stabilizer needed for VHS copying w/ Theater 550?

[techdog]

I recently bought an MSI Theater 550 Pro tuner and would like to *eventually* transfer my old VHS home movies to DVD. I have read in the past that the Macrovision protection in the Theater 200 (in the All-in-Wonder cards) can cause problems with copying old tapes that might be shaky when played back (card thinks there's Macrovision protection on the tape, even if it's a home video). Is this issue still present in the Theater 550 chip?

If so, I was wondering if the Sima GoDVD device would help in this case. I thought that I saw people suggesting to use one of those in the past. The CT-200 model is on sale at CompUSA for $49.99 after rebates. Is that a good price? I noticed that the picture on the CompUSA site shows model CT-2 even though the model is listed as CT-200 on the page. Is there much difference between the 2 models? Here's the link to the CompUSA page:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?ref=performics&product_code=311514

Am I better off getting rid of the MSI card and getting a Hauppage tuner?

[edDV]

I've never had one problem dubbing "VHS home movies to DVD" with the All-In-Wonder Theater 200 chip. I doubt this will be a problem with the Theater 500 either.

I have a Saphire Theatrix and early tests show adequate capture from my VHS recordings. Jury is still out on optimal capture.

[FulciLives]

Buy a Full Frame TBC such as the AVT-8710 and you will never have trouble again (knock on wood) with making copies/captures/recordings from videotape (or any other source for that matter).

Not only do you get the highly desirable aspects of a TBC (great for any videotape source) you also get the great "side effect" of using a TBC ... which is ... it destroys ALL forms of copy protection and does so much better than "black boxes" ala the Sima unit.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[SHS]

All 550 chip also has build in macrovision protection so you need buy a TBC.

[pepegot1]

Try this for a cheap solution. It works only for "Macrovsion," but the price is right and works well for me.

http://www.checkhere22.com/stabilizer.html

[techdog]

Thanks for your replies. So, it sounds like the Sima device isn't really necessary and won't do much for me, then? Would it be of any help if I play a really old VHS tape that's kind of shaky, in terms of stabalizing the picture to get a better transfer? Or, am I better off getting something else for that? I'm not really looking to spend much more than the $49.99 sale price that the Sima is on sale for (until the end of today) if I were to buy another device.

Do the Hauppage cards NOT have Macrovision protection? If I do run into any issues, I suppose I could always sell my Theater 550 and get a Hauppage tuner.

[SHS]

Hauppage cards do not have macrovision protection unless you using MCE.