Transfer VHS tapes

[Bruce Whittington]

I am pretty sure that this has been addressed in the past, but I don't recall the answer. Can I transfer some old VHS tapes to my iMac (OS 10.11)? I have an iMic that I used to transfer some old reel-to-reel audio tapes-will that work? If not, are there other options?

 

[DaveWT]

The method I have used in the past is via an EyeTV 200. Not sure if you could locate one of these gems on the used market now but well worth whatever it would cost.

It has component inputs that are used to connect your VCR and the EyeTV software lets you record onto the Mac's hard drive whatever the VCR is playing. Then the same software lets you edit out any commercials etc. and you can transfer the result via a program like Toast to a DVD.

This same box also has a coaxial input so you can connect a set-top box from your TV provider and capture anything that comes across the TV channels.

The only drawback is that you can only record in "real time". i.e. if you have a 2 hour movie on a VHS tape, you have to just let it play on the VCR for 2 hours while the Mac records it.