Magically Modernize and Enjoy Old Home Videos

TARA BONE contributing writer

There’s nothing like watching home movies that document first steps, special events, or even the sound of a loved one’s voice who is gone. But often, these memories are buried in dusty boxes of VHS, MiniDV, 8 mm, or even film reels in the back of a closet — becoming more and more susceptible to decay and damage each day. It sounds a bit dramatic, but memories are priceless, and rescuing them is easier than you think.

Even if you don’t have a box of “forgotten memories” that you’re not quite sure what to do with, most likely, a parent or grandparent does. Before the ease of cell phones, it was challenging to keep up with rapidly evolving technology. Just when a documenter thought they’d caught up, it changed again. So be gentle with yourself or a loved one who has tried to document all the moments but is drowning in all the media.

Where to begin? There are many companies that offer to digitize home movies and even photos, but two companies that are touted by influencers are iMemories and Legacy Box. There is also a local company called Nembur that digitizes and organizes family memories. We looked to local memory expert Krista White from Memory Lane for her thoughts from years of experience and did our own research to evaluate the pros and cons of each service. Our evaluation ranked the companies as followed based on process ease, price, and end goal:

Process

• Gather all technology to be digitized. Prioritize which pieces to do first (it can get costly at $15.99 a tape).

• If using iMemories or Legacy Box, order the safe ship kit (the box to mail your technology to them). There is a big difference here between Legacy Box and iMemories. iMemories provides one easy size box, whereas Legacy Box has varying sizes at different price points and Krista has found this to be the least customer-friendly option.

* The easiest shipping option is Nembur. There’s no mailing your precious memories to Arizona or Tennessee — you drive them to 160 North Main Street in Logan. Mailing my memories was harder than expected. I ordered and received the safe ship box, gathered all the VHS tapes, photo CDs, and miniDvs, placed them in the box, and then … couldn’t bring myself to mail them. I had to assure myself that they wouldn’t get lost, and they didn’t! Upon receipt of my memories, I was emailed an invoice and they proceeded to complete the digitizing process upon payment and choice of which digital format (download on their app, custom DVD, USB drive, cloud service).

Price

• There was some price shock when I received the invoice from iMemories — I thought I had calculated the number of media I had and the cost, but it was significantly higher than expected.

2023 is the year to organize and then document all those photos and videos stranded in phones, hard drives, boxes, CDs, and gulp … VHS tapes. Every 2023 Family Matters offers tips and resources on how to preserve and share your memories.

• Even with the 50% discount, which both companies offer at various times. But iMemories doesn’t have any addon charges to digitize and download on their app, whereas Legacy Box has some additional fees. In Krista’s experience Legacy Box is the more expensive option. ...continued on next page

Digitizing Memories Quick Guide:

Process

NEMBUR

GATHER MEDIA AND SIMPLY DRIVE IT TO NEMBUR ON LOGAN’S MAIN STREET, NO NEED TO MAIL! SAVE ON SHIPPING COSTS AND GET QUALITY RESULTS LOCALLY.

IMEMORIES

GATHER MEDIA AND ORDER A ONE-SIZE-FITS ALL SAFE SHIP KIT (A BIG BOX). EASY-TO-FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS ARE INCLUDED AND MAIL.

LEGACY BOX

GATHER MEDIA AND CHOOSE WHICH SIZE BOX FITS YOUR NEEDS AND BUDGET. THERE IS LABELING INVOLVED BEFORE ITEMS CAN MAILED, WHICH TAKES EXTRA TIME.

Pricing

LEGACY BOX

IN KRISTA’S EXPERIENCE, THERE ARE SOME EXTRA COSTS TO THIS SERVICE THAT MAKE IT MORE EXPENSIVE THAN IMEMORIES OR NEMBUR.

Turnaround Time

NEMBUR 2 WEEKS *LARGER ORDERS MAY TAKE LONGER.

IMEMORIES 3-4 WEEKS

LEGACY BOX 10-12 WEEKS

…continued from previous page

End Goal

When digitizing memories, think of the end game. Do you want a bunch of digital memories now “sitting” on a hard drive or available to be easily watched and shared? This is where Nembur is helpful. Besides the shipping savings, Nembur has two additional features that differ from other services: They can organize videos by child or special event and then download to a flash drive or upload onto a service. Get ready for this, Nembur partners with Projector, a new family video streaming app that can stream your family videos onto TV just like Netflix! It's private and secure and an account over 5 gigs is a $30 yearly subscription. Nembur offers customized quotes to help users migrate more family content onto the app.

Joseph Horner, owner of Nembur, loves the joy he’s witnessed from families watching home movies that feature loved ones they haven’t seen for years. It’s why he and his wife Brinlee started their business; they wanted their children to be inspired by the memories of his mother who passed away when he was young. They are committed to helping other families do the same.

So, begin today. Pull out the boxes of dusty tapes and start bridging the generations. You never know what treasures of inspiration and fun await on those aging tapes and reels.