[Old Version] Roxio Easy VHS to DVD 3 Plus Video Converter for PC

I purchased this product to convert stacks of VHS tapes recorded a gazillion years ago of parties, performances, graduations, and other important family events. (Yes, I’m older than dirt!) I already have a dedicated DVD recorder and it records well, but it only creates VOB files, it’s ancient (Like me), and therefore limited in useful features. My hope was that the Roxio converter would make it easier to create MP4 files with no loss of video quality. Unfortunately that did not happen. Here are my complaints.Strike one: It still requires a DVD to record onto and will not allow you to record straight to your hard drive.Strike two: Yes, there appears to be a converter feature with the recorder program, but it requires the source to be either MPG or MPEG formats. VOB is out of the question.Strike three and most important: The recorded video had wavy or slanted distortion near the top of the image. I believe it is called “Jitter” and was very annoying. I found another cable to connect my VCR to the Roxio converter adapter but it made absolutely no difference. This was a deal breaker.In my book, three strikes and “You’re outta here!” By the way, instead of returning this bugger I’ll keep it to convert gazillions of audio cassettes sometime. Yes, I said I was old! One more thing: the free conversion program HandBrake allows me to convert the VOB files my DVD recorder creates into MP4 or MKV formats easily. Perfect.7/8/19 UPDATE: Instead of using this bugger to convert gazillions of audio cassettes I gave it to a friend of mine. My biggest complaint was the slanted distortion near the top of the image. Using his source VCR, cables, and computer (Also Windows 10) he had absolutely no image problem. Originally when I converted piles of VHS and VHS-C tapes to digital format my boss, err my wife, suggested the problem was likely me or something I did. At the time I politely disagreed. Now I realize she was right (Again) and I was wrong (Again.)One more thing. My original rating was one star. Based on what I’ve since learned I’m changing it to five stars, as it was entirely my fault that the product did not appear to work correctly. My apologies to the manufacturer.

Though you can convert a VHS tape directly to DVD with this program/hardware combo, most likely you're going to want to convert your tapes to files on your computer first and then assemble them into a project for burning (or uploading to YouTube, etc.). The dumbed-down interface can be pretty frustrating, so here's a few things I learned which you may find helpful.First: when the program starts up, there's two giant icons. The one on the left is for converting a video directly to a DVD. The one on the right is for starting a project, opening the last project you were working on last time (most programs just do that by default), or you can choose a different project. Create your new project, and then import the video (easy peasey). Now you have a video in your project. There's no "save project" option, but that's ok, it's saved. You can close the program and your project is saved. But let's assume you do that: you close the program and come back later. You start up the program, and there's those two icons. Where's your project? Use the icon on the right, *or* go to File, Open Project. Ah, there it is. A project, by the way, is just a container for your videos. You can convert a bunch of videos into one (or more projects), and when it comes time to burn a DVD or whatever, "import" your files into a project and you're ready to burn.The video files remain on your computer, just make sure you don't check the box that says "and delete the source video while you're at it." Which leads to...Second: where are my files? By default, it puts them in your User/Video folder on your C: drive. Again, go up to File and go into Preferences, and you can select where you want your soon-to-be-huge video folder to be. A 30 minute video tape equals 2GB of file space, and it adds up quickly. If your C: drive is running out of room, change the default directory, under Preferences. It may take the program a few tries to figure out what you did, but it will find the files eventually. (It's not the brightest bulb on the tree, this program.) By the way, a regular single-layer DVD holds about one hour's worth of video (4GB), and a double-layer DVD holds 2 hours (8GB).Third: If you don't title your video BEFORE you start recording, it's too late. You can't change it now within the program.Wait till the recording is converted, close the program, and go to the file itself using File Explorer in Windows. Rename the file. Reopen the program, open your project. It will panic and say "I can't find the file!" It's looking for "My Video" or whatever dumb name it gave your video file. Just use the Import button to re-add the file (with it's new name) to your project. Phew! Wasn't that Easy?Fourth: The program will build a nice title menu on your DVD, using the filenames of your source videos (see above). HOWEVER, if you decide to use the transition option (add wipes/dissolves/etc between videos), the program gives you a menu with just the title of the first video in your project. So, if you burn a DVD with, say, two videos on it and a transition between them, all you'll see on the menu is the first video. DO NOT PANIC. Both are there on the DVD, with a transition between them. Only use the transitions if you want to combine videos into one unit. Oy.The program and hardware work as advertised. No bells and whistles here, just basic convert your VHS tapes before they deteriorate stuff. It does the job. You can edit the video before burning it -- simple clipping of sections, that's all. So when that ex-girlfriend or whoever shows up in the video, you can cut that part out. Not that I would know about that. Heh. The S-Video cable did not fit my old VCR camera, so I had to use the RCA jacks (one for video, one for audio) which resulted in one-channel videos. You can use a Y-adapter, I suppose, to get around that.So, that's it. I hope you find this helpful. By dumbing down the interface and supplying insufficient instructions, this "Easy" program took more work than usual to get to work. But it does work. Good luck!