which OS?

[broadway]

I'm want to buy a new PC for video capture from VCR and DVD authoring/burning.

Probably buy either the ATI AIW or the Hauppauge PVR or the Canopus.

Should I install Windows 2000 or go with Windows XP Professional?

[thayne]

Either will work fine. If its a fast machine might as well go with XP, but if its a slower machine you would be better off with win2k.

[cplevel42]

If you are going to buy a complete system and not build it, I would suggest buying online. You will save tons of cash and have a nice "non-proprietary" system.

See here: www.cyberpowerinc.com

and here: www.ibuypower.com

[Devanshu]

I agree w/ thane. I prefer XP over 2000 because it has given me less problems. If you have a fast machine, pick xp.

[Roderz]

it you have fast machine, pick xp.

My advice is if you have fast machine, pick the fastest OS - W2k - not XP
Why have a fast machine then sacrifice some speed to the 'crayola / fisher price' theamed XP !!!

on my own machine there was a VERY noticable speed decrease (to me at least) after installing xp (clean install) when compared to a very 'unclean' W2k instalation

PS I do not take credit for the 'crayola / fisher price' dig, someone else (in this forum) came up with it, but it totally sums it up for me.

On second thoughts I could sell you my 'spare' 16k Spectrum :P

[thayne]

You can disable the themes, thats the first thing I did! I can tell you one thing for sure, if you play games use XP. GTA Vice city wouldn't play on my machine with win2k, works great with XP. If all you are doing is video stuff on it then I would agree with going win2k. It's faster.

[LSchafroth]

XP is much better then Win2K when you turn off all teh eye cany crap.

I used http://www.tweakxp.com under the User Interface section or performance section. There are a lot of things to turn off that will render a lot more speed with your desktop but retain the new theme look.

There are some NTFS stuff that helps also. Cannot recall, I'm at work and using Win2K here...

LS

[mrtristan]

Since upgrading to w2k, from 98se, I haven't found a reason to move to XP. It's not broke, so I'm not fixing it. My suggestion is to go with the OS that you're more familiar with.

One advantge to NTFS is that you can have files over 4GB. It's slightly slower than fat32, but worth it, in my opinion. There's also a whole bunch of security features that I don't understand that can be utilized with NTFS.

[ChrisX]

Since upgrading to w2k, from 98se, I haven't found a reason to move to XP. It's not broke, so I'm not fixing it. My suggestion is to go with the OS that you're more familiar with.

One advantge to NTFS is that you can have files over 4GB. It's slightly slower than fat32, but worth it, in my opinion. There's also a whole bunch of security features that I don't understand that can be utilized with NTFS.

Me too, Win2000 works fine with me and without a problem. The key is the computer you use, not the OS. I recommend Pentium 4 at least 2 GHz, RAM of 515 MB with a video card at least 128MB.

The faster the CPU and the performance is the most important and the computer's hardware is an essential must, get the best to run.

I wouldn’t buy Hauppauge PVR and try to look for something better.

I got WinFast A250 TD, My Vivo. This is NVIDIA GeForce 4200 GPU and you should find one like this example or similar.

A manufactured pre-built computer is so much more expensive and do try to order one as custom built for you with the best hardware available.

You should include a Pioneer or Sony DVD burner as well. Hard drive is best to be at least 100 GB for video capturing and storage.

This is up to you to look around for the best computer and the best video card for you.

Don’t get a video/TV card too cheap. The more expensive the capture card, then this what you get, the best.