Can someone recommend a good capture card?

[jthompson99]

I have read all of the reviews posted for capture cards, I am still in limbo deciding on which ones are good. Basically I am looking for a card that will allow me to capture analog video from my VCR. As a bonus, I would like to have a card that also has that PVR feature built into it. Any ideas?

Thanks,

JT.

[lordsmurf]

ATI AIW card.
Maybe a Hauppauge 350 card.

[FulciLives]

Don't get the Hauppauge WinTV-PRV 150 ... garbage if you ask me. The 250 and 350 models seem to be OK though.

I had tried the ADS Instant DVD 2.0 (an external USB 2.0 hardware MPEG encoder) and was very happy with it BUT it was very limited to scheduling recordings. ADS now has the ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB (another external USB 2.0 hardware MPEG encoder) and this has basically the same "guts" as the Instant DVD 2.0 but includes a TV tuner input and works with BeyondTV so for scheduling purposes it should work just fine. I was going to try the ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB but instead I just decided to get a stand alone DVD recorder.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[StoneColdWhat]

Yeah the 150 is garbage I agree. I'm using the AIW 9800

[anitract]

Third vote for AIW...once you get it just right, it's great.

[Barnabas]

The Hauppauge 250 is a great real-time capture mpeg-2 encoding card, but if you are going to be capping from video tape, best to get something like a Canopus DV capture box. Capping from video tapes brings tons of problems with dropped frames.

[davideck]

The Hauppauge 250 is a great real-time capture mpeg-2 encoding card, but if you are going to be capping from video tape, best to get something like a Canopus DV capture box. Capping from video tapes brings tons of problems with dropped frames.

Using a DataVideo TBC with the Hauppauge 250 provides a foolproof method of capturing from virtually any tape source. No dropped frames. No Audio/Video Skew. Real Time Encoding. Excellent quality.

[Barnabas]

Strange thing about the Hauppauge 250. I own a JVC S9911u, which has digipure, TBC. The TBC buit-in to the JCV can actually make dropped frames worse, but ONLY when capped on the Hauppauge. On all my other capture cards, it really helps. I have to run a 2nd TBC on some tapes to keep the Hauppauge from dropping frames.

[jthompson99]

Ok, it looks like I have to do some research on all these cards. LOL. Thanks for the input so far, any more cards that you have to add would be great.

[davideck]

The TBC buit-in to the JCV can actually make dropped frames worse, but ONLY when capped on the Hauppauge.

Could you clarify this a little...
Do you get more dropped frames?
I have never seen my Hauppauge drop a frame, but it can cause audio/video skew without the DataVideo TBC if the video drops out.

[jthompson99]

Ok, so the best card is probably the Hauppauge 350.

Thanks.

[FulciLives]

The best MPEG captures I ever saw from a computer capture card with a hardware MPEG encoder where those I got with the ADS Instant DVD 2.0

Again the only reason I got rid of it was lack of scheduling options but the new ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB solves that issue by working with BeyondTV. The ADS Instant DVD 2.0 has inputs and outputs whereas the ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB does not have outputs but does add a TV tuner type input ... plus it comes with an IR blaster to control a digital cable or satellite TV box. Both devices have composite and S-video inputs. Only the ADS Instant DVD 2.0 has outputs but the loss of that ain't no big deal. Just burn your captures to a DVD-RW or DVD+RW then delete if you don't intend to keep.

I would have bought the ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB myself but I decided to get a stand alone DVD recorder with a built-in HDD but I paid $337 + tax whereas the ADS Instant TV Deluxe USB is only about $130 or so.

The only real issue with the ADS external USB hardware MPEG encoders is that those boxes get HOT but as many people have figured out (and this worked for me) all you need to do is "prop it up" on make-shift "legs" so the bottom is not resting on a table top then aim a small fan at it ... heat issue solved. I had a small fan with a diameter of maybe 5 inches, give or take, and that worked great.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[jthompson99]

Thanks for that info, I will check out this ADS product.

[lordsmurf]

Ok, so the best card is probably the Hauppauge 350. Thanks.

Either that or the ATI AIW card, yeah, pretty much.
For those requirements.

[jenn62]

Regarding the Hauppauge WinTv, how can you tell how many frames are being dropped when capturing? I don't see any option to show frame drops.

thanks!

jenn

[INFRATOM]

I have a AIW card, later after I realized it was easier to use my camcorder feed through. if you have one of those with firewire it works with most SW .

[harley2ride]

ADS PYRO AV/LINK, Plextor USB External Capture device, or All In Wonder card. Those are the best, unless you want to spend $100.00 more and get the Canopus, which really doesn't do anymore than the ones I just listed.

[Red Hat]

I recommend ATI Tv Wonder Pro.

[rwmol]

Me too................