Which Card is right?

[Torgos_12]

Hi, I have searched the site and looked at the FAQ and Guides but for any number of reasons can't find a simple answer to my simple question: Which card should I buy?

Here is what I want to do and the system I inetend to do it on:

Want to:
1. Transfer MiniDV to HDD and make DVD with Menus
2. Watch TV on my PC with PVR functionality
3. Record TV shows and make Volumes on DVD at full screen with menus to each episode in good reproduction quality

System:
- P4 - 3.0GHz
- 512Meg RAM @ 400MHz

I have looked at Hauppage, ATI, AverMedia, Win TV - I don't want to spend any more than I have to but I assume I need at least full 780X480 pixel capture ability and MPG-2 hardware compression.

Please give me your opinion...

Thanks for the help.

Rob.

[sacajaweeda]

My advice would be to buy the cheapest card you can get your hands on with a BT chipset and use that for everything you listed except for transferring from your camcorder. Save the money you'll just waste on an expensive card that does MPEG2 on the fly and use it to buy an ADVC-100 or some such similar device.

[redwudz]

1. If the input is DV, you need a Firewire card, not a capture card. Just about any Firewire card will work.
2. ATI ? There are a lot out there that will do what you want. Look at lordsmurf.com for capture card info.
3. What sacajaweeda said. Especially about a ADVC-100. Expensive, very easy to use and set up compared to a video capture card.
If your mini DV camcorder has passthrough, you would only need a Firewire card to do all you want, along with a VCR for input.

[lordsmurf]

Must get firewire card for DV.

On a budget? Find an ATI All In Wonder (AIW) 7000 or higher on auction. You can grab them for $50 or higher. Not bad. Better than a new cheapo card for $50.

I've bought many of them on eBay.

The Canopus ADVC is not for you. Not for PVR.