I am coming in very late to this thread and I know that you have already spent time and money on this project, but another answer is to just use a transfer service. If someone queries the forum with the same question you have, then they might find the transfer service solution preferrable.

I have used this service before I began doing it myself - they do a good job and they are located in most Targets and Best Buys: http://www.yesvideo.com/

If you look in the FAQ section, you can submit up to two sources for a 2-hour DVD as long as it is in the same format. Now it would be quite expensive for the 24 source tapes you have. But for someone that doesn't want to spend the money on hardware and software or want to learn the software, it might be a solution.

Here is another place, but I have not used them: http://www.vhsconversion.com/dvd.html

Priscilla L.