As a note, if you’re looking for the best rip possible form a VCR, something like a Domesday Duplicator is expensive and complicated…but an amazing option. While that “double rip” process might seem convoluted, it’s actually really easy and something even non-nerds would have no problem doing. I imagine your average person with a stack of old home movies would much prefer getting some DVDr’s, pressing play & record on this, then ripping the DVD to their computer after it’s done. While many of my fellow nerds reading this most likely have a solution to capture 480i into any format they’d like, that’s just not the case with most people. It also has a built-in DVD recorder, which means it could be a decent choice for digitizing old tapes (I’d have to see a sample to fairly comment). I often talk about how I prefer to watch any original 480i content on CRT’s over flat-panels and I certainly love how this supports both. It even has digital audio out, making it an interesting device you can use on both CRT’s and flat-panels, as well as connect it to a stereo.
What makes this RADVCR interesting is the fact that it’s new and the options it offers: Both the VCR and DVD player can output over HDMI and it also offers, composite, S-Video and component video outputs. While I often rant about how terrible it is to use those laggy, $10 converters with video games, things like VCR’s are exactly what they were designed for in the first place! They do a decent job with VHS tapes and if the goal is to just watch some old home movies on your TV, I’m sure either this $200 RADVCR, or a $5 VCR from a thrift store and one of those scalers (or just connecting your VCR to your TV’s composite input) would both be fine. They’re simply taking the noisy, composite video 480i signal from aging tapes and running them through a cheap composite to HDMI scaler similar to this one: It looks like the RADVCR is actually a rebranded Magnavox ZV427MG9 Most likely Funai has some “new old stock” left over and the team behind RADVCR cut a deal to have their logo placed over the Magnavox logo:įirst, I need to warn you of the most important aspect of these devices!!!: None of these “HDMI VCR’s” will magically make your tapes look “HD”. Those companies would then add their own logos to sell under their own brands. Funai is an “OEM manufacturer” that made electronic devices for companies like Philips and Magnavox. The price is $200 and can be purchased here: īased on the pictures on their website, the RADVCR appears to be a rebrand of older Funai recorders manufactured in 2012. Depending on your setup, this might be a good option for you, however there’s a few concerns and things you should know before purchasing that I’ll go into below. There’s a website selling “new” VHS+DVD players they’re calling the “RADVCR”.