What is a good capture card for a reasonable price?

[kdog1]

I've looked and looked but still can't find a good capture card for around $100. I want to capture to MPEG1 and MPEG2. I want to convert VHS to DVD. I also want to record from my TV(ex. tv shows) to DVD. Please post you suggestions, Thanks

[txpharoah]

I'd suggest finding about $25-$50 more bucks for your budget and getting an ATI All In Wonder card.

I've also got an AverMedia card, and the $50 version can capture DVD/VCD from coax (tv) and VHS/etc. But it's not great. I got mine for $10 and think of it as little more than a toy when quality doesn't matter too much (mainly due to degraded sources).

You'll get what you pay for in video cards. I'd say give the ATI AIW series card a good look. If you're lucky, and find a good deal, you may even find an ATI AIW 7500 for $100 somewhere. Use the WEBSHOPPING link on this site and give eBay a look.

If you're curious what a REALLY GOOD pro card looks like, go check out the Matrox RTX100 at matrox.com. Not in your price range, but something you may be interested in looking at.

[jdjbuffalo]

I would suggest that you get the Canopus ADVC-100

I know it is above your price range (About $250).

But you will not be sorry with this device. I've been using it for over 6 months and have not had one problem with it. The nice thing about this device is that you will probably have it for years to come and won't have to worry about replacing it for a long time. It will capture all your video signals at a better quality than anything else on the market (under $1000).

[reubenray]

I would suggest that you get the Canopus ADVC-100

I know it is above your price range (About $250).

But you will not be sorry with this device. I've been using it for over 6 months and have not had one problem with it. The nice thing about this device is that you will probably have it for years to come and won't have to worry about replacing it for a long time. It will capture all your video signals at a better quality than anything else on the market (under $1000).

With this card do you have to use the firewire? I will be inputting from my satellite receiver by s-video.

[VinnySem]

It has S-Video in. I'm contemplating buying this same unit to replace the VIVO functions of my Gainward geForce4 card.

[SHS]

Well the WinTV-PVR 250 is on sale at CompUSA if want eazy way do it with a REALtime Hardware MPEG2 encoding plus check out SageTV which has a lot cool features like Multiple Tuner Support, Networking, MP3, Other Video Format Playback, etc, etc plus lot more features are being add like DVD playback.

You may or may not have good luck with card above with VHS to DVD if the tape if the bad lee messup or degrade etc, etc.
As jdjbuffalo suggest that best option for VHS tape is Canopus ADVC-100.

[axlish]

I use Pinnacle Studio 8 and it is on sale w/ a mail in rebate at best Buy for around 90 dollars I think. I already had a firewire card so I got the analog version that has s-vid and composite in/out. As long as you have a recent operating system (2000 or XP) everything should be cool. I love the card, and it should do what you need for the price.

[finny]

I would suggest that you get the Canopus ADVC-100

I know it is above your price range (About $250).

But you will not be sorry with this device. I've been using it for over 6 months and have not had one problem with it. The nice thing about this device is that you will probably have it for years to come and won't have to worry about replacing it for a long time. It will capture all your video signals at a better quality than anything else on the market (under $1000).

With this card do you have to use the firewire? I will be inputting from my satellite receiver by s-video.

I read the specs of this Card and it says "Convert your S-VHS, Hi8 and 8mm analog tapes to DV in one simple step using the ADVC-100"

There was nothing mentioned that it can be used as a TV tuner/Recorder off of Cable or Dish.... Or did i miss something?

[DaveS]

it doesn't have a tuner - it's main functions are to convert analog to digital and visa versa (e.g. if you want to output to analog tape, e.g. your vcr).

one of it's main features is locking the audio to the video so you don't get drift (lipsync like) - this is key. you are paying for licensing their d/a conversion chip and for the capability to convert digital back to analog; also, the h/w itself seems pretty solid and the connectors are all gold color so I assume they are gold plated or some gold alloy although you never know.

they do have a lower price model (ends in50?) - I don't think it can do the digital back to analog conversion - not sure what else it does / doesn't have.

I leave the analog outputs of my vcr hooked up to it and have my cable go in to my vcr; when I want to record off cable, I use separate s/w to control the recording (time, codec, etc.). the only disadvantage to this is that (a) you need separate s/w (I think there is freeware) and (b) your s/w can't change the vcr channel; my s/w also doesn't have a cable guide, so all I do is leave the vcr on the right channel & set the s/w to record at the times I want. for me, this is good enough since I don't do tons of recording off cable and mostly want the advc features to convert tape to dvd;

imho, if you were doing a lot of recording off cable, you might want something where the card is meant for it and integrates w/ some s/w; however, my feeling would be that your captures of analog tape would suffer since your $ would be paying for those features rather than the types of things you pay for in the advc100.

hope this helps.

[mecg]

You can't go wrong with the ADVC-100. Use your VCR as the tuner. I had a dazzle (crap) for a while and bought the ADVC-100 based on reviews/recommendations from this site. I've never looked back. I've used it to convert from DVD to VHS (my sister doesn't have a DVD player ). It disables the macrovision like a dream. Although it can create a brief strain on the budget, it is worth every penny. IMHO, some of those other cards are like buying a combination fax/scanner/copier - the technology gets split between them. Not that that's a totally bad thing, but this thing is designed to get video from and to digital and analog and it does it PERFECTLY every time. Sorry for rambling on - it's just that this is one of the few items I've purchsed in my life that does EXACTLY what it says it will (more if you include it's ability do disable macrovision).

[finny]

You can't go wrong with the ADVC-100. Use your VCR as the tuner. I had a dazzle (crap) for a while and bought the ADVC-100 based on reviews/recommendations from this site. I've never looked back. I've used it to convert from DVD to VHS (my sister doesn't have a DVD player ). It disables the macrovision like a dream. Although it can create a brief strain on the budget, it is worth every penny. IMHO, some of those other cards are like buying a combination fax/scanner/copier - the technology gets split between them. Not that that's a totally bad thing, but this thing is designed to get video from and to digital and analog and it does it PERFECTLY every time. Sorry for rambling on - it's just that this is one of the few items I've purchsed in my life that does EXACTLY what it says it will (more if you include it's ability do disable macrovision).

Nos im Back to Square one, everyone was talking about this card because of its excellent quality. BUT I maily want to use it for recording off different channels from my cable.

So now i haev to get a TV tuner card? Can it be used in conjunction with a TV Tuner?

I just want to use my computer as a PVR and record cable progams to DVD quality, thtas all......

[rumplestiltskin]

ADS USB Instant DVD available from tigerdirect.com for $90. Don't update the software; leave it at 1.0.

Captures to mpeg1 (VCD), mpeg2 (SVCD), and three higher "quality" levels of mpeg2 for DVD.

Requires PIII/466/128MB (192MB works better). I'm using it under W2K. Obviously, you need a USB1.1 port (and audio line-in).

Nice thing about this is that it can be moved to another unit without unbuttoning the hood.