I've been putting off transferring my old 80s and 90s VHS home video tapes to DVD for years and now I'm looking for the best, reasonably priced machine for the job (near or under $200). Since my budget is limited, I don't plan to invest in a new VCR or TBC or any additional gear. I will use one of my late model Panasonic or Mitsubishi VCRs for playback. I have an old, low-end Sima video copymaster I used for VHS to VHS dubbing, which I may test to see if it's any use, but I seem to remember that it could make some sources look worse than a direct connection.

So, I'm not really looking for DVR functionality or an HDD necessarily. I don't need lots of editing features either, since I will mainly be doing straight dubs. If I do any editing, I will probably rip the disc to PC for editing and authoring.

I'm looking for the best picture quality from old VHS tapes at 2hr/DVD in my budget range. I want a machine that will handle drop outs and snow on old tapes, recording them intact and not replacing them with blank or blue screens. I also want avoid any machines with false Copy Protection detection on older tapes. I've had problem with false Macrovision detection on some of these tapes (my own personal camcorder videos) with PC capture cards before.


The old Panasonic DMR-ES15 sounds good for my needs, except it's hard to find a new one these days. I also worry about the bad capacitors and othe age-related issues I've read about. Is it still worth trying to track one of these down? Will one of these 2006 machines last through another year or two of regular recording? Any other thoughts or advice on this model?

Is the Toshiba D-R560 a good choice for recording older VHS tapes? What are the pros and cons of this one vs. the ES15? I've mainly seen discussions of this machine for recording current live broadcasts. Does it deal with drop outs and other defects of old analog VHS tapes? Are there any reason this would not be a good machine for transferring old tapes?

Magnavox H2160/Philips 3575/3576 - This one costs a bit more than I would really like to spend. Although I appreciate the benefits of the HDD, I don't necessarily need it. Again, I am interested to know how this one handles older VHS tape defects, drop outs, snow, etc. Do these models share the same video encoder and processing chips/functions as the Toshiba D-R560?


From what I've read the new Panasonics don't seem to be worth the trouble. Are there any other new sub-$200 DVD Recorders that would be recommended for transferring old VHS tapes with good quality that will handle drop outs, snow, static and other analog defects?

Thank you for your advice.

I've been putting off transferring my old 80s and 90s VHS home video tapes to DVD for years and now I'm looking for the best, reasonably priced machine for the job (near or under $200).

So, I'm not really looking for DVR functionality or an HDD necessarily . . . I'm looking for the best picture quality from old VHS tapes at 2hr/DVD in my budget range. I want a machine that will handle drop outs and snow on old tapes, recording them intact and not replacing them with blank or blue screens. I also want avoid any machines with false Copy Protection detection on older tapes. I've had problem with false Macrovision detection on some of these tapes (my own personal camcorder videos) with PC capture cards before . . .

The old Panasonic DMR-ES15 sounds good for my needs, except it's hard to find a new one these days. I also worry about the bad capacitors and othe age-related issues I've read about. Is it still worth trying to track one of these down? Will one of these 2006 machines last through another year or two of regular recording? Any other thoughts or advice on this model?

Magnavox H2160/Philips 3575/3576 - This one costs a bit more than I would really like to spend. Although I appreciate the benefits of the HDD, I don't necessarily need it. Again, I am interested to know how this one handles older VHS tape defects, drop outs, snow, etc.

From what I've read the new Panasonics don't seem to be worth the trouble. Are there any other new sub-$200 DVD Recorders that would be recommended for transferring old VHS tapes with good quality that will handle drop outs, snow, static and other analog defects?

Thank you for your advice.

The current view is to avoid playback problems related to limitations found with current DVD combo recorders. Drop outs, snow, static, and similar problems are conditions related to videotape condition and playback devices, not conditions related to separate recording devices.

The size and type or your dubbing project has much to do with equipment considerations

My project was very large. Once my dubbing project got underway I purchased additional machines to increase dubbing capacity and shorten the project’s duration with several machines running concurrently. My favorite workhorses were a number of 2006 DMR-ES35V and 2005 DMR-ES30V models.

Since completion of my dubbing project I have had just a few occasions where I needed to copy a videotaped recording to DVD. For that purpose I used one of my favorite old DMR-ES35V models that was still set up for daily use. I no longer have separate VCRs set up to feed signals to DVD or combo recorders. Those VCRs are set aside for standby service. I didn’t purchase 2007 or 2008 Panasonic combo recorders since these models lack essential copying features (found on several of my older Panasonics). In recent months all but one of my 2005 and 2006 Panasonic models have been set aside for standby service. I currently have five 2007 and 2008 Panasonic DVD recorders, all of which are in current daily use. Apart from bugs and design flaws and the high prices for these models purchased new, these might be satisfactory for use in a dubbing project. One 2008 model, my DMR-EZ28, is less prone to erratic behavior than my 2007 DMR-EZ17 models.

With a smaller project a single machine might be all that you need. Since 2007 or 2008 Panasonic combo recorders no longer have user-friendly dubbing/copying, what would I do today if I didn’t have a number of fully functional but “high mileage” older machines set aside for standby use?

One reasonably priced alternative is the 2008 DMR-EZ28 model “refurbished by Panasonic” with a “Panasonic Refurbished Product Warranty” purchased from a “Panasonic Authorized Dealer/Reseller.”

Give serious consideration to a VCR connected to a Philips 3576 or Magnavox H2160 HDD/DVD recorder. I own a Philips 3575 and Magnavox H2160. These products are user-friendly and flexible and should be a practical choice for a dubbing project or any variety of uses.

One reasonably priced alternative is the 2008 DMR-EZ28 model “refurbished by Panasonic” with a “Panasonic Refurbished Product Warranty” purchased from a “Panasonic Authorized Dealer/Reseller.”

Give serious consideration to a VCR connected to a Philips 3576 or Magnavox H2160 HDD/DVD recorder.
Thank you for the informative reply. I have also read through some of your earlier posts which were also very helpful. I have pretty much decided on using a single, non-combo player with one of my existing VCRs for playback.

Can you or anyone else comment of the comparison of the Panasonic EZ28 vs. the Toshiba D-R560? Reading the thread here and other comments elsewhere, the EZ28 seems to have more glitches than the D-R560. Is this true or just a function of the fact that more people own the Panasonic and are comparing it to earlier Panasonic models? Would the Toshiba be more reliable for simple VHS to DVD dubbing?

The D-R560 is also available at a slightly lower price than the EZ28. Does the Panasonic offer any clear advantages over the Toshiba at 2hr/disc quality?

Is the ES15 worth considering at all, if I can hunt one down with low mileage at a good price?

I'll preface this with the fact that I've personally never used a Toshiba but I have used many Pannys as well as other DVDRs.
Using the 2hr speed their isn't a big difference between DVDRs picture quality. Of the machines I've tried I still preferred the Panasonic 2hr speed but the differences are very slight. The one advantage the Panasonic has over most all other DVDRs would be it's FR or flexible record speed. Using FR you can specify exactly how much time will fit on the disc. That is if you have a recording that's 2hrs 10 min. you can set FR for 2:10 and their won't be any unused disc space. With other recorders you'd have to use speeds such as 2:30 or 3hrs. I'm not sure of the Toshiba's speeds but it's something you may want to check into.

AFA EZ-28 vs. ES-15 you may also want to put a EA-18 into the mix. It's basically a tunerless EZ-28 and may be ~$50 cheaper. For line input VHS recording is should basically do everything the EZ-28 would do.
I have several ES-15s and one upconversion model ES-25. I did try a EZ-28 for several months and while it made great looking recordings off HD channels with it's digital tuner, line input recordings were on par with my older ES-15s/ES-25. The EZ models are a little more quirky than the ES series machines. By that I mean they take longer to come on and also may occasionally lock up requiring a reset. I don't think they're any worse than any other DVDR currently sold but it's one problem I haven't had with my older ES series machines.

Note one thing to check up on with Toshiba DVDRs, especially for VHS conversion projects is their problem with overly sensitive copy protection detection. I'm not sure about the model you're looking into but it has been a problem with Toshibas of the recent past. I've not read similar problems with Pannys either older or newer.

One last small thing missing on the EZ series Pannys is "Phrase Save". Its a feature that allows you to save 20 disc/title names. You can then bring up those phrases at a later time and save the tedious job of inputting them again. Once you get used to it, it's hard to not have it.
Say I was burning discs of family vacations for each year and wanted to title them.
I could save the phrase "Summer family vacation 2000"
Then for the next disc I could retrieve that phrase and only need to change the last 0 to a 1 for 2001 and so on. I use phrase save for basically every disc I burn. I title each thumbnail and also the disc itself. Usually the disc title would be the same as the thumbnail. Phrase save saves me typing it all over again.

The one advantage the Panasonic has over most all other DVDRs would be it's FR or flexible record speed. Using FR you can specify exactly how much time will fit on the disc. That is if you have a recording that's 2hrs 10 min. you can set FR for 2:10 and their won't be any unused disc space.

AFA EZ-28 vs. ES-15 you may also want to put a EA-18 into the mix. It's basically a tunerless EZ-28 and may be ~$50 cheaper. For line input VHS recording is should basically do everything the EZ-28 would do.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions. Flexible record definitely sounds like a nice feature to have. Looking into the prices, the EA-18 seems to be within $20 of the the lowest EZ-28, so in that case I might spend a little extra for the tuner unless the EA-18 is less prone to lockups and other glitches.

I was looking at the Toshiba D-R560 because someone in the Philips thread suggested it might be a clone of the Philips 3575 minus the HDD. So far, I haven't found any other references to back that up. I don't want false copy protection errors, so maybe I will scratch that one off my list.

The EZ-28 looks like a good fit for my needs and budget, but I may see if I can find a good sale price on the Philips or Magnavox to get the HDD. I have also seen comments that the Panasonic doesn't handle the various combinations of 16:9 broadcasts very well (such as pillar-boxed 4:3 in a 16:9 signal), while the Philips/Magnavox sounds like it properly creates cropped 4:3 discs and anamorphic widescreen discs which will display correctly on a 4:3 screen.

I was looking at the Toshiba D-R560 because someone in the Philips thread suggested it might be a clone of the Philips 3575 minus the HDD. So far, I haven't found any other references to back that up.
The Magnavox H2160MW9 is a "virtual clone" of the Philips 3576, which is a "virtual clone" of the Philips 3575.

If you're going to primarily use SP then I'd be inclined to go the Philips/Mag. HDD route. With a HDD you can set your chapter marks as well as burn multiple copies on DVD in much less time. The Philips/Mag. has many preset speeds so FR isn't needed as much.
AFA the EA-18 and reliability/lock-ups we haven't really had much posted on it here at AVS but I would think it would be quite similar to the EZ-28. The one "advantage" the EA-18 has over the EZ-28 is that it includes a IR blaster for changing the channel on your STB. For cable/sat. people this would be a big plus I would think. For just line recording from a VCR it wouldn't make any difference though. At $50 difference it might be a bigger incentive to go tunerless but for $20 I'd also be inclined to get the tuner, it may come in handy some day.