ClearClick Video to Digital Converter 3.0 (Third Generation) - Record Video & Audio from VCR's, VHS, AV, RCA, Hi8, Camcorder, DVD, Turntables, Cassette Tapes [Requires Working VCR/Camcorder & Tapes]

Digitized my home movies years ago, the process was complicated and I had cables all over the place connecting the various devices. I lost everything when my hard drive crashed. The original tapes sat in a box for 20 years. I looked into sending the tapes to a digitizing services but the cost is astronomically high. Then I found this wonderful device. I can't stress enough how good this thing works. It's easy to use and the video quality is great. The video gets saved and stored on a USB drive and you can easily copy it to your PC or external hard drive for editing. The only gotcha is that you need a device that can play the original tapes. I had both Hi-8 and Mini-DV tapes and thankfully I saved the old camcorders and they still worked. Again, you need something that can play the tapes, this device will not do that... You can even use this device to digitize old VHS tapes as long as you have a VCR. I noticed a lot of negative comments from MAC users. It's not the MAC that is the problem, it's that the file type of the movie that gets created is MP4. MAC doesn't like this file format. No big deal, download a free file converter and convert it to MOV format. Problem solved. This device is amazing! I've been digitizing old tapes non-stop and haven't had a single issue. This product is worth it!

The user manual alone is sets this device apart from any electronic gear I've purchased in a generation!I've done video to digital transfers through the years with other devices, and this is by far the best. It is incredibly functional, yet in a nice small package, with intuitive buttons and menus. Not being connected to a computer is so refreshing, with a micro SD card slot, a USB-C for power or to charge its internal battery, and the built in monitor is wonderful.One thing that any who are expecting higher resolution than this device produces should recognize is that analog video media had a top resolution of 720x480 (and actual television recorded on VHS was 640x480). You've got to accept that video was different from digital, with a much lower ceiling on what could be compressed into its magnetic tape.(And remember that television and camcorders had a nearly-square 4:3 format -- which, in my opinion, should be left at that aspect ratio to maintain its true character; so put the aspect to 640x480 for recorded tv shows. Don't stretch 'em.)From my test recordings and viewing on my desktop's video editor, I am very pleased with its captures.How much do I like this great little tool? I am about to buy another! I returned because I realized that for its price, and the miles of old tv shows on VHS and recorded video on Hi-8 I have waiting for conversion, I could cut my project time in half by running two of them at once. (And I can even do overnight recordings using its simple and effective timer.) I have finally found a way to actually archive my video media, rather than "wishing" I would, or the piecemeal stuff I've done in past years. So I'm going to make this a spring project. Send me another!(I'm now finishing my Beavis and Butt-Head "Moronathon" from MTV, complete with all the goofy stuff broadcast in the 1990s, including commercials. Pee-Wee's Playhouse is next. The original wake-n-bake tv show! Fun times, digitally preserved.)

I used this product to connect to my old Sony Video camera to transfer countless old family video tapes to digital MP4 files. It would have been cost prohibitive to have sent my tapes out to a service to do the conversion. (Not to mention the risk of a service loosing a tape or the tape being damaged through the mail.)Previously, I had tried to use another product that allowed a direct download to my PC from my camera, but these tapes are 120 min in length, and inevitably Windows would perform a housekeeping chore and I would get frame drops. What that means for the final product would be a slight disconnect between the audio and video. A person would be talking, but the dialog and video would be out of sync.Because ClearClick stands on its own, there are far fewer opportunities for frame drops. Only once did I experience a frame drop, likely because of something that happened on the camera side, and a reprocess of the tape resolved it. Whereas the PC I had frame drops on the majority of tapes I tried to convert. I took countless measures to eliminate them, but it was just not possible.There are many amazing features to this product, one of which is the ability to set a fixed time for it to run before writing out an MP4 file. What that means is that I can download a tape from the camera to digital MP4 in an unattended mode.I strongly recommend the purchase of the recommended Sandisk 512gb USB 3.0 device for capturing the final MP4 files. This brand was recommended by ClearClick, and it worked directly out of the box, no issues, no need to format it etc.From a customer service perspective, there is no question about the high degree of support for this product. I had a question for customer service, which I communicated via an email to Clear Click customer support and received an almost immediate response. VERY responsive and helpful.I highly recommend this product if you have tapes to convert, it works great, it is simple to use, you do not need to have a technical background to operate it. If you can plug a cable from your video camera to ClearClick and press the record button on ClearClick, you are qualified!