When you say you are changing from Apple to Dell, you are then changing the operating system to Mac as opposed to windows, so a conversation would need to take place with the apple sales men at best to see what best suites mac for dvd/cd ect, not being a user of Mac I could not direct you.
For windows if you Google "Dvd formats" that should get you moving in a forward direction. Also Google "VCR to DVD" transfer.

Be careful selecting the DVD/VCR recorder. For some reason there seems to be many models that burn only from DVD to VCR. That seems like going from the car back to horse and buggy again.

We purchased one perhaps 2 years ago and I burned VCR tapes to DVD. Once you get the hang of the procedure it goes along well. However it is one of those 'once in a lifetime' tasks and you soon forget how it was done. This recorder seems to prefer DVD-R but I never persevered with the DVD+R

With the price of blank DVD's so low I personally would not waste my time with re-recordable disks. A friend has some and claims they can be burned up to 1,000 times.

I lucked out on buying the Pioneer 640 DVR stand alone with a hard drive which you can have record TV shows to the hard drive allowing you to edit out the commercials if you want to burn to disk to save.
I transferred all my VHS tapes into the DVR to edit and burn to DVD's.
I LOVED that machine so much, I bought a second one for my bedroom when I heard that was the last of Pioneer making them.
I buy Verbatim hub printable and Taiyo Yuden Watershield printable DVD-R because my Epson printer allows me to print directly onto the DVD's. I LOVE it!
Most people prefer Verbatim & TY's.

If that URL brings you to the homepage, then:
{{gwi:1505949}}

Urlee

Here is a link that might be useful: DVD Recording

zep516...you are right, calling Apple is a good place to start. Thanks.

owbist....Not sure I am following you. Is the DVD-R the one that records things permanently and the DVD+R the one that can be repeatedly recorded over? When you say you didn't perservere with the DVD+R, was there something more difficult about using it? Were you recommending to buy the DVD-R because they are cheaper?

urlee....first of all, thank you so much for that link. I did not have a good website to go to with audio/visual questions and that looks like a good one. Not sure how you managed to copy/paste the 'visual' directions for where I needed to go, but it is sure impressive! No, I don't need directions on how to do it, because I am probably never going to do that myself, but amazed that someone can...lol.

I did a google search on Pioneer 640 and found references to 'not available' any more as you state. That is too bad. Do you know if there is another comparable Recorder on the market? Right now I am renting a Box from Comcast that records TV programs and I have just loved it since I have gotten it. It is so easy to use and fairly reliable. The problem is that you are not 'saving' anything permanently and you can't take anything on the box off and transfer to dvd. Obviously I can't use it to transfer home movies to dvd either.

That is a long thread on the Pioneer 640, if I read the whole thing will it answer the question about whether I can actually buy one or will it point me in the direction of a substitute for it?

I am just not a person who understands Audio/Visual very well. I can manage most of the time to connect and learn to operate a new piece of equipment by just following along with a manual, but connecting all the equipment and getting it all to do what you want it to do together...well, it is just very intimidating. It is like learning a whole new language and I just don't have the interest, time or energy to do it. If I knew someone who was proficient in it, I would be asking them to come and just set it all up for me and cooking them dinner...lol. But alas, I don't.

I could very easily and quickly get to the point where I will throw up my hands and just take the vcr home movies to Ritz camera and spend $30 per vcr tape to have them do the transfer for me. So what I am looking for is easy and simple. That is why I love my comcast box, it was easy to rent it, they installed it and all I have to know is how to work the remote and set up the recording schedule etc. That I can handle.

Maybe I should find an Audio/Visual school to send one of my kids to? [g]

Hi Prairiemoon2,

U R welcome. I think if you poke around on that site, you may find valuable info pertaining to Video recording that may help in many ways.
Sorry I can't answer your question of what would be as good as the pioneer 640 but there has been another Pioneer mentioned on the last page of that thread but if it is for the USA or Canada?
All I know is that what I got made me a mighty happy camper. Having a Hard drive is the best thing invented for many reasons. One of which you never have to worry about running out of "tape" as you would on the VHS tape recorders. I recorded Dr. Zhivago in one sweep using the SP speed. (over 3 hours) I can burn to double layer DVD's.
Another is, you never have to buy "tapes" and only if you want to save a movie, you have to buy a disc to burn it on.
Otherwise you record to the hard drive, watch it, then erase it. (delete)

Urlee