Hi generalprime.
I my experience, I have tried various TV Capture cards for the PC and different PC setups, and found the WinFast PVR2000 to be the best so far, as it's got a built-in hardware encoder/decoder, is easy to use and seems to do the job better than some other more expensive cards - I'm sure there are bigger and better versions out there, but not sure what they can do.
The other thing I've realised is that unless you have a decent PC with all the necessary bells and whistles, video editing is mostly a pain in the neck - I found that the easiest (and best quality way) way to capture and convert from VHS/Beta to DVD is by using a decent quality set-top DVD Recorder with a built-in hard drive, like the LG range. I got me one of these units for my home theatre system and have converted all my old VHS tapes to DVD effortlessly. I plugged in the VHS and Beta video machines, the DSTV decoder, hooked it up tomy HT and TV system, pressed play and record, and waited for the program to finish - perfect transfers!
You also have to keep in mind the cost outlay - if I recall, my DVD Recorder was only R2500 a year or so ago, and they're probably under R1800 currently for a decent model.
With the PC route, the TV Tuner was approx. R800-1000, a DVD writer about R300-R500, plus any additional RAM, hardware, decent capture & editing software, etc. your PC might need in order to do the job properly.
I was often throwing DVD's away 'cos they didn't burn correctly, or the video/audio synchronisation was out, or it skipped, but with my LG, I've had no hassles - and I can use it as a normal HDD program recorder (a bit like the PVR or VHS video machine). If I want to add fades, transitions and the like, I can also dump the recorded MPG/VOB file to my PC for further editing, conversion to other formats, or to make extra copies. Most all of the editing I do is done on the DVD recorder and is very easily done, without problems.
Home theatre set-top DVD recorders are getting cheaper by the day, and I would honestly recommend one for transferrring VHS to DVD, unless your really want to fiddle around with the PC setup...
BTW, my unit can record to HDD, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW & DVD-RAM, so there's no shortage of media types/formats to use...I'm currently using DVD-RAM discs for my everyday TV program recording, in high quality, and it's great...
Shout if you want further info...
HB
