Match the transfer to the way you will watch
Video-tek advertises video-to-DVD transfer from £10 per tape and video-to-USB transfer from £15 per hour of footage. These are starting prices, rather than a complete quotation for a particular collection. The published figures do not specify VAT treatment or explain how partial hours are charged. Give the business a tape count and your best estimate of recorded running time, then ask for the total for your chosen output.
DVD can be a useful choice for someone who already watches discs on a compatible player. USB is worth considering if you want video files for a computer, backup drive or family archive. Before ordering, ask which file format the USB option provides, whether storage media is included and whether the files will work on the devices your relatives use. A USB delivery method alone does not settle those questions.
One collection can contain several tape formats
The website lists VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, Mini-DV, Hi-8, Digital-8, DVD and Micro MV among the video formats that can be converted to DVD and USB in both NTSC and PAL. This is useful when recordings came from different cameras, or when some family footage was recorded using a different television standard. Tell Video-tek which formats you have, including any recordings made abroad, instead of assuming every cassette needs the same treatment.
Make a short inventory using the labels already on each tape. Number the cases and note anything you know about the contents, such as a school performance or a holiday. Keep uncertain dates marked as uncertain. If a cassette has visible mould, a cracked shell or loose tape, describe its condition and ask whether it can be assessed. Avoid repeatedly trying it in a player to discover what is wrong.
Arrange the handover before making the journey
Video-tek publishes an address at 2 The Causeway, Downend, Fareham Hampshire PO16 8RN. Its website gives hours of 9:00AM to 6:00PM Monday to Friday and 10:00AM to 3:00PM on Saturday and Sunday, alongside a mobile number and enquiries email. Contact the business before travelling to agree how and when to hand over your recordings.
Use that conversation to establish the expected completion date, arrangements for returning the originals and the scope of the quotation. If only part of a tape matters to you, ask how that affects the work and price. Keep a copy of your inventory so you can match the returned tapes to the delivered recordings without relying on memory.
Check the recordings while the originals are still together
When your videos arrive, compare them with your inventory. Play the beginning, a few points in the middle and the end of each recording, checking that picture and sound are present and that the expected footage is there. Try the files or discs on the device you plan to use most often. Raise any problems promptly, with the tape number and an approximate playback time.
For file deliveries, keep an untouched copy before renaming or editing anything. Save another copy in a separate place, and retain the original tapes. Invite a relative to help identify people and occasions: a voice in the background or a familiar garden can supply context that a handwritten cassette label missed.
Put names and dates around the converted footage
After conversion, Memrial offers a separate private family archive for digital memories. It does not convert tapes and is separate from Video-tek. You can add photos and home videos, organise albums, invite relatives and collect comments and stories. The free plan provides 2.0 GB of storage shared across the archive, with no card needed. Check your video sizes before choosing what to upload.
Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates, helping you find memories by year even when nobody remembers the precise day. For a family reunion, Event Memories provides a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership; their photos and videos go into the event album. Closing the link keeps the collected memories.
A Live Watch Party lets relatives nearby or far away watch an uploaded home video in sync. The host controls play, pause and seeking, while voice and text chat let everyone react together. The free allowance is three hours per month with up to six participants. An old birthday recording can become a reason to gather again and add the names or stories missing from the tape.