ADVC-55 - "The Mountain Goat's" Bollocks!

[TheGame7]

I ordered and received the ADVC-55 a few days ago and so far, so good!

It offers everything a ADVC-100 does "capturing" wise - expect in does not output (which is perfect for me and probably many others. - to see what you are capturing, Scylazer Live is perfect).

In simple terms, its an external version of the ADVC-50 (meaning the ability to move the PC away from the VCR AND the Canopus plus no inteference from the PC's internals.)

Also, it requires no power supply since it comes with a 6-pin to 6-pin firewire cable. (Ideal for a laptop user but works just as well on a desktop PC.)

Another huge plus is the fact that it works with Windows XP SP1 without any need for fixes, patches etc. nor does it need powering down and then back up after each capture. (Many may say they have had no problems with the ADVC-100 or 55 and SP1, but there are loads who have on the official Canopus Tech Forums).

And the biggest plus of all, its much MUCH cheaper than the ADVC-100 and slightly cheaper than the ADVC-50 - especially in the UK.

I had to wait months for this, but it was worth it!!

(Only negative is that its build quality does not seem to be as good as that of the 100, but thats going only by images of the 100)

[lordsmurf]

Still too expensive for what little it can do ($229 US MSRP). If you want DV only, and this is the only way to get audio-video sync, then knock yourself out. Not a bad buy in that case.

The ADVC50 is $199 and the ADVC100 is $299

These things should realistically be like $99 each.

[TheGame7]

Thanks for the input Lordsmurf.

And perhaps you're right.

But for someone who wants simplicity and does not wish to touch up the capture too much, this is top notch.

Also, this was directed more at users in the UK since for some reason Canopus have made the 55 cheaper than the 50 as well as the 100!

[Will Hay]

I have the ADVC-100 (I'm in the UK), I shipped it via a pal in Calif.
The 55 sure is attractive, although I read on the Canopus site that whilst they're sure it's fine they can't market it with locked audio/video.
Perhaps that's why it's cheaper, but still a great buy.
I've had the ADVC-100 a couple of months now and I'd never go back.

Will

[pippas]

I use the ADVC50 ,and have been very pleased with the results.

I agree that it is expensive, especially in the UK, but from the posts I've read here about problems people have with many of the alternative products, it wouldn't take long to make up any price difference with the cost of headache medication alone

[energy80s]

Yeah, for capturing analogue signals, firewire transfer is the ONLY way to go. Don't **** around with the ATI cards as they produce a very crappy "NTSC-like" image. I actually have a camcorder that I use for passthough, but if I didn't need the "camera" side of things I would go for an ADVC55.