Computer system for VHS tape transfer?

[RaeRae]

I sure could use some advice on what computer I need to purchase for VHS transfer.

On Newegg I saw:

Desktop Computer Core 2 Duo E7600 (3.06GHz) 4GB DDR2 1TB HDD Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Is this a good choice for $150?

Does anyone have a system they no longer need, and would like to sell?

Thanks!

[lordsmurf]

Wait, stop, don't rush this. It always ends badly.

Tell us about the project, what gear you have so far.

A realistic project budget should also be given. (Realistic, not the price of a night out to eat, drinks and dessert.)

[MrPete]

I can tell you this: that CPU is slow, in a very practical sense. At the CPU level:* it can compress/decompress a total of 25MB of data per second. (https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php...3.06GHz&id=948 )
* it has 2 cores, and 2 threads total (no 'hyperthreading') so literally only two things can be happening at the same time, including different I/O interrupts etc. ( https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us...6-mhz-fsb.html ) This means there's little room for inefficiency in the drivers and software. That generation of CPU often had users thinking their machine was "locked up" during data transfers.
* The LGA775 generation chipsets are pre-USB 3.


Bottom line: assuming it is able to capture the data you need, it will still feel slow. Whether that's a bother is up to you of course

[RaeRae]

Thanks for the offer of advice! I am pursuing the purchase of a workflow with a TBC and a good card from LS. I need to specify an operating system to get the ball rolling. So I am shopping for a computer that has storage, some RAM and an operating system in the vintage of the best transfer cards.

What I have: I already have a quality VCR (JVC HR-S9600U), and a TOSHIBA 2TB SATA 6.0 GB/s drive dated 2014. The JVC is like new, after I cleaned the heads with 99.9% isopropyl alcohol (MGChemicals 824). The drive was taken out of a defunct computer and I access it through an external iDsonix drive dock. I think of this old drive as a working drive. What is the safest drive or service for final storage?

My project: I have 38 VHS tapes, mainly of family holidays, dating from the mid-80's. Oh my gosh, the videography is usually awful. Nonetheless, I want to provide quality copies of these to all my nieces and nephews. Some use MAC computers and others use PC's. I am thinking I'll purchase hand drives for each recipient.

Experience: I got my feet wet on VHS transfer using a Video2Digital@ 2.0 Converter (V2D). Honestly, I had never used a VCR-player before! The V2D converter was wonderfully easy to use, and inexpensive. Among problems are white and black shadows/halos likely due to clipping by the V2D compression routine. And the color is off. I believe I have read that often blind compressions like this put more information in intensities and less in color information. Late in the game of transfer with the V2D unit I happened-on to the DigitalFaq forums. When I used the settings recommended by LS for the JVC-VHS, I was able to transfer one tape that previously appeared as pure gibberish. I wish I could understand that miracle! I do have image processing skills from photography work, so I understand things like color, gamma, and clipping. So far, I've been using Video Pad for video editing.

Status: I am at a point where I feel I should redo all my transfers using the correct JVC settings. But if I am going to redo everything, perhaps I should go for the whole workflow, hoping a standalone TBC and better transfer card will tweek better images/video information out of my tapes. With lossless video data, perhaps I can control the compression and color better than the V2D box does.

So I ask, what is a decent computer for my project?

Thank you!!

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaeRae

Experience: I got my feet wet on VHS transfer using a Video2Digital@ 2.0 Converter (V2D).
Status: I am at a point where I feel I should redo all my transfers using the correct JVC settings. But if I am going to redo everything, perhaps I should go for the whole workflow, hoping a standalone TBC and better transfer card will tweek better images/video information out of my tapes. With lossless video data, perhaps I can control the compression and color better than the V2D box does.

Yep. And that's not just a good plan, but a very common plan.

1st attempt was cheap gear, bad quality outcome.
2nd attempt will use good gear, and be a true archive of your precious memories.

I'd suggest not buying a "ready made" system, from a big box retailer like Newegg. Great place to buy parts, but the ready-made builds are generally craptastic. It's not the CPU, or size of the HDD that does it, but the motherboard, cheap power supply, etc. In this case, it's a proprietary Dell desktop, and those are lousy. Parts of it can be swiped, some custom mod parts added, to make nice systems.

How good are you at building systems?

[RaeRae]

I have not built a system but would get a kick out of doing so. BUT, I should behave myself and get a system already put together. It seems to me there might be any number of systems that folks have used and are ready to pass on to someone else, much as the TBC's are passed on.