Canopus ADVC-50 review

[Anonymous65]

Here is a short review of the nice ADVC-50 analog to DV converter card.
http://steve.kittelsen.com/advc50

[emigrant]

Very helpful review, thanks!

So what's the difference between this and the ADVC-100? Your review makes me think the ADVC-50 will suit my needs (DirecTV capture to AVI, edit commercials, convert to DVD and burn to DRU-500a) ...

Wondering what the 100 may or may not get me, I can certainly afford it, and will buy it if I find that general opinion is that it's better than the 50. It's highly commented here, but I'd like to hear what everyone has to say about the difference (perceived or otherwise, I know people don't own both).

[vhelp]

I can't say much for the ADVC-50, since I don't have it, but..

Well, if you don't need TV-OUT and have an available PCI slot free and
don't expect to some day need that extra PCI slot.. then the 50 may
be alright for you. And, minus the $100 too.
Also, if you don't plan on needing to SEND DV back out to your DV cam,
VCR or whatever, then the 50 will do ok for you.

I know I can do w/out the TV-OUT feature, but you never know. And, yes,
I can DV cap while watching tv if I use synalizer or some other DV app
for transfering video sources, but I prefer the cheap and freeware DVIO
for my needs, though it doesn't have a video window for previewing.

To view your video source on TV and w/out video on your pc:
With satellite, you have RCA and S-Video. You would hook up your Sat's
S-Video to your ADVC-50/100 's S-Video IN, and your Sat's RCA to your TV.
No need for a second video window on your pc screen, hence my use of DVIO.
This way, I get to ENJOY the video on my TV while my PC does the capping.

DVIO gives you:
* No preview window !! (but with the above setup, it doesn't matter)
* Frames - captured (transfered)
* Time - length of time you've ben (DV transfering)
* Total Size in gigs (so you can see how much space you have left)
* but, are limited to the OS space partition ie, W98 FAT32 vs. W2k+ NTFS

-vhelp

[Anonymous65]

DVAPP from MS gives you a preview windows, and all controls needed to control a camcorder. The programs is free. AMCAP is also free, but will only capture type-1 DV. Sceneanalyzer live is a $33 program, with the same features as DVAPP, but can also cut your capture into sceenes (for later editing). However, I find DVAPP to be the best free program to capture DV.

The ADVC-100 is different from the ADVC-50 in a few ways. The ADVC-100 has:

- DV to analog converter (not only analog to DV)
- external contained unit with a power supply (no need for any PCI slot or drive bay)

Quality wise, they both should be identical.

[kenmo]

Anyone know who in Canada has the best price for this card ?

Cheers

Kenmo

[kenmo]

So am I correct in assuming this card is not available in my part of Canada. I did check the Canopus site and all of their Canadian dealers are in Ontario and B.C.

[Anonymous65]

Go to ebay, you can get a good deal there. I got mine from eBay. They most likely will ship to Canada as long as you pay with Paypal or a credit card.

[vcdforme]

I just got some stuff from these
guys. No problems.
And I noticed they carry Canopus.

http://www.123dv.com/catalog/