Does anyone know where i can a buy a recordable VCD/DVD player for a good price. I have a normal camcorder(non digital) and want to record and keep my movies. I dont want to buy a VDO player as these are out dated. Another option is to buy something for the PC. any ideas?

panthip plaza

Any idea of a price? Vcd cheaper obviously!

VCDs are just normal blank CDRs that you can buy for cheap anywhere.

you are going to need to do some research on the web, and read some tutorials also.

first you need to get the video from your camcorder to the computer. That can be done via audio/visual cables, firewire or USB2. For each of these methods you also need an input device on your computer.

a fair amount of hard drive space is also required , and a reasonably fast processor + RAM.

A DVD burner I think is in the 8-10K baht range, while you can pick up a CD burner for 2k baht

just bought a cd writer at panthip for 1,300 baht. blank cd's for 290 baht (50 discs)

I've read on the net that they advise to buy a recordable VCD player. Not a vcd writer for the computer or dvd writer for comp. A stand alone vcd/dvd recorder is more of what i'm after. Any ideas??

The current Sony model RDX-GX7 DVD recorder is listed at about 35,000 baht here:

http://www.sinsiamelectronics.com/cdr.html

I think I would go the computer option where all your money is not put in one basket and writer/computer/video can be upgraded myself. These all in one units are designed to record off the air TV and not of much use here for most people.

Both the computer option and the standalone option have their pros and cons. The standalone option is nice in that it's very simple, little or no expertise is needed. The cons are that they're usually very expensive, very limited in scope, and not very upgradeable. The computer option is good in that it's very cost-effective, very versatile (both data and video), and very upgradeable. The con is that it's a headache for people who are not computer-savvy.

You have a non-digital camcorder, and so you can't connect directly to a computer. The quality is also not all that great, about VHS quality, whereas a digital camcorder (DV) has an image similar to DVD. If you were to go the computer route, you would also have to buy a video capture card, about 1,700 baht at the cheapest end of the spectrum. However, with a computer, you can edit the video, which is not something you can do (at least, not very complicated edits) on a standalone recorder. You would need a slightly modern (p3 minimum) computer to cope with the editing and capturing.

If you already have a computer, a 8x DVD-writer and capture card will set you back around 10,000 baht (6,000 baht less if you only want VHS-quality VCDs from a CD-writer). A standalone 2x DVD recorder is in the tens of thousands, and a VCD recorder is also pretty expensive. You can get the computer option AND a DV camcorder for the price of a standalone DVD recorder.

I personally use a DV camcorder connected directly by Firewire to my computer. With this setup, I get pristine high-quality video which I can edit any way I want. I can even add titles, music, and photos from my digicam into the mix.

Thanks alot guys. Will look into the Computer option.