If you own aging VHS tapes packed full of beautiful memories, you may have heard that these can be converted into digital format. A VHS to digital service will not only bring your favorite home movies into the 21st century but also give you the freedom to watch them over and over again on modern devices and share them with friends and family. After all, how many homes own a working VCR today? If lacking the right playback equipment is holding you back from viewing your favorite home movies, it could be time to rediscover them in digital format.
Thanks to modern technology, it’s possible to digitize old movies, enhance them using numerous tools and features and convert them to DVD, Blu-Ray or USB stick. Using a professional VHS to digital service instantly transforms and optimizes aging videotapes and protects them for many years to come.
Choosing the Right VHS to Digital Service
Which service should you choose? You’ve probably noticed that your local Costco offers this service and Walgreens has a special offer on VHS to digital conversion. You’ve also heard good things about a smaller local company that offers excellent service. The choice can be a tough one and when your precious memories are at stake, it’s a decision you’ll need to make very carefully.
Choosing the right service will ensure your tapes are treated with the utmost care and respect from the moment they are received to the moment they are returned along with your new converted copies. A good VHS conversion service will also offer you plenty of customization and enhancement options that give you total freedom over the finished result.
Costco
Costco’s VHS conversion service only offers VHS to DVD conversion and is actually performed by a company called YesVideo in California. You can choose to convert one VHS tape to DVD or two VHS tapes to DVD with a maximum running time per DVD of 2 hours. If your movie runs over this time, you will need to pay for another DVD to handle the additional footage. You can also choose a theme for your DVD menu. Themes include baby, children, wedding and Christmas.
Walgreens
Walgreens has stores nationwide that offer a range of VHS conversion services. The estimated time for the service is three to five weeks and extra copies of DVDs are available. This estimate does not include the time it takes to pack up your tapes and send them to Walgreens for processing. Some branches of Walgreens do offer a kiosk service where you can drop off and pick up orders however all orders are shipped to and processed at a central facility. A DVD menu and slight enhancements to the quality of the movie are also included.
Southtree
Southtree offers mail-in VHS conversion service and can convert VHS to DVD and digital files. You can also opt to have your movie converted and transferred onto a thumb USB drive. The processing timeline is the longest of the three conversion services detailed here and currently stands at 6-8 weeks. While you can reduce this time to two weeks for an additional fee, you may want to consider another company that can do the job faster for less.
Good Ole’ Mom and Pop Service
Mom and pop businesses may have been overtaken by large corporations in the 80s and 90s, but they’re starting to make a big comeback. Customers are looking for the personal service and assurances that only a small local business can give. They don’t want to be just another faceless customer or an order on a computer. When it comes to their cherished memories, they want to be sure their tapes will not get lost in transit or damaged during processing.
One of the problems with dealing with a larger VHS to digital service is the number of orders these companies manage at any one time. Videotapes and the memories they contain can and do get damaged and lost. That’s exactly what happened to one married couple after they left 20 years of family memories on VHS tape with a large, nationwide drug store chain. The company promised to carry out the conversion locally and complete the digital conversion within 2 weeks. Instead, the tapes were sent by FedEx to Arizona to be processed and were lost at the processing facility. This couple is a perfect example of why doing your research and choosing the most knowledgeable and experienced organization is your best bet.
Preserving the Past with Confidence
When you choose a VHS to digital service, you need to be sure that the special moments that make up your past are available for future generations to enjoy. This means choosing a company you can trust to treat your memories as if they were their own.
Not only should you trust the company you choose, you should also be careful to not select a company solely based on price. Saving a dollar or two may sound appealing to your budget, but there is no price for irreplaceable memories that are lost or damaged in the process.
By doing your research, comparing the various services available in the marketplace and obtaining price quotes, you will be in a good place to make a decision about the best company to choose.