Product/Link: HP DVD movie writer dc4000 (Web page currently shows the dc3000) Synopsis: Turn those old home videos into cool new digital DVDs. Requirements: 800MHz Intel® Pentium® III processor or equivalent, 128MB RAM (256 recommended for video editing), 1024x768 video resolution with a minimum of 16 bit color required for video capture, authoring, & editing, USB interface minimum hard disk space. 550MB free for included software installation, 10GB free for DVD video disc creation. Microsoft Windows XP, 2000 Professional SP2. USB interface and drivers required by your operating system. Price: $299.99 Rating: Quick transfer wizard works like a charm. Using the editing software requires going up a learning curve. Comment: Here's the deal. After buying the dc4000 you download a ton of software and then plug it into your USB 2.0 port. You plug your VCR or camcorder into the dc4000. You take one of your tapes, (I have about 50 VHS-C tapes that run 30 minutes each), and play it either on your VCR or camcorder.    Open the program first. Using the Quick Transfer Wizard you capture the video on your computer. You then pick some cover art and a title for your DVD jewel case. Then you write the captured digital data from your computer to the DVD disc. I used the highest quality mode which enabled me to transfer two 30 minute tapes onto one DVD. Capturing the video takes 60 minutes. Writing the captured data to the DVD takes another 30 minutes. Plus a few minutes to make the cover art and the DVD title page. So you can expect to spend 95 minutes to complete the process of placing two 30 minute VHS tapes onto a single DVD. Of course you don't have to sit there the whole time. But, since your movie does play on a small screen while being captured on your hard drive, this would be a good time to make notes about all the different events that happen on that tape. Then place that information on the inside cover of your DVD. Why make the digital transfer at all? Because your children won't be using old VCRs to watch anything when you're gone. The future is all digital. The quality of the transfer was excellent. After transferring over 25 tapes I haven't discovered any visual errors. Here's the transfer process in more detail: 1) Open HP DVD software application. 2) Place new DVD in disk drive. 3) Place videotape in VCR deck. Be sure to rewind it. 4) Set software to capture 30 minutes of video if it's a 30 minute tape. 5) Press "Play" on your VCR. 6) Click on the "Capture Video" button. 7) Repeat process to add a second 30 minute tape. 8) Follow the software's instructions to write data from your hard drive to the DVD disk. 9) Print Jewel case cover on which you've added a title and date. All done. Your children will appreciate not having to go on eBay to purchase an antique VCR. Check Out Last Month's Newsletter Copyright © 1996- thepocket.com