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  1. Member
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    Nov 2006
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    New Zealand
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    Hi. I've been a 'viewing' member for years, but only come on here when I'v got a problem !!
    Sorry about that.

    A few weeks ago I bought a Capturing device on Ebay for about $9.00 including Shipping !!

    Needless to say, it took 5 weeks to arrive, and then didn't work.

    "Serve you right" I hear echoing through the Ether !. But it's all my fault. I knew it would be crap, and it is. So I shouldn't be disappointed.
    And I'm not. You live and learn. Well....you Live, anyway.

    But the temptation of getting something for nothing[ or next to nothing]...was too much to resist.

    And I'm quite prepared to forget it. I've spent too long trying to make the bloody thing work. Read countless other tales of woe on the Internet of people with the same problem.

    So I'm now quite prepared to write it off. Draw a line under it, and regard it as one of life's unavoidable mistakes....like that first cheap second-hand car, and trying to beat the Taxman, and Marriage !

    So I'm now looking to pay a bit more, and get some Hardware and Software that will work together, and arrive with the correct drivers, and will let me transfer what are mainly VHS Tapes onto a PC without a major upheaval to my life.

    I have several machines, so don't really care what it will operate on. Ideally Windows 7 Ultimate, which I have as both 64 and 32 bit versions, or even XP or Win 98. I keep machines running with all of these, although the Win98 rarely gets fired up, and the XP is purely to run my Pinnacle 12, and saved programs, as I have got fed up with constantly having to buy their new programs, which won't run my old creations !!

    I read on one of the posts on here that there has been nothing new in the Capture field for about 10 years !
    [They must know my Landlord !]

    Anyway, if anyone has, or knows of anything, either USB or PCI based, that is half decent, I would like to know about it.

    You would not believe the amount of time I have spent on this, which is why I'm asking.

    Obviously, my recent experience has made me a bit 'Gun-shy', so I'm hesitating to take a chance on anything rather more than normal.

    I can't quite bring myself to bin this worthless piece of crap yet, but once I've got something that works OK, I shall take great pleasure in barbecue-ing some sausages over it. [Probably won't burn !]

    By the way, the device I bought was on Ebay, and called EASYCAP. [They left the 'R' out !]

    So....if anyone can point me in a good direction, I will be forever grateful. Might even invite you to the ceremonial BBQ.

    Cheers.
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  2. Member
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    Dec 2005
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    Finland
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    I capture using Windows 7 and a USB capture dongle. Mostly 8mm camcorder tapes but some VHS too. I've got both an ezcap.tv and an ATI600 and both work fine using VirtualDub, can't really tell any difference in the end result. Drivers can be a bit of a hassle with both.

    You may also want some manner of TBC in the capture chain, plenty of threads about those on the forum - I use a Panasonic DMR-ES15 as a passthrough device as needed.

    Capture format is Lagarith AVI, then processed in Avisynth depending on what is required. Certain tapes I will capture several times and combine them to overcome noise issues, though this takes a lot of time naturally.
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  3. Member DB83's Avatar
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    Jul 2007
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    United Kingdom
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    You did not have to say it was an easyc(r)ap. Most on here would have guessed that already.

    There is an official product called ezcap116 and that will work. Also a hauppuage usb device.

    Most pci cards are legacy models now and you would have difficulty in finding drivers for them beyond XP
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  4. Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
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    Freedonia
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    Why on earth do you want to do this task the worst way possible - using a cheap low quality capture device AND having to manually mess with the files after capture? Clearly quality is not concern #1 here. Fine. I give you credit for being honest about it. I have to think that it would be a lot easier for you to just buy a DVD recorder (and do NOT buy a DVD/VCR combo device!) and record your tapes to that. The quality would probably be better than those cheap capture devices and a few DVD recorders with hard drives do have some primitive editing capabilities. If you were using a high quality capture device then I think it would be fine to capture to a PC but since quality is not your priority here, it just seems to me that you'd be better off just going directly to a DVD recorder.
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  5. Member
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    Nov 2006
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    New Zealand
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    Thanks for the post, and the advice.
    However, contrary to appearances from my original post, quality IS important.
    At least, a reasonable quality.
    And I know you will berate me for buying the EasycRap thing, but it was my first toe into the murky waters of Video Capture.
    My bad, [ as they say these days..]...and I put my hand up. But I am quite prepared to spend good money on a good device, and am merely trying to ascertain, through other people's experiences, which they might be.
    Internet Sales, are a great thing, but can be a pain when it comes to Hardware, as you DON'T always 'Get what you Pay For...', and it's often toolate, or too difficult, or too much hassle to do anything about it.
    I would prefer a Video Capture device to a DVD Recorder, as the files in question are going to end up on a PC anyway, for editing through Pinnacle 12, which I run under XP. [Non-Internet Machine !!]
    Of course, if I use a Recorder, I could then load the resultant files onto the PC, and then burn again after editing, but the Video-Capture device seemed to eliminate a step....if I can find one to do the job.
    But thanks for your advice.
    It's an option.
    Cheers.
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  6. Formerly 'vaporeon800' Brad's Avatar
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    Apr 2001
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    Vancouver, Canada
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    Originally Posted by jman98 View Post
    The quality would probably be better than those cheap capture devices and a few DVD recorders with hard drives do have some primitive editing capabilities.
    I've personally used several cheap devices that can offer better quality than recording VHS straight to DVD, in a general sense. Of course, I've been at this many years so I know the tricks like avoiding the included software. The big disadvantage they have vs a nice DVD recorder is that they do very little to correct wavy lines, but that issue extends to most consumer capture hardware regardless of price.

    OP: you didn't mention what you've got to play back your tapes. The VCR impacts the final quality far more than the small differences between reasonable capture devices, IMO.
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  7. Member
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    Nov 2006
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    New Zealand
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    [QUOTE=vaporeon800;2342413 OP: you didn't mention what you've got to play back your tapes. The VCR impacts the final quality far more than the small differences between reasonable capture devices, IMO.[/QUOTE]

    I have 3 VCR machines, all quite long in the tooth ! But I don't suppose they make too many any more !

    PANASONIC NV-HD685B

    SONY SLV-EZ735AZ

    THOMPSON VTH7090U

    Maybe you might know which would be the best to use for this particular purpose ?
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  8. Formerly 'vaporeon800' Brad's Avatar
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    Apr 2001
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    Vancouver, Canada
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    Haven't a clue. I doubt I'd recognize many NTSC model numbers; with PAL it's hopeless for me.
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