Laptop capture solution for both US-Europe(Kiev)??

[robtom1966]

Hello,

I'm new to the group. The size of the forum is overwhelming, please excuse me if this question has been answered.

I travel a bit between Kiev, Ukraine and home in the U.S. I would like to record TV shows in Kiev and take them home to the U.S. Of course, the NTSC standard in the U.S. is not compatible with the PAL(or SECAM?) flavor used in Ukraine.

My laptop, a Pro-Star 8880 (AKA Clevo 8880 AKA Sagar 8880) has a Phillips NTSC tuner card in an expansion slot. It captures with adequate quality, and the software is also adequate. It has 2 40 GB HDDs, 512 MB RAM, and a 2.2 GHZ P-4 CPU. This laptop has firewire and USB 1.1. I don't like to use the USB because it's VERY slow compared to the firewire.

I also have a desktop in Kiev with a 2.4 GHZ Celeron "Prescott" CPU, 512MB, and an 80 GB WD 7200 HDD. This PC has USB 2.x but no firewire.

3 possible? solutions:

1. An external capture "box." If "dis-was-kwiss-miss" my best selection would be external with BOTH USB2.x and firewire connections, have NTSC/PAL(or SECAM?) worldwide capability, cable/digital/TV-broadcast capability. Oh, and a remote! What is out there on the market that has good reviews.

2. I see plenty of highly recommended internal cards on the market. I guess if I must, I can get an internal capture card for my desktop that does both NTSC and PAL(or SECAM?). Then I can open the PC and take the card with me home to the U.S. when I stay for extended periods of time, and want the use of the better capture card.

3. A good performing PAL(or SECAM?)-to-NTSC signal converter. Then I could put the PAL(or SECAM?)-to-NTSC converter in line from the cable signal to my laptop's NTSC capture/TV tuner. Does such an animal exist?

Rob
from Kiev

[robtom1966]

delete

[edDV]

I haven't researched the latest batch of external TV tuners, but while traveling I take my Canopus ADVC-100 which allows me to record PAL or NTSC off of any VCR or set top box.

[proxyx99]

ADS DVD Express, low cost, there are some posts about it. Good quality, MPEG 1 & 2 capture, USB 1.1 and 2, Multisystem. Portable. Get it and test it. If not happy you can always return (doubt it...). Sold at Costco and bunch of other stores. Forget about DV capture (space eater). Capture in local system and if PAL no need for transfer. Philips, JVC and buch of DVD players will allow for playback on NTSC TV.

[edDV]

Ideal external box would include a multisystem tuner, composite, S-Video and audio in with hardware MPeg2 encoding.

[proxyx99]

Sounds like ADS DVD Xpress
http://www.adstech.com/products/USBAV_701/specifications/usb701specs.asp?pid=USBAV701

cheap and suppoed to work great (I don't own it). Can't see anything that can match the price/featuires. Check user input and Epinions.com, Good luck.

[robtom1966]

Thanks for all the informed help! Off line, I received a suggestion about "LifeView TV USB Walker Ultra-II" or something like that. At www.tv-cards.com, The comments section about this card(box) are strong for and strong against. THey're also from 9 or more months ago. There was talk of performance improvements after new driver releases. The comments:
http://www.tv-cards.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=2496&start=100

One review at tv-cards.com was helpful, but 9 months old. All other reviews/comments are commercally related. Anyone know of the quality of this TV capture device?

Are there better choices of equipment with a proven track record?

Must be USB, accept NTSC/PAL/SECAM signals.

Thanks
Rob
from Kyiv

[edDV]

There is much potential but not as much "proven track record" with the 1st generation USB2 tuner/capture cards/boxes. I haven't seen many serious product comparison tests done.

USB2 tends to be CPU demanding. I'm not sold that these products are yet perfected for the notebook environment.

I'm waiting for a field tested winner to emerge.

[robtom1966]

Thanks. In general, I try to NEVER buy technology until there has been some "maturing and curing" over time. Last December I installed and began using XP for the first time. It seems if I buy a worldwide USB tuner now, there will be imperfections in at least some funtions important to my needs.

Then in three months, I'll see the new model released with all of my needs completly resolved. At 1/2 the price. DOH!

Rob
from Kyiv

[proxyx99]

You are asking for trouble. Use simplest setup: VCR tuner out hooked to ADS or better yet get it on the VHS tape and transfer to PC later. If you want a tuner card local market (Kyiv) will give you plenty of options.

[robtom1966]

Yeah, I'm pointing in the direction of something else. The likelyhood of great convenience with likely trouble of an un-proven USB device is not a viable option. I do have a desktop in Kyiv and at home in the U.S. as well. I may get a highly recommended internal card and just move it with me.

Of course I won't be able to use it to watch/record TV when travelling, only in my temp Kyiv diggs or at home. But this is a reasonable compromise for a tuner that has been proven to work reliably and performs well in Kyiv and the U.S.

Rob
from Kyiv

[proxyx99]

Just to finish off. I think you shoud read this:
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Home.aspx?ArticleTypeId=2&CategoryId=2

click on ADS DVD Xpress review and later Plextor ConvertX (3x more expensive). Then sit back and think about it. I own Datavideo DAC-100 but needed a quickie tool for my laptop as well. One of ADS boxes will find a new home tomorrow.

[robtom1966]

Hmm... only captures at 4:3, over heating problems,... thanks.

[proxyx99]

Since when is Kyiv brodcasting in 16:9?. Overheating WAS an issue with the first release, not anymore. You have better suggestions?

[robtom1966]

Kyiv is only one of many locations I wish to view and record TV, as well as capture from other sources. The other location is, of course, home in the U.S.

Further, there are other sources of signal other than TV-cable. My digital video camera is one example, VCRs....

I dislike REGRETS much more than ERRORS. I don't mind making an error when I did my best pre-purchase research. I don't want to regret buying what I settled on, when I knew there were other choices that had more flexibility.

Rob
from Kyiv

[robtom1966]

Thank you to all who helped me select. I decided on the LifeView Walker Ultra. It works fine, I get all of the channels my TV receives over the cable. I haven't tried it with an antenna yet, or the digital box to receive super-stations.

I'll put up a review soon. So far, my only complaint is the VCR/recording software will pre-program only one recording session! Almost unbeliveable. But it does fine with the one program I can set it to.

Rob
from Kyiv