Compro TV card?

[Mahon]

Hello,

I want to buy my first TV card!
Since I have a lot of VCR/VHS cassettes to convert/copy, to DVD.
Also in the future, recording from TV, on HDD, has to be an option.
My first choice > a Compro Videomate Gold-Plus 2 TV card.
My question: does anyone from this forum, has some experience with this card >> GOOD, or BAD ?

Any suggestions, or hints for me, somebody?

Thanks
Mahon

[ozymango]

I've got the basic version of this card, which I'm pretty sure is identical to the Gold + except it doesn't have the remote PC power control; mine does have a regular remote for channel switching and stuff.

For the price (I paid $30, I think), I have absolutely no complaints, and I've had it for several months and it hasn't puked yet. For capturing raw AVI files for editing -- why I bought this card -- and then later mpeg2 conversion (with your own mpe2 encoder) it works great, excellent picture quality through the composite or S-video input. The software that comes with the card (for TV viewing) is okay, the tuner is actually pretty good, reasonably clean picture, I have watched a few TV shows using my monitor as a display when my wife commandeered our front room TV , and it's pretty decent, for basic viewing. Oh, and the tuner in my card is mono, not stereo; dunno if the Gold version is stereo or not. But I use a separate audio card (USB) for audio capture so again no big deal.

The card doesn't have mpeg2 encoding hardware so if you want to encode "on the fly," you can use the software that comes with it (tolerable but just barely, depends a lot on your system, gotta have a minimum of P4-2ghz for "real-time" mpeg2 conversion) or use MainConcept or something like that (my preference). Again I have no need to capture mpeg2 on-the-fly so this isn't that big an issue, but in a few tests (using MainConcept) I can capture to DVD spec mpeg2 without losing frames and the image quality was pretty much just what I saw on the source tape. Don't use the recording software that comes with this card to save TV broadcasts for later DVD transfer unless you don't need interlaced video, it records in progressive only. But if it's just to watch on the PC later, it's fine.

But back to picture quality, I use external inputs primarily, which work great, and the basic driver that comes with the card works with VirtualDub as a capture device, so I'm satisfied.

[Mahon]

hi, ozymango, thnx for reply

I've just found a nice review of the Compro, VideoMate TV Gold Plus
(not the plus2..but..)

conclusion: >>

..If your in search of a quality PCI Tuner and capture card for your PC, the VideoMate TV Gold Plus should be on the top of your list. Don't let its price tag fool you, it's an excellent, feature-rich tuner and capture solution that is sure to please a wide range of users.
It comes with a very generous bundle and includes a wide array of features, including the exclusive Power-UP Scheduling feature not found on other capture cards. This feature was certainly impressive and this should be a suitable card for those who are looking to setup a TIVO PC. While the software is not quite up to par in my standards with ATI's excellent Multi-Media Center (MMC), it makes up for it with its superb quality and feature set. What didn't I like about the product? Well, the TV Tuner takes quite a few seconds to initialize, even on a high-end system. While this may not be an issue for many, I found the delay to be a little bothersome, especially when compared to ATI cards. Now what's quite amazing is the fact that this card can be picked up at a street price of just $62. Considering all it has to offer, that's practically a steal! You won't find another product with this much to offer at this incredibly low price.
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Pro's:
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Good picture quality
Power-UP functionality
Internal cabling option
Built-In FM Tuner
Remote included
Superior recording capabilities
Excellent Price
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Con's
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Tuner Initialization Delay
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Few products on the market are able to offer you this much at such a low cost. The Compro VideoMate TV Gold Plus earns our highest recommendation and "Extreme Excellence Award" for its superb features and excellent value.

seems good, overall & excellent value, indeed.

grtz
Mahon
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**EDIT**

For those, interested in the entire review http://www.extrememhz.com/VideoMate-p1.shtml
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