Start with a specific enquiry to All to DVD
The listing gives +44 7500 747421 and [email protected]. These are existing listing contacts, rather than newly verified website details. Start by checking that you have reached All to DVD, then ask whether it currently handles VHS. Before taking tapes to 153 Lawn Lane, confirm the current intake location and whether an appointment is needed.
Give a brief description of what you have, such as six full-size VHS cassettes with handwritten labels and unknown running times. Ask which cassette types and recording systems can be accepted, whether digital files are available, and how the price is calculated. Request a current estimate and an expected completion date for your actual collection.
Decide what you need beyond a playable disc
The name All to DVD is not evidence of a particular delivery option. Explain how you intend to watch the recordings: on a television, on a computer, or together with relatives using an uploaded video. Those uses can require different outputs. Ask what is included, whether files can be supplied as well as any disc, and whether the files will play on the devices you use.
For a family archive, an ordinary video file is useful because it can be named, backed up and uploaded. Ask for the file format, approximate file sizes and delivery method before agreeing to the work. Also clarify whether each tape becomes one file or several. A tape containing Christmas, a school play and a holiday is easier to organise when you know where those recordings sit within the result.
Make the first handover easy to account for
Number the cassettes, photograph their labels and note any known contents. Keep uncertain dates approximate. A relative may recognize the handwriting or people in a recording without being able to identify its exact year.
Mention a cracked shell, loose tape, visible mould or a recording that previously jammed. Ask whether it can be assessed and whether any additional work needs separate approval. Do not test a suspect cassette repeatedly or attempt to clean the tape yourself. Agree how every original will be identified and returned, and keep your own inventory for comparison at collection.
Check a representative recording before the whole collection
If you have a sizeable collection, ask whether starting with one tape is possible. Choose something representative rather than the shortest recording. It gives you a chance to check the proposed output on your own equipment before committing the remaining tapes. This is a question to raise, not an advertised trial arrangement.
When the files arrive, watch the beginning, middle and end of each recording, listening for sound as well as checking the picture. Compare the contents with your inventory and look for missing sections or unexplained duplicates. Report problems promptly and ask how they can be investigated. Retain the original tapes after checking the conversion, and make a second digital copy on separate storage before you begin editing or sharing.
Move from conversion to a private family archive
Once you have suitable digital files, Memrial offers a separate private family archive for photos and home videos. It does not convert physical tapes and is not part of All to DVD. The free plan includes 2.0 GB of storage shared across the archive, with no card needed. Check your video sizes when deciding which recordings to upload first.
Use albums to group recordings, then add what the family knows through comments and stories. Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates so relatives can find memories by year without forcing uncertain details into a precise date. For example, a holiday dated to an approximate year can sit alongside a birthday with a known full date. Invite relatives to help supply names and context while the recordings are fresh in everyone's mind.
Let relatives watch and contribute together
A Memrial Live Watch Party synchronises an uploaded home video for relatives nearby or far away. The host controls play, pause and seeking, with voice and text chat for sharing reactions. The free plan allows 3 hours per month and up to 6 participants. A family wedding recording can become a shared evening, with pauses to identify guests or remember a speech.
For a reunion or anniversary, Event Memories provides a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership; their photos and videos collect in the event album. Closing the link keeps the memories already contributed. That gives the occasion its own collection while older converted recordings remain organised with the rest of the family archive.