[tripletaker]

When I was little my dad used to record us with something. It's on video cassette. I want it in my computer. What do I have to do?

I have a 15" 1.66Ghz PowerBook. I have iLife '06 (iMovie) and will get Final Cut Express soon.

Help me find what I have to buy to import the footage in my computer. Help me find the method with the highest quality and is also not too expensive.

Help!

[Uncle Skeleton]

The best (cheapest) option is to find a friend with a digital camcorder. Most of them have a "passthrough" mode, but at the very least you can record the VHS tape onto the digital tape through composite or S-Video. Failing that, there's the PCI cards (miglia, about $120), the PVR devices (El Gato, starting at about $150 I think), the firewire DV Bridges (formac, dazzle, canopus, pinnacle or a dozen others, starting at about $200), buying your own DV camcorder (used, also about $200 I'd bet), or the crappy USB dongles (starting at about $80). For quality, every one of these except the last one so far surpasses VHS quality that it's not an issue.

[bdwhite]

well, it was suggested to me to look at Canopus' ADVC110 ($249.99;www.canopus.com). I just bought it, and after reading some reviews, I can't wait til the shipment gets here.

I am going to be using it for capturing VHS video, as well as footage from my Mini-DV camcorder. It is a little pricey, but mine is for professional purpose. You may also want to try and eBay yourself a Pinnacle MovieBox 9 for personal use. I saw it *new* for around $80-$90, but the product itself has been discontinued. Even though the description says *Windows Only*, the capture device works for a Mac via Firewire. The Pinnacle software does not, so you would definately need Final Cut, or maybe iLife will work too.

Best of Luck.