i have been trying for a couple of years now to find a solution on how to capture from cable tv or vcr to avi and ultimately to mpg. i have purchased a number of hardware devices over the years to try to do this, including WinTV, Dazzle DVC80, and Creative Digital VCR, none of which I have had desirable success with. Dazzle worked for awhile but it drops frames often because of the usb connectivity. I have many things on video tape that I would like to get on mpg from my vcr, and at some point in the future (when i finally get digital cable) I would like to be able to capture media right from cable. some of you guys out there do cable tv rips to mpg and the quality is so stunning you would think its a dvd rip, and i am just wondering how these are being created. as of right now i have creative digital vcr installed which has the appropiate inputs (coaxial input for cable, plus a 1/8" stereo plug for audio and S-video plug for video), but the software that comes with it is just AWFUL, so i'm wondering if anyone recommends other software i can use with this card instead of what is given. i certainly dont mind paying some $$$ at a computer store to get it, but i would like to try to avoid buying a whole new card if possible. but if you think theres a much better card out there to get for these purposes, then please let me know about it. any input is greatly appreciated, i can be reached at Magnusson@aol.com-- thank you in advance.