DVD Capture Device...

theboy

theboy

New Member
...Well as I spent 45 mins I could not find a thread on this subject, so I will start one my own!

Well as many of you out there like myself STILL have tons of old family VHS that would like to convert those videos to a DVD. I have all the bells and whistles to create a DVD (i.e. burner, tons of DVD-R, software, VHS casette player, etc.) But I do not however have the capture device.

Do any of you guys/gals know of a good capture device for under $100 Dollars U.S. that you personally would recommend?

I will give out a link I found from TigerDirect.com
But I am leary on the quality of the device. I cannot afford to spend 400 bucks, But I would like to get something that works!.

Heres the link:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=580965&CatId=1428

Thanks in advance!:D
 
Curious that you refer to ADS. That usb capture device was shelved about 4-5 years ago as a waste of time. One rather reliable capture device goes right into a pci slot for capturing from analog sources. The video captured from an analog input into this type of device is readily in MPEG II format for editing and burning to not only dvds but video cds as well depending on the burning software and the drive(s) available. For a look at AVerMedia's capture device which even includes a tv tuner go to http://www.aver.com/2005home/product/videocapture/ezmakerpci/ezmakerpci.shtml :)

The Ultra TV models include the tuner like the PCI350.
 
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Dad tried that one before and had loads of problems. It would lock up while recording... Probably his machine, but that's just one reason I don't like USB devices. They require so much more from your computer, and tend to give more problems...

Personally, I'd pay a bit more and get a WinTV PVR series. They're much more reliable, and the quality's perfect. I recorded an OOOOLD episode of Silver Hawks from VHS to DVD for my brother, and there was no quality loss(amazingly, that old VHS was still in decent condition...)
 
I still have the ADS model seen there lying around somewhere. You could never get it configured correctly to see any good captures. For over 4yrs. now first the PCI300 then PCI350 pci slot capture card with a tv tuner/vcr type software and full screen viewing option There were a few glitches seen on a WIN98SE machine while being very reliable on the last few with XP. The capture window on those two older models has a viewing window of 5" wide and 3 1/2' high. The Ultra TV package for the tv tuner and viewing analog input(RCA phono) or 75 ohm cable will open right to full screen viewing with a double click on the minimized viewing area.

The only real drawback at times seen is the occasional lock when capturing. That can be the result of other things like a background pround program. There you would delete the partial capture or rename the next to start again. Unlike other softwares that's not a constant issue however. When going to make a burn the captured file is then processed into a temporary folder. In the event you have a bad burn or bad blank you can easily start the good burn by simply pressing on the copy button on NEODVD task bar. On a 3 pci slot board you can simply drop it in the last slot with the sound card often moved to the second rather then first without issues. For listening in order to monitor but not required for capturing sound along with the video a small patch cord reaches over to the "line-in" input jack on your sound card or onboard sound setup. Besides dvds you can also create video cds if your footage captured to MPEG II is 74min. or less. Those can be viewed with a player like the freeware SuperDvd in a cd rom when no dvd drive is installed or available by usb port. The one thing to remember however is the end quality depends more on the quality seen from the input. The higher the quality there the better the capture will be with any device.
 
Intresting, thanks for the feedback & link!

Looks like I will be purchasing that unit for $30.
Too bad I cant find a firewire capture device around that price!:D

Thanks again to all!

EDIT: Thanks for the lenghty reply. The only thing that worries me is I was looking at the spec list on that link you gave me and it looks to be so that I need a graphics card? Or will my integrated graphics do just fine?
 
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For display problems when viewing any captures or playback of files, multimedia playback, gaming, and a long list of things you will find out fast that onboard video is quite limited at times. If the onboard is less then 128mb like the typical 64mb seen with onboard getting a good card will certainly help. The UltraTV 1500 outdoes the UltraTV 350 model that has been used here now for a little over(when did I get that? late 02? mid 03?)? Well a little over 3yrs. already.

The 1500 adds even more with a stereo receiver as well as having the tv tuner built in. The pricing at a couple of sites was also good making me want to order today and keep this one as a spare. Don't mind me. I'm still panting from the last post. :P The price on ADS wasn't $30- it was $50-. For $2.50 more you could have a much superior setup with the UltraTV 1500 seen at http://www.shipdog.com/product.asp?i=AVEMULTR1500&ref=shopping&sku=MULTR1500 You get a tv tuner as well as a capture device along with a few other features.
 
PC Eye: Thank you for all your time & knowledge with computers!
And thank you as well for the links!

Looks like I will be buying the 1500 very shortly here. I will let you know how everything goes.:D
 
You will have to get used to it. Try some test captures set to save in some empty folder to see how things go once you get it installed. The cards from Aver have shown themselves reliable for the most here over some 4-5 years. I suspect the updated model is one I will be looking into very soon myself for the next build. The one thing that help with keeping any video capture device running properly is a well maintained hard drive. Video files are large and when created, moved around, and deleted regularly your drive can get fragmented fast. DiskKeeper is one great software for maintaining your drive. It cuts the time down greatly for this especially on large capacity drives.
 
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