Canopus ADVC100 is a waste of money

[buffalodrafter69]

I realize everyone seems to think this product is wonderful but ever since I have owned it the unit has been all problems. It takes 8-10 tries to even get the unit recognized by the computer.

Canopus claims the problem is that Dell computers are not really compatable with their products and the problem is with Dell (one of the largest manufactures in the world) and that Dell should fix the problem.

If you look in the Canopus forums you quickly realize that many folks are having major problems with this product.

I do not need to post the specs about my computer as it it is high end with 2 gig of memory and a high end video card.

The problem is with Canopus. Personally I think the unit is a total waste of money and would suggest anyone thinking about getting one to first read the forums at Canopus.com and see all the problems before you spend your money.

[FOO]

Same goes for Dell. Big is not better. Look at Microsoft

[Poppa_Meth]

the problem is the firewire card DELL uses (if you got one factory installed). its a Texas Instruments chipset, which has issues with various equipment. TI chipset is not recommended.

[buffalodrafter69]

Not the firewire card. My system has an independent firewire card from Western Digital. I am aware of the TI problem. The problem is the design of the unit.

[lzicc]

buffalodrafter69, I ran into this same issue. You need to replace the drivers in the windows\system32\drivers directory with the drivers that you can download at this link: http://webpages.charter.net/kylerh/DellDrivers/

I pulled my hair out on this issue and this fixed my problem. It is an issue with drivers that Dell installs from the factory. It has nothing to do with the firewire card brand or the pc itself.

As of installing these drivers, my ADVC-100 is working like a champ.

Hope this helps.

[lzicc]

One more thing, thanks obiron for posting the drivers so everyone can download them.

[buffalodrafter69]

Thank you for the drivers. I will set it up this evening.

Why hasn't Canopus offered this help I wonder?

[lzicc]

I actually got the drivers from Canopus. I called their tech support and they knew right away about this issue. They should post this on their website. I could not find anything when I did a search on their site or when I did the online tech support. Glad to help out. Please post when you get the drivers installed if this fixed the issue for you or not. Glad I could help out.

Thank you for the drivers. I will set it up this evening.

Why hasn't Canopus offered this help I wonder?

[buffalodrafter69]

Thank you. This seems to have fixed the problem. I replaced the files and once the system retarted I turned on the unit and the computer immediately recoginzed the unit. I turned off and on the unit 15-20 times and each time the unit was immediately recognized.

I retarted the computer 5 times and then turned on the unit and it immediately recogized the Canopus unit.

I don't understand why Canopus is keeping this fix secret. It doesn't speak well for their tech support.

Again thank you......

I actually got the drivers from Canopus. I called their tech support and they knew right away about this issue. They should post this on their website. I could not find anything when I did a search on their site or when I did the online tech support. Glad to help out. Please post when you get the drivers installed if this fixed the issue for you or not. Glad I could help out.

Thank you for the drivers. I will set it up this evening.

Why hasn't Canopus offered this help I wonder?

[will_sickly_33+]

...so you'll now be adding the word 'not' to your thread title, right?
Glad it's sorted, I followed the thread but couldn't help; the ADVC sure is one great device.
I've had mine and while after replacing a happauge (spelling?) and have never looked back.
Bill

[lordsmurf]

The ADVC is definitely overrated on this site, but it's not a bad device by any means.

[will_sickly_33+]

The ADVC is definitely overrated on this site, but it's not a bad device by any means.

You can only judge a device by testing, and form an opinion on the forum posts of those testing it.
ATI cards sure do get more complaints but the reason for this is simple; ATI cards must outsell the ADVC 100-1.
Not entirely sure what you mean by overrated; there sure are lots of posts praising this little black box (and not many complaining), but I suppose if you consider the (relatively) high price of it, the fact you can get as good a result from an AIW/ViVo (although not quite as easy a process as the Canopus) for much less money and more importantly with comparable results then you make a good point.
Bill

[FOO]

Note also that the ATI is more flexible.
1. It has a tuner for broadcast captures
2. It goes directly to MPEG2 with good quality.

[The village idiot]

Well, since we have wondered off to ADVC vs Other again, I'll add my penny to the mix:

The ADVC is very good, but I think it is overpriced. Wish I had the money to test a DAC-100 head to head with an ADVC-100. The DAC is cheaper.

The DV devices are "generally" easier to make work without problems.

The DV devices do not have the same quality as some of the other cards. Nearly anything that can capture with less compression than DV quality will look better. DV has a specific noise that seems to invade all "captures", where running other codecs gives you the flexibilty to compress as you see fit. That said, I don't think I will go back to a non-DV device any time soon, but that is my personal choice based on difficulties from the past, as well as present needs for work and play.
As far as Other devices go, I have a PVR made from a junky Pinnacle Bunge DVD that seems to work just fine for taking things from cable. It has its oddities, but it seems to always record the program I want, just sometimes records with more resolution than I intended. It's about 50% to timer record 352x480, the other 50% is 480x480, not such a big deal.

[EwanG]

And I thought the posting on my blog about how to solve the problem of poverty in the US was a bit of a hot potato...

FWIW, I have owned (in fact still do) both an AIW Radeon and an ADVC-100. For me (YMMV), the ADVC-100 was a big step up. Not because the quality was better or worse, but because of how it helped streamline my workflow. My end goal is always an editable AVI that I can play back from my PC - not a DVD master file. So an MPEG-2 file isn't desirable - and of course you get the best quality and speed from the AIW if you use their MPEG-2 capture. Also, the program I use for capturing with my ADVC allows me to set a specific period of time to record, which allows me to walk away and do other things.

Just my .02 worth.

[obiron]

Also, the program I use for capturing with my ADVC allows me to set a specific period of time to record, which allows me to walk away and do other things.

Care to share what program that is

[will_sickly_33+]

Also, the program I use for capturing with my ADVC allows me to set a specific period of time to record, which allows me to walk away and do other things.

Care to share what program that is

Ditto

[wwaag]

I use Scenalyzer. It has a built-in scheduler in the latest version. Permits you to schedule multiple captures.

wwaag

[EwanG]

For myself I use the free DVApp program which includes a "Capture Size" option (intuitive, right) where you can specify in seconds how long the capture should run. So I start it up, set the timer to 1930 seconds, walk away, and come back when I am ready to start the next one.

FWIW,
Ewan

[lzicc]

buffalodrafter69, I am glad that fixed your problem.

[will_sickly_33+]

For myself I use the free DVApp program which includes a "Capture Size" option (intuitive, right) where you can specify in seconds how long the capture should run. So I start it up, set the timer to 1930 seconds, walk away, and come back when I am ready to start the next one.

FWIW,
Ewan

Ah-ha.
Mine does that, I was hoping you'd figured how to start, stop, start and stop again, like a conventional VCR
Looks like Scenalyzer is the way to go then.
Bill

[will_sickly_33+]

sorry, posted in error