which is better - ADS Instant DVD or Dazzle DVD Creation Sta

[agprabhakar]

Pls help me in deciding which one to buy.

ADS instant DVD or
Dazzle DVD creation station 200 or
Dazzle DVD creation staion 150....

I'm confused rightnow by various reviews.. Pls HELP!!!

[doctorstrobe]

Can't say anything about the Dazzle products...

I have the Instant DVD.
It works but it's not without it's problems.

I've been capturing SVCDs for a while now...
Just got a DVD burner so I've been fooling around with the DVD capture.

Biggest problem is syncing the audio and video.
The Instant DVD box doesn't actually encode the audio. It goes into
your sound card's Line Input. It's possible for the audio to get out of sync
if the video encoder drops frames. You also have to play with it a bit to get it synced right at first...

The software to run this (CapWiz) isn't the best.
I've tried the latest version 2.0 something... It's got problems.
I've gone back to a more stable V1.4.1.1

Can't say I would recommend it...
I'm thinking of getting something else.
Anybody out there tried the Adaptec VideOh! DVD capture device?

[Robert Simandl]

I've also tried the ADS USB Instant DVD and found it to be crap for all the reasons doctorstrobe cited.

Also had a hell of a time installing it (with the accent on "hell"). The included VideoStudio 5 editing program would not work until I downloaded patches from ADS' web site.

[LloydAZ]

I hated the InstantDVD. It gave me all kinds of problems with the sound not syncing and loud humming.

I traded it in for the Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge and capture as an AVI then encode with TMPGEnc.

Lloyd

Can't say anything about the Dazzle products...

I have the Instant DVD.
It works but it's not without it's problems.

I've been capturing SVCDs for a while now...
Just got a DVD burner so I've been fooling around with the DVD capture.

Biggest problem is syncing the audio and video.
The Instant DVD box doesn't actually encode the audio. It goes into
your sound card's Line Input. It's possible for the audio to get out of sync
if the video encoder drops frames. You also have to play with it a bit to get it synced right at first...

The software to run this (CapWiz) isn't the best.
I've tried the latest version 2.0 something... It's got problems.
I've gone back to a more stable V1.4.1.1

Can't say I would recommend it...
I'm thinking of getting something else.
Anybody out there tried the Adaptec VideOh! DVD capture device?

[Jester700]

I use Win2k, and I haven't had these issues with the IDVD. Mine works pretty well. MPEG2 at 6Mb/s looks great. VCD compatible MPEG1 works well, but looks pretty ugly. I don't cap to SVCD MPEG2, so no comment there.

I just got a Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB and am comparing the two. I had major issues with the latest beta WinTV capture program, but now I'm using the release version and it's OK. Buggier than the IDVD CapWiz 2 for me, but usable. VCD MPEG1 is better than the IDVD version. Color is MUCH better. Going from memory, I think the realtime software cap (set to max quality) from firewire in the Ulead programs (DVD Workshop & Movie Factory 6) is better than both, but I'll verify. None can hold a candle to TMPGEnc.

Haven't compared DVD MPEG2 between the 2 yet. That's this weekend's project. I'll post as I discover more. Maybe I'll post a comparative page if I get the time.

[Dward]

Jester! I have the WinTV PVR 250 and DVD Workshop. On my old machine I was able to capture video from the capture card directly into DVD Workshop (it was an ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon), but that might have been because it was also the video card.

Is there a way to capture video from the Hauppauge winTV PVR 250 directly into DVD Workshop? I'm tearing my hair out over this one!

[pbhalerao]

agprabhakar, what is your proposed itention?

a) Are you going to covert your VHS/VHS-C/Hi-8 home video to DVD?
b) Want to convert your VHS movie collection to DVD?

If (a) and you have a Hi-8 collection, then I most sincerely advise you to spend a little more and buy a Sony Digital-8 camcorder especially with Analog to DV passthrough conversion capability. My Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge has given me so many problems that I have stopped using it. Even if your original home video format is VHS or VHS-C, the Analog to DV passthrough conversion capability of the DV-Cam will allow you to convert these to DV. Plus you will be an owner of a DV-Cam. My suggestion is Sony Digital-8 DCR-TRV740 or 840. While the money spent will be 2.5 times at least, when you buy quality, you will cry once only.

If (b), why bother? Buy the original DVD instead. Cost to Cost and feature wise (crisp video, Dolby Digital sound, additional footage, etc.) it will be a better proposition.

[bemax]

I have to offer my view of the ADS IDVD USB. I have had no problems whatsoever with this product. I've got the latest version of VS6 and the CapWiz and everything works as advertised.

I will say that after reading alot of the bad experiences people have had with the ADS IDVD, I was worried and there do seem to be a lot of problems for some people but that is true of every other board and device out there.

I have had terrible trouble with several Dazzle devices and I would not recommend any dazzle product. There is no tech support so if you have trouble, you are stuck. At least ADS has provided some patches and updates.

Just my 2 cents worth. For what I do (copying video to SVCD), the iDVD works very well.

[Jester700]

AFAIK, you need to use the supplied WinTV2000 app to capture with the Hauppage iTVC based cards. An open source driver was being worked on, but I dunno how far that's gone.

I returned mine because the USB version wouldn't cap at 48k audio. To make DVD compatible files, the audio bitrate needed to be changed - no good for me.

I also have had good experience with the IDVD. VCD & SVCD weren't as good as the Hauppauge unit, but DVD looks pretty fine at 5.5 or 6Mb/s.

[rphunt]

I have used the Dazzle DVC 2 for quite a while now, and it's awful. I would assume the Creation Station is pretty much the same. Unstable AGC, noisy audio loop through, bad A/V sync, files that don't play well with other apps.

I just got the ADS Instant DVD and it's a little better but I'm loooking elsewhere again. The A/V sync is better but not perfect. Still has problems with MPEG editors, but unedited files work great in DVD Workshop.

I might check out the Snazzi next.