old video tapes.

I bought this package to rip some old home movies from VHS to my Macbook Pro. The experience you have when using this product is rather mixed. PROS: It does what it says it will, easy install, easy process CONS: very few options, VERY unreliable connection If you need to convert VHS to digital or DVD this prodect is decent. Its not great but it will get the job done. The setup is fast and its a fairly straight forward process. When you install the disc it will install both Easy VHS to DVD and Toast Basic. You can use Toast if you want or just import into iMovie. If they wanted to you to use Toast youd think they would have included the premium version. The version they give you functions but its also full of the upgrade reminders which drives me crazy. Importing into iMovie is very easy. Its time consuming (even on a quad core processor with 8gb of RAM) but it does transition smoothly. The size of the file on the best setting is very large. Its surprising because when you are done youd think you created a HD file. Its really that big. If space is an issue avoid the high quality setting. The biggest issue with this product is the connection. At first the video didnt show up so I unplugged and replugged everything. Next the sound didnt come accross so I unplugged and replugged everything. Then the sound came through but the video went out. After a few times everything magically worked. Not a fun experience. Overall its an ok product that will not amaze you but it will get the job done. The connectivity is a bummer and more options would be nice too.

I can now digitize a ton of VHS tapes I’ve collected over the years, and thereby gain all of the advantages of digital files (near-instantaneous access to any point in a movie or cartoon). Yay!

YAY!!! We can finally enjoy our favorite home movies easily again without having to dust off the VCR and pray it still works - ha! This software was quick and easy to install and use - didnt curse once! ;) Excellent product - why pay for a service when this is so easy? Update: taking it down to 4 stars - still a good product but I found that about once every 5 tapes or so the sound will cut out partway though and you have to redo. VCR head cleaner helps. I have to run one after about every other tape or I really have trouble.