Panasonic AG-7350 or Panasonic NV-FS200 for digitizing tapes?
 

Hello,
I have 8 VHS tapes (PAL) for digitizing (as capture devices I have and ATI All-In-Wonder 128 and a Samsung VP-D101i miniDV camcoder with IEEE1394) and 3 tapes are moldy. I have absolutely no idea in how bad condition all the tapes may be as I have no working VCR (it was a 2 head with only RF out, so not that big of a loss, I think; the mechanism is all broken and there weren't even any manuals on the internet...). I need a working one. As I wanted to also experiment with S-VHS, I found two choices - the first is the Panasonic AG-7350, which has DNR but no time base corrector, and the Panasonic NV-FS200, which has a TBC, but seems a little lower-grade from what I found. I can't easilly afford an external TBC (that is, if I choose the 7350). Also I couldn't find much info on playback speeds for these VCRs. What shall I do? Any help is appreciated!

The NV-FS200 is what you want here, not a non-TBC unit.

NV-FS200 is comparable to AG-1980 (NTSC). So excellent.

And then JVCs are always an option. I know several decent models are on eBay UK/DE for about 250 €, +/-50. Somewhat unusual, and probably won't last. I've already advised several users on good ones to get.

The AG7350 (or at least the PAL version) does not handle EP tapes properly, playing them at SP speed, the FS200 would be a better choice assuming both are in working condition given that it has a TBC. I wouldn't risk putting a moldy tape near any high-end vcr though.

Thank you for your quick response! But I am worried about the moldy tapes. Do you have any recommendations about them? Also, for capturing is the ATI card better?