Newbie needs Cap advice

[neworder71]

I have a AMD xp 1600 on a Via MB, I use onboard sound (yuck! I know) and I run XP pro.

I am looking to capture laserdiscs (yes Star Wars is one of them, dam Lucas for the lack of DVD at a high quality level. I've read many posts here trying to figure out the best method, and most of them address using whatever hardware someone has and not what is best. I was leaning toward buying a ATI AIW 7500, for its reasonable price and by using virtualdub to cap in AVI it should give good quality. Is this the best way for me to go or is there a cheaper card that will work just as well?

I'm also worried about the sound, does the AIW do sound onboard or does it use my cheapo on the MB sound chip? Do I need a sound card upgrade? I'm going to capture stereo, will the Dolby Pro Logic surround encoding present in the stereo signal get reproduced intact?

Thank you all very much in advance, the site has been a great help!



Added Lucas rant....Dear Mr Lucas I don't want the added scenes in 4 years, I want the original in all its non-digital goodness right now in a nice collectable box set! However, please feel free to produce a Jar-Jar free Episode 1.

[neworder71]

Another thought on this question. Will a TV Wonder offer the same capture functionality as the AIW? I can't tell by the ATI site if the max resolutions are different, or if one will meet my requirements better.