First there was the USB turntable, then the PC cassette deck, now we have, you guessed it, USB VCR. Anyone who has a collection of old VHS tapes will know that time is running out and if you want to save those precious home movies and recordings you had better get your skates on because VCRs are disappearing fast, and in five years there may not be anything to play those tapes on. The USB VCR Converter from Firebox comes with everything you need to replay your tapes, download them to the PC and convert them to the file format of your choice (iPod, PSP, DVD etc.). It goes on sale next month for just under £150.00. For those of you that still have a working VCR don’t forget the Boot Camp articles, which show you how to make DVDs from VCR tapes.
If you have a CD or DVD writer drive then sooner or later (probably sooner) you will end up with a disc that contains files that you just can’t read on your PC. CD Recovery Toolbox Free could get you out of that hole. Once installed simply pop in the errant disc and it will see what it can find, and if the file you are looking for is there, and recoverable, just tick the box and it will be saved to a folder on your hard drive. No fuss, no mess, and no cost.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner I hope that you’ll all started to feel a little romantic. Whether you’re loved up or you’ll be spending Valentine’s evening curled up on the sofa on your own with a DVD and some treats, the Heart Shaped Cushtie is perfect for you. Unlike a broken heart, this fabulous pillow can be treated any which way and it simply pops back into shape. It’s so squidgey, squashy and comfy, that you can’t fail to wait to cuddle into it (unlike some people you may know!) I’m a big fan of cushties and have had mine for a good few years, so I think this heart shaped version is the best present you could treat yourself or your loved one to for Valentine’s Day. Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve mentioned a few freeware CD/DVD burning applications in the past but they’ve tended to a bit specialist, or a bit too teccy for absolute beginners but that’s not something you could ever accuse BurnAware of. It’s very easy to use and copes with just about any optical disc format, up to and including BluRay. To use it just click on the icon for the task you want (create data disc, burn ISO image, create audio CD or DVD video and follow the prompts. That’s all there is to it, it’s as near as dammit foolproof, it’s free and it just works. So what more do you need to know?
Over the past few months I’ve had a lot of people asking me how they can extract the soundtrack form a DVD so they can listen to it on a MP3 player or iPod and my usual response has been to play the disc back on a PC and use the most excellent Audacity freeware editor/recorder to capture the audio, then export it as an MP3 file. It works well, bout now there’s an even easier way a freeware utility called Free DVD MP3 Ripper. It couldn’t be simpler, just pop in a DVD, select the part of the recording you want to extract, Read the rest of this entry »
First there was the USB turntable, then the PC cassette deck, now we have, you guessed it, USB VCR. Anyone who has a collection of old VHS tapes will know that time is running out and if you want to save those precious home movies and recordings you had better get your skates on because VCRs are disappearing fast, and in five years there may not be anything to play those tapes on. The USB VCR Converter from Firebox comes with everything you need to replay your tapes, download them to the PC and convert them to the file format of your choice (iPod, PSP, DVD etc.). It goes on sale next month for just under £150.00. For those of you that still have a working VCR don’t forget the Boot Camp articles, which show you how to make DVDs from VCR tapes.
