ExpressCard 34 Options?

[em]

Hey folks,

Well, I’ve had my MBP for a couple of months now and (finally) I’m ready to start looking seriously into some peripherals. Perhaps hastily, I sold off a bunch of stuff when I sold my MDD and moved into the MBP, including my DV Bridge. Now, I could simply go back to the Dazzle I was using—it did the job, and I had no monumental complaints.

But, I'd like to explore some other options before going back to a fairly old, albeit serviceable, piece of gear. Anyone care to recommend a hardware solution for converting VHS to digital media? (I’m a teacher and one of my colleagues teaches Film; some of the films she uses are not available on DVD, yet our classrooms are rarely stocked with VHS machines, having made the move to a purely digital environment. Plus, we like to archive copies of the especially hard-to-find films.) Is there an ExpressCard that will function like a DV bridge? FW800 options, perhaps?

Thanks.

[eric]

For simple stuff I actually passed from VHS through my MiniDV camcorder since it had a built in Analog/DV converter inside a ways back. :D

On the FW side of things, something like the Canapus ADVC110 (http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC110/index.php) might hit the right balance of performance, quality, ease and price. The earlier version of it was really well-received, as I believe that current model has been too. Search around for review of that little device. Of course there are higher end models to choose from as well and one model below that from Canapus.

You could (or might want to) use the ExpressCard slot for say eSATA external drives when capturing, i.e. for storage. Then you could just burn those to DVD.

[mholt]

There is a JVC machine that dubs directly from VHS to mini dv. I do not remember its number, but it was available 5 years ago. It is a desk top model about the size of a VHS recorder. It will record to a 90 minute mini dv cassette.

Otherwise just the analog out to dv works pretty well, but it only dubs in realtime. Movies are 90 minutes and more. You may need a dv deck that records on 180 minute tapes. That is considerably more of an investment. mx

[mholt]

I just had someone try to sell me one of these JVC dubbing decks for under $500. He keeps his eyes out for them. They are an older version of a similar deck that is more recent, but the newer deck does not have certain features that the older one has. Anyway, they are still out there. If you are interested, I can get the model # and availablilty. mx