Vhs Tapes

[marshbags]

I,ve got loads of VHS tapes and want to keep most of the content on them.

I,ve just decided to run some of them and find that they need cleaning due to possible atmospherical conditions ????????

Is there any way to clean them up manually first of all so i can view them without mucking the V.heads up.

Is there a device that i can purchase to do the job more professionally and can do the job in reasonable time.

I was going to view them and then see if it was possible to transfer them to DVD via my computer or go somewhere in Udonthani while i,m here.

Thanks in advance for any information and advice.

marshbags

[A_Traveller]

I know there are a few VHS -> DVD places upstairs {4th floor?} of Panthip, which is not near you though. If they are of use to you I'll have a rummage for numbers.

Regards

[captainstabbin]

I know there are a few VHS -> DVD places upstairs {4th floor?} of Panthip, which is not near you though. If they are of use to you I'll have a rummage for numbers.

Regards

I go to Pratunam daily. Could you recommend a particular shop you have used. I have 1 particularly precious VHS tape to copy and I don't want it handed to a loon!

[marshbags]

I know there are a few VHS -> DVD places upstairs {4th floor?} of Panthip, which is not near you though. If they are of use to you I'll have a rummage for numbers.

Regards

Thanks for the info A.T.

If i cannot locate or solve the problem locally, i,ll select the most important ones and take them down to B.kok on my next visit.

Anyone any ideas for cleaning the tapes up please ?

marshbags

[Tywais]

Anyone any ideas for cleaning the tapes up please ?

Not a simple job to do manually but there are machines that can do it just depending on how important it is and willing to spend some money for one. Professional units can run to several thousand dollars. Here is one (re-built unit) > http://www.datadev.com/p4790.html

A very basic unit > Kinyo

To do it by hand will need a VHS player, optical cleaning cloth and mild soapy water > http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/42027

Could check some of the places mentioned if they have cleaning equipment though you are taking chances of the technicians skills.

[marshbags]

Anyone any ideas for cleaning the tapes up please ?

Not a simple job to do manually but there are machines that can do it just depending on how important it is and willing to spend some money for one. Professional units can run to several thousand dollars. Here is one (re-built unit) > http://www.datadev.com/p4790.html

A very basic unit > Kinyo

To do it by hand will need a VHS player, optical cleaning cloth and mild soapy water > http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/42027

Could check some of the places mentioned if they have cleaning equipment though you are taking chances of the technicians skills.

Thanks for that Tywais.

Now i know there are such machines available i can make further investigations and possibly buy one on my next trip home.

As there are lots of tapes with plenty of stuff i value on them i won,t mind paying for a good more reliable unit.

Accepting of course it will be better to clean them before transfering to DVD format.

Much appreciated

marshbags

[Bangkok Barry]

If you want to copy a lot of VHS to DVD, certainly a good idea to prolong their life, you should purchase a machine that can do just that. But guess what - TIT, and it seems impossible to buy one here even at high-so places like Emporium. For some bizarre reason you can buy machines that copy DVD to VHS, although why anyone would want to do that is beyond me.

I purchased a machine in Dubai and it developed a fault, and when I took it to JVC service in Bangkok they actually made it worse. They had absolutely no idea what they were doing and one engineer didn't even know where to plug in the cable. They eventually go it working in a round-about way, but I still had to take it back several times and eventually I just gave up. What really pissed me off was that each time I took it back they just laughed. Professional here, aren't they. Just a bunch of uneducated *ankers.

[marshbags]

Sorry i,m O.T. but to generalise, if i may be allowed please.

Without being cynical, over the years i,ve tried to get several items repaired and in the majority of cases they came back with more problems than the one they were supposed to repair.

I now tend to buy a replacement to prevent further hastle.

Latest example:-

I took my Seiko Kinetic watch back to the locally recognised dealer / agent where i purchsed it from to get it cleaned and checked out for a minor condensation problem.

It worked perfectly and has never been any trouble apart from the minor, yet annoying fog on the watch face ????

Got it back along with assurances that it was nothing serious and it was O.K.

Ohhhhh Dear surprise! surprise!

It started to lose time aloost immediatelyand then it stopped altogether.

Gave it them back and theyv,e had to send it back to the Seiko people to get it fixed.

They asked me if anyone else had looked at it since getting it cleaned and due to experience out here i hadn,t and said so.

They said, oh well it will be about a month before you will get it back as we cannot fix it locally ???????????????????

Had i let someone else look at it then they would have obviously siad it was their fualt and i,d have to pay.

Don,t be tempted to tamper with goods in situations like this or likewise with guaranteed merchandise

Oh well at least i,ve got another one i can use until it comes back, i only hope it,s truly o.k. this time.

marshbags

Rant over.................................................

Edited July 31, 2007 by marshbags

[A_Traveller]

I was in Power Plus store in Silom today and noted that the digital photo processing section also offers VHS -> DVD conversions, apparently about 350B for a one hour tape. Since I expect they do this away from the store guess other Power Plus outlets may offer the service as well.

Regards

[marshbags]

I was in Power Plus store in Silom today and noted that the digital photo processing section also offers VHS -> DVD conversions, apparently about 350B for a one hour tape. Since I expect they do this away from the store guess other Power Plus outlets may offer the service as well.

Regards

Thanks for the info A.T.

Just did a back check and found it today

marshbags

[MickeyM]

Two shops that do VHS/DVD transfers:

- Fuji Photo Shop on the corner of Petchburi and Soi 5 (do a great job with labels and all) at 350b/hour of tape.

- The previously mentioned shop at Pantip (4th Floor near East escalator) at 350/b hour.

However, at 350b/hour it becomes quite expensive in large quantities.

An alternate solution: there are currently two Philips DVD recorders available (Power Buy / Lotus / etc.) that do quite an admirable job of transferring to DVD+/- R/RW (from virtually any source). A lower cost model (no hard drive) at 89xx baht and one with a hard drive (16xxx baht).

I have also used an external PC interface (via USB) for conversion - quality is inferior to the Philips approach and significantly more time consuming.

[marshbags]

Two shops that do VHS/DVD transfers:

- Fuji Photo Shop on the corner of Petchburi and Soi 5 (do a great job with labels and all) at 350b/hour of tape.

- The previously mentioned shop at Pantip (4th Floor near East escalator) at 350/b hour.

However, at 350b/hour it becomes quite expensive in large quantities.

An alternate solution: there are currently two Philips DVD recorders available (Power Buy / Lotus / etc.) that do quite an admirable job of transferring to DVD+/- R/RW (from virtually any source). A lower cost model (no hard drive) at 89xx baht and one with a hard drive (16xxx baht).

I have also used an external PC interface (via USB) for conversion - quality is inferior to the Philips approach and significantly more time consuming.

Your timing with this news is brilliant as i,m looking around at present for a DVD and a local Thai recommended the Phillips brand but no specific model.

The price you quote for the hard drive seems very reasonable as i was quoted nearer 30 k for one, but i couldn,t remmeber the model No.

I seem to remember someone saying on this forum that the prices would be coming down so maybe they have ????

By the way Robinsons only last Saturday was trying to get me to buy a Thai " VJ "make when i enquired about transfering VHS to DVD, Model D-889 with a USB, SD CARD facility and MP4

I wanted to know if they had a Philips brand capable of doing something similar to what you posted.

I wasn,t convinced as the price seemed a bit low, 5,990 reduced to 3,990 but i took the leaflet in case i saw someone who would possibly know if it was a waste of time.

It sounds similar to the one you refer to with the inferior quality and is a promotional item / brand that they are obviously pushing at the present time.

Also i,ve never heard of the brand.

I,ll now go to my favourite store and seek further info on your recommendation.

Thank you to everyone for expanding my options and providing me with sound advice and alternatives.

I will check them out and i,m sure i will find the result i was hoping for when posting the thread.

marshbags

Edited August 9, 2007 by marshbags

[tangoll]

In Hong Kong, one can buy a Hyundai DVD+R dvd recorder for about HK$650 (baht 2800) that does an OK job of recording onto DVD+R discs. This unit has no hard disk, so you have to copy directly from your VHS player to this disc recorder. It's light enough and small enough so that you can hand carry it onto the plane and bring it back with you to Bangkok on your next trip through HK. Tai Lam Electronics with branches in most major shopping centers have this unit. I've used this method to copy VHS tapes of old movies which are available only on VHS and not yet on DVD from the local movie rental house called Movieland.

A packet of 25 DVD+R blank discs will cost HK$100 (baht 430) so if a commercial shop will do 1 hour of VHS to dvd copying for baht 350, then the cost of the Hyundai unit plus a packet of blank discs will be equivalent to about 10 hours of commercial copying. The Hyundai recorder can also be used as a dvd/vcd/cd player.

In Hong Kong, a shop will charge HK$150 for a 2 hour dvd disc conversion/recording, or HK$75 for about 1 hour of vcd recording.

[Firefoxx]

An AV-in PCI card (video and audio) will cost less than 1000 baht. Combine that with a computer that has a DVD writer and you have your solution. There are plenty of software solutions that will do the conversion.

[MickeyM]

An AV-in PCI card (video and audio) will cost less than 1000 baht. Combine that with a computer that has a DVD writer and you have your solution. There are plenty of software solutions that will do the conversion.

As I mentioned earlier, my experience with this approach has not been very good. I have an AVI card (Pinnacle Brand, external-USB). However, it records in MPG format on the PC which then has to be converted to VOB format before burning a DVD. This conversion takes an additional 1-3 hours per hour of VHS content, depending on PC performance. Also the resulting DVD quality is inferior to my experience with the Philips approach.

This week I saw both Philips recorders available at Power Buy at Central Silom Complex - I don't have the model numbers handy, but they are the only DVD recorders currently in stock. Quite a knowledgable staff assisting as well.

[Steve2UK]

By the way Robinsons only last Saturday was trying to get me to buy a Thai " VJ "make when i enquired about transfering VHS to DVD, Model D-889 with a USB, SD CARD facility and MP4

I wanted to know if they had a Philips brand capable of doing something similar to what you posted.

I wasn,t convinced as the price seemed a bit low, 5,990 reduced to 3,990 but i took the leaflet in case i saw someone who would possibly know if it was a waste of time.

It sounds similar to the one you refer to with the inferior quality and is a promotional item / brand that they are obviously pushing at the present time.

Also i,ve never heard of the brand.

The Thai "VJ" brand really is generally low-end stuff - you're right to be suspicious. All the VJ items I've seen (music boxes, radio's, CD players etc) are distinctly "iffy" in terms of buttons sticking, breaking etc - let alone what the electronics are like.