Wide World of Women

Hopefully soon, I will be putting up the last of all my old VHS clips (don't know when that will be because my file converter is not Vista 64-bit supported yet). Anyways, the problem I was having is I've got a VHS/DVD combo unit. A lot of the clips I have come out decent enough considering the quality of the tapes but certain, completely random sections of tape play normally, but when I copy them to a DVD-RAM disc, they come out all distorted for unknown reasons.
What I need is any advice on why this is happening or a dumbed down explaination of how to go directly from the VHS to PC. I'm not tech savy enough to know how or what it means to "plug it directly into your video card" type stuff. When I was in High School, thay taught us languages like Basic and Fortran so my computer knowledge is learn as I go.
Appreciate any help.

You can't go directly to PC unless you have a capture card on your PC with either an s-video or composite input.

If the VHS tapes play with no problem then it's either the DVD recorder, the DVD discs, or it's the DVD player. I would isolate each with tests to see how it goes.

Begin with the recorder. Can you record from another source other than VHS? i.e. Cable box, antenna

Yes, I can record from other sources.
I should have also explained that it almost seems like it's somehow the clips on the tapes. All of the tapes are just massive amounts of clips thrown on the tapes as a compilation.
For example, clips from say 0:00 to 5:40 play and copy to RAM just fine but at 5:41 til whenever that particular clip ends, it will blur. It will play fine in VHS mode but when I switch to DVD to copy it, it will play blurred whether I've hit the record button or not.
I'll have to find the specs for the PC and post them. I know that I've got A/V and coaxial cable hookups in the back.
Thanks for the reply.

Maybe it's something to do with the auto tracking or adjusting of the VCR. Try changing those settings. Also you might want to try stopping the recording when the clips (or pausing if you can) end and restarting when the other one begins. If you do that keep an eye on the number of titles so you don't reach the maximum before the disc is full.

I've tried the tracking and pausing the tape but it didn't help. Hopefully there is a way to get those certain clips straight from VHS to PC.
Here are the specs:

- HP Pavilion a6460t PC
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor E8200 (2.66GHz)
- 4GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM (4x1024)
- 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT and TV Tuner / PVR
- No Modem
- 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
- LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
- 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1394, 2 USB, audio
- Integrated 7.1 channel sound w/front audio ports
- No additional security software
- Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
- HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
- HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

See if the TV tuner has an s-video or composite input. If it does, you can hook up the VCR right to the computer. Next step would be software.

Cable box and the VHS/DVD both have the s-video slots.

edit: PC does too.

Make sure it's an s-video input. Some graphics cards have an output for watching stuff from your PC on a TV. If it is an input on your PC, then hook up and s-video cable from your VCR. Check your computer for capture/recording software. If it came with a tuner it should have something. I think Vista has Media Center which should be able to record.

Great. Thanks for the help.

One more thing. The s-video only does video, correct? Do I also need to hook up the A/V cables to get sound or is there something else I should use?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it. S-video is ONLY video. If you have RCA type inputs, then just hook those up right from your VCR. They sell adapters if you have a microphone jack type input.

Thanks again.
Rocky will be very happy. One of the clips that won't come out right is of Lorrianne Crook with nice nyloned leg close ups.