In order to raise funds for Changing Lives Malawi, one of our trustees, David Bell, is providing a service to digitise old VHS format videos, DV cartridges, and potentially Betamax format videos. Please read all the guidelines and information carefully.
Orders will be limited to a quantity of 5 tapes / catridges at a time. There’s been quite a bit of interest and this will give as many people as possible the opportunity to start getting content converted. Additional requests can be made when the previous one is completed.
The minimum cost will be £7 per tape or £30 for 5, but of course the charity will accept any donations above this! Payment will be due when the converted tapes are returned. The Bank details of the Charity will be provided at that time.
The converted video will be returned in both MOV (Quicktime) and MP4 formats, although other formats can be accommodated on request. The MP4 format is a popular standardised format used by almost all video players. Android, Apple, Windows and other devices can use it. Modern TVs can sometimes play them also.
All the original tapes will be returned with the digital copies. No versions of the content will be retained.
Please include a USB / flash drive (example shown below) with a minimum capacity of 64GB, when dropping off your tapes. These are readily available for around £10. Depending on the duration of the media, additional USB drives may be required. If you have an old USB drive, please clear it as it may need to be reformatted. The returned drive will be compatible on both Apple and Microsoft.
The service is only being offered locally to the G63 post code (and some adjacent areas), therefore it is assumed no costs for pickup / return of media.
All monies raised will go to Changing Lives Malawi
Please read the disclaimer at the foot of this page, before making any requests.
Please confirm your interest using this contact form. That will be acknowledged, and requests will be managed on a first-come first-served basis.
A date / time for collection of the tapes will be agreed via email, and a rough idea of how long the conversion will take provided. It should be noted that until the volume of requests is understood and the time to complete each conversion quantified, it will be hard to initially predict timeframes. Please don’t expect Amazon Prime levels of turnaround, this is a part-time charitable venture.
Disclaimer
It should be noted that this is a voluntary effort and not a commercial enterprise, and whilst there’s never been any issues previously, David Bell and Changing Lives Malawi will not accept liability for any damaged media. There are companies that can repair media, but this service does not have that capability. The quality of the output is very much driven by the quality of the original media, every effort will be made to optimise the quality, but no guarantees can be provided. By submitting the contact form you are acknowledging and accepting this disclaimer.