4/5

posted May-26-2013

"I saw the advertisement for Yesvideo in a Costco mailer and thought 'what a good idea': I could finally transfer my old 8mm films from the 60s (which had all only been viewed once, after I'd originally spliced them together), to digital format. Then I saw the part of the advertisement titled "What we won't do" (provide digital files of the material (DV video) - which aren't the DVD type of file but they need to make them anyway in order to make the final DVDs which have about 25% of the original pixel data in them - not noticeable unless you're interested in quality reproduction) and decided to send in one test reel composed of snippets of random scenes that didn't really fit in with anything else in my collection - just to see what the service actually provided in an end-product.

So here's what I got. As advertised, I got two DVDs and the ability to view their contents online, free of charge, for a period of 90 days from the time of purchase. That part is all well and good. Here's the rub (which may not bother some people who don't care about detail which mimics the original - and there are many, probably most people don't actually care as long as it's easy): The 8mm film, which is taken at 18 frames per second, is transferred to a medium (DVD) which plays them at nearly 30 frames per second (29.97 fps to be exact). This can cause frame-rate issues.

I e-mailed Yesvideo support and asked if there was any way they could arrange for me to either download the original DV files or to make them available on DVDs - all for a fee of some sort, of course - I wouldn't expect this service to be free. It turns out they don't do High-end, DV transfers which is what I thought they did.

They were very courteous but not at all knowledgeable in their responses, effectively repeating the party line that they offer no option for purchasing the original DV files, which they already have on their system but won't sell to the purchaser of their product.

My resort is to begin looking around for a service which caters to anyone interested in retaining as much of the original film information as possible. Does Yesvideo save your memories? Yes, but only about 25% of them.


Addendum:

After corresponding with Darian Patchin, the Director of Online Marketing at YesVideo, Inc. as a result of my initial review, and having Darian offer to do no small amount of research, he determined that the equipment which Yesvideo uses to produce their DVDs does not produce uncompressed video files which was what I was interested in. His offer to refund the entire cost of my test transfer was a more-than-fair approach to resolving my original issues. His perseverance in pursuit of that resolution was rather remarkable - he had to put up with me, after all, and that's no small accomplishment - trust me. The speed issue seems irrelevant in view of these facts.

Now, it's important to say that uncompressed video's primary purposes include the backup of the material on your films and as a starting point for creating the MPEG-2 files ultimately copied to a DVD. For most people this is unlikely to be an issue. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about; you can always 'down-convert' an uncompressed video file to the much smaller compressed files on a DVD. The reverse isn't possible; You can never 'up-convert' from a compressed MPEG-2 file (DVD file) without losing some of the detail. The amount of detail, which is lost in any compressed DVD file, is unlikely to be noticed by anyone watching their footage on a screen which is less than 60" in size. It is likely to be noticed by anyone interested in extracting single frames from their data.

I'd like to insert what might be a pertinent comment; KEEP your original 8mm films even after having them transferred to DVD. 4K or Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) may not be everywhere - yet, but it's certainly coming. Even though 8mm film is based on triacetate (except Fuji Super-8, which is polyester), it's still a decent medium for fairly long-term storage, as long as you don't subject it to light or high humidity or high temperatures. With a DVD to watch, you're going to be less tempted to run it through a projector anyway.

I do think it's a shame that my six attempts to arrive at a resolution through the Customer Service representative led, not as a result of any intention on her part (she was very courteous but lacked the tools to effect a resolution), to a dead-end and that it took a review on Resellerratings.com to elicit a response which then led to a very fair resolution. "

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5/5

posted Apr-27-2013

"This is something I needed to do for some time now. My vhs tapes had been stashed with the old camcorder for years and I just hadn't found a place that was reasonable enough in price to get it done. We tried yesvideo out w/the first three tapes when I received the groupon. (I still hesitated as I was nervous about sending so many memories out through the mail.) The videos were processed quickly into dvd's w/highlight reels and we were able to share them online w/more family members. Thank you so much."

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5/5

posted Apr-17-2013

"I have a number of Super 8 films I want to convert to DVD format. I had one done by another company about a year ago and while the end product was acceptable, it took quite a long time. Saw a Groupon for Yes Video and decided to give them a try, could not believe the quick turn around, from sending the film to them to receiving the DVD back was about two weeks. Price still seems high to me so am waiting for more options on the remaining films."

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5/5

posted Apr-12-2013

"We tried out Yes Video because of a deal we received on Groupon and we were very impressed with their service. The turn around time of sending the videos, having them transferred to DVD, and receiving our package, was really quick (I think about 10 days). Also we enjoyed the special touches they added, like being able to share your videos on Facebook and their "Highlights" where short clips from each video are played with your choice of background music (3 choices). They even included a few packages of popcorn with our return order. Would definitely recommend their service to anyone."

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5/5

posted Mar-12-2013

"We have had two experiences with Yesvideo, both were fine. The one we sent before Christmas took a bit longer but understand the rush at holiday time. They guaranteed it before Christmas and fulfilled their promise. My Mom had passed away the summer before sending tapes and we were able to watch my Mom on Christmas Eve, it was a wonderful experience and made our holiday. The second order went fine, but I had waited too long for some of the vhs tapes and they had deteriorated somewhat. Just wish I had sent them sooner but so glad I finally sent them.
The over 600 photos I sent came back great. I have been able to share the dvd of pictures with family and it has been wonderful to look back over the years.
As far as the coupon use, I was sent an email from Yesvideo that I used. One was 30% and another 40% and double copies. That made for a great price in my opinion.
Thanks Yesvideo, recommend y'all whenever I can."

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5/5

posted Mar-03-2013

"I'm a tough customer so getting scores like this from me is not the norm. YesVideo has delivered top quality service and products to me twice in the past two months and they have been excellent! They digitized all slides from the 60's and they look amazing. They delivered the final products with my original slides boxed perfectly and safely. My family loves seeing the images from our childhood. The price was great-I used a groupon for the first order and they sent a coupon with my package for my next order. I called them the 1st time and the customer service was great. No waiting, very helpful. I highly recommend YesVideo-they take really good care of you. I wish it was like this everywhere!"

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5/5

posted Feb-19-2013

"Yesvideo did a great job transferring my old Super 8 film reels to DVD. They were extremely helpful and I can't wait to send more reels to be done. Thank you!!"

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5/5

posted Feb-19-2013

"I wanted to transfer our video to DVD for YEARS. The videos are old (from the 70s and 80s) so I feared that the quality would be poor since the film was very likely in bad condition.

When I got my previews, I thought they were OK, kind of grainy. But when I got my DVD O WOW!!! They were awesome. My sister cried when she saw video of our dad and grandmother again in a very high quality restoration. My mom loved seeing her kids as "babies" again. And my nephew got a kick out of seeing his father and aunts/uncles as kids.

Transferring video to DVD is not cheap - I didn't expect it to be. But I was surprised at the very reasonable rates and high quality of my returned product.

I sent in most of the rest of the videos to be restored, so we can't wait to see our old film again.... Yesvideo made my family so happy."

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5/5

posted Jan-21-2013

"Did an excellent job for copying my slides to DVD. I had scanned them on my HP G4050 prior to sending them, in case they were lost or damaged. When the DVD came back (along with my slides) I compared them. Yesvideo copies were brighter and the color was awesome. I couldn't believe my G4050 did such a poor job. I will gather more slides to send back to Yesvideo along with some old 8mm films. 100% satisfied...."

This review was modified by Oldonetwo on January 21 2013 09:51:22 AM

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5/5

posted Jan-08-2013

"After researching other companies locally, a friend of ours told us about yesvideo's website. We had used yesvideo before, unknowingly, when we had some tapes transferred to DVDs at a retail store. This time, we really needed a more economical way to transfer our tapes, not to mention that these tapes are irreplaceable and extremely sentimental to us, as most family tapes are. I contacted a customer service rep at yesvideo, and after consulting with her, and knowing that our tapes would be shipped via UPS, which I've never had any issues with ever, we shipped 30 tapes to be transferred. The entire process was great! The price, unbeatable....period. Once yesvideo rec'd our tapes, they were backed up, so that if the returning tapes/DVDs did happen to get lost, yesvideo had copies of them. That took alot of the stress out of the process for my wife and me. We are completely satisfied, and it is so great to watch the DVDs of our child growing up. 60 plus DVDs...and counting. We will be using yesvideo again, and again, and we are telling everybody that we know that yesvideo is THE place to have tapes/media transferred. The customer service staff is great, understanding, compassionate, and knowledgeable. Our DVDs were processed pretty quick, in our opinion, and the entire process was just so great. It really makes me feel good to be able to write this review for such a great company."

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5/5

posted Jan-07-2013

"Yesvideo was very patient and worked with me when I did not understand the process. My memories were very important to me and they treated me and my tapes as such. I am very appreciative of such service and will use them again. Memorysafe is excellent. Loved their shipping policy, so easy. Oh one more thing, I use Groupon for one of my orders and like the service so much I ordered more without the coupon."

This review was modified by HARRIS13 on January 07 2013 01:03:10 PM

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2/5

posted Dec-31-2012

"DO NOT BUY GROUPONS WITH YESVIDEO. Terrible experience with unhelpful customer service. I have converted DVDs through Yesvideo via Costco and have had no problems. It was affordable and trustworthy. I even recommended it to family. However, after referring people to the groupon deal, I am very dissatisfied. I assumed doing the groupon would be the same as ordering through Costco, where they would convert 2 videotapes to one DVD. Instead they only convert one tape to one DVD through groupon. I had sent 5 tapes to convert to 3 DVDs. I was out of the country for a month. On the voicemail they said they could return the tapes but instead they decided to charge me $140.84 for 3 copies per tape, on top of my $60 groupon credit. They did all of this without my consent. Now I have to return all of the DVDs to get a refund and I'm assuming forfeiting the groupon. Either way, I'm going to get my money back whether they like it or not but I have spent so much time having to deal with Yesvideo's unfriendly customer service, I won't recommend them to anyone again. Buyer beware."

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5/5

posted Dec-30-2012

"Its time to update my review. A few weeks ago i received my videos and the DVDs. they are terrific. Kudos to YesVideo and their staff. They were very professional in how they handled my initial issue and worked tirelessly to be sure i was satisfied. without any hesitation i will continue to use YesVideo and recommend others to as well.

My experience was great with Yesvideo has been very good. They did a great job converting my VHS tapes and the cost was very fair. Candidly, I had a problem that as the result of a misunderstanding. The customer service team was quick to respond and eager to work with me to address the situation. Truthfully they could not have been better or more fair. I strongly recommend using Yesvideo. They provide a a great service and outstanding customer service. "

This review was modified by JPD1111 on February 27 2013 07:50:52 PM

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4/5

posted Dec-19-2012

"I had a pretty good experience with Yes Video. My tapes were returned in the same condition that they were sent. The CD's were excellent. However, my only complaint is the way they are chopped into chapters. Not happy at all with that. But I am pleased with the quality. I have used them twice and both times I was contacted via e-mail prior to their returning the tapes and CD's to me. The cost is comparable ONLY when using a discount or purchasing an offer from Groupon or Living Social. Which is what I did. I was shocked to see how much they charge without discounts. I had no need to contact Customer Service so I cannot comment on their service."

This review was modified by tutielynn on December 19 2012 07:23:11 PM

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5/5

posted Dec-19-2012

"Yesvideo did a nice job with an old home movie clip reel from 1933. Their communication on receiving the movie reel was timely, it was processed fairly quickly and well-packaged on its return. Viewing it online was nice for extended family members. Conversions of 8MM tapes from 1996 also turned out well. This was part of a Groupon Deal which made the cost more reasonable."

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