Transferriing VSH tapes to DVD?

A friend has a lot of VHS tapes he made when the kids were small. He now wants to edit these and put on DVD.
Apparently there are gizmos out there - in around the <$100 range - which you hook up between the VCR and the computer and it downloads the tape to the computer. One then purchases a software program which permits you to edit using all the tricks - transitions, fades, music etc. Adobe Premiere Elements 7 is one.
Anybody have any experience with this - and what software would you suggest?
Thanks

