>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>>Do you know of a hardware (and software) device that will allow connecting a VHS player (or a 8" tape player) to a computer and convert the videos into a "commonly" used formats (like AVI or other) that can be easily played on any PC or Mac Computer?
>>>>>
>>>>>TIA
>>>>
>>>>There are gizmos like this you can get :)
>>>>https://www.elgato.com/en/video-capture
>>>>http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/dazzle/dvd-recorder-hd/
>>
>>for generic products I'd google "video grabber USB"
>
>Thank you. I am watching a bunch of youtube videos on Elgato Video Capture and reading reviews on Amazon. It appears to be simple to use.

I have a USB TV Tuner and you can do this with most of those too. If you're going to spend $100 or so might want to check into that as well because you'd also end up with a TV tuner out of the deal too - which is pretty sweet you can turn it into a PVR system.

This is what I did:
1. Install Windows 10
2. Jump though series of hoops and hurdles to get Windows Media Center installed. Now Microsoft doesn't include this with windows 10 - but you CAN shoehorn into windows 10 - works great I've done it bunch of times - if you decide to give this a shot let me know and I'll give you the steps to do it.
3. Install TV tuner and set it up in Windows Media Center. Cool! - now you've turned your PC into a TV / PVR system.
4. Install l this nice piece of freeware - https://emby.media/windows-server.html ... and then install this plugin for it https://emby.media/emby-for-windows-media-center.html and configure them.
5. Install the Emby client on cell phone or other devices - I put it on my Android phone - https://emby.media/download.html - lots of platforms, or just use the browser based client from any PC.

..so now what you have is a PC you can watch live TV on... AND on top of that you can watch the live TV from anywhere via internet! (and of course you can record shows, watch them later etc etc etc like a PVR and have a library of your own movies and videos and music, etc too of course) Pretty cool as its like having Sling TV but not paying anything for it. My whole intent here (being the 'king of cheap') is to have an inexpensive Windows 10 PC with a TV Tuner and Emby on it residing at my friends house on the mainland so I can watch TV in Hawaii without having to pay a Hawaii cable bill hehehehe, once again establishing myself as the true "king of cheap". Anyway these TV tuners have inputs and such that should allow you to convert from a VHS to a digital file output - and one of the ones I have even has a built in FM radio receiver too - so you can even save a few more $ by not having to purchase a home stereo system if you have acceptable speaker system for the PC.