SanDisk V-Mate Video Memory Card Recorder

This month I feel absolutely no pressure to convince readers that they should consider buying this product. As I discovered, the SanDisk V-Mate sells itself.

The V-Mate is a slick little box that lets you convert analog video directly to digital and onto popular flash memory cards, including SD, MMC, and Memory Stick. You can also automatically record off-air, cable, or satellite TV programs, just like a VCR. Plug your analog video/audio cables into the back of the box, stick a flash memory card into a front slot, choose your settings, and you're ready to go digital. You can choose to record MPEG-4 video in several levels of quality and resolution, choosing a specific format that's perfect for viewing and sharing on personal computers, PDAs, game consoles, and even cell phones. Not that familiar with the variety of digital video formats? Not to worry, the V-Mate's recording menu will guide you.

YouTube, the Web's hottest video-sharing venue, favors clips uploaded in MP4 at 320 x 240 resolution, and it was in recording to that format that I fully realized the V-Mate's potential. It's a YouTube monster. I'd always wanted to share my videos on the Net. But the hassle of digitizing content from VHS didn't seem worth it. With the V-Mate, I easily dumped a favorite video clip onto an SD card, plugged it into my laptop, and uploaded it to YouTube. And that's when I unwittingly became a V-Mate sales rep. You see, I have this friend, Bob. He's an IT guy in New York City, who always seems to be one annoying step ahead of me when it comes to tech. Bob had been YouTubing his videos for awhile, but was disappointed with the quality. I instant messaged him, inviting him to check out my maiden YouTube post. Minutes later, my phone rang. “That looks great. How'd you do that?” he asked.

I hesitated, savoring that rare instant when Bob the uber-geek had actually asked me for advice. I then spilled all, gushing about the V-Mate. As we were talking, I could hear him clicking away on the keyboard. “It really makes it convenient to digitize any videos and share them digitally,” I said. “You should consider getting one.” “I just did,” he said. “Under 100 bucks on NewEgg. Should arrive Tuesday.” And just like that, my brief but shining moment of tech one-upmanship was over.

School librarians—even those whose video tools are hopelessly stuck in the analog age—can easily convert and post digital video using the V-Mate. If you get one, do yourself a favor: try and keep it a secret, at least for a few minutes.