best USB 2.0 Capture device for 50-75 dollars? VHS to DVD

[gruuvmunky]

Never owned a capture device and it looks like there are 500,000 Different ones to choose from.
i'm sure at 50-75 bux, there are pure Crap and some decent ones.

I just want to capture some old VHS tapes on burn to DVD.

I'd like something pretty easy with good quality..nothing fancy needed.

I'm thinkin I'll buy it off ebay.

there isn't any GOOD updated info on this subject anywhere on the net, hopefully HERE though

THANKS

puter is
Xp2200
768M ram
Windows XP
80GIgs free
usb 2.0

[olyteddy]

<<<----List of Capture cards over there. Or consider a DVD recorder. A lot easier.

[gruuvmunky]

i've read over there but there are SOOOOO Many cards listed even in the USB2.0 category.

I'll check dvd recorder prices but what if you want to do some simple editing like titles and chapters and such?

and how does a DVD recorder handle the Length if the tape is too big to fit on 1 dvd?

Looks like Hauppauge is the best manuf lookin at the LISTS..
but it seems like All of them have complaints, 1 way or another



Also, is it better to capture audio through the input on my NForce2 board rather than through the USB to free up bandwidth?

[dun4cheap]

If your just looking to convert vhs to dvd why not just buy a liteon dvd recorder like this.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=LVW-5115GHCPLUS-R&cpc=SCH

This unit I believe has pass through for firewire so you could also use it to capture to the pc. Analog to digital via firewire. You could kill 2 birds with one stone. The key is you could do you conversions without the pc.

[BobK]

I'll check dvd recorder prices but what if you want to do some simple editing like titles and chapters and such?

Just bring the DVD over to your computer and copy the video on to your hard drive (some programs will work directly with the vobs, some will give you the option to extract them as mpeg2 from the DVD). Do whatever editing, titles, etc that you want to do and then author a new disk and burn it to DVD.

and how does a DVD recorder handle the Length if the tape is too big to fit on 1 dvd?

The recorder handles it by stopping when the disk is full. The way for you to handle it is to either get a recorder with hard drive, then split the file before copying to disk and bring all the disks to your computer to recombine them after editing, etc. Or you can just record until the disk is full, then put in a new disk. When done, bring all the disks to the computer to edit and recombine the files.

When using those solutions, it'll probably be cheaper to use RW disks in the recorder so you can reuse them after transferring the video to the computer.

[Barnabas]

If you have a DV camcorder, use it. If you don't have a DV camcorder, some of the low cost brooktree cards will do. The results are much better than using a DVD Recorder, as you can filter, and adjust the capture before encoding.

[gruuvmunky]

i have an ANALog camcorder so I was planning on using the unit for that also....

I think for simplicity sake, I'd like it to go straight to my puter so i can edit and burn.

there's got to be SOMETHING out there that will work for less than 100bux

[olyteddy]

Not less than $100, but I've been using a Hauppauge PVR USB2 for almost 2 years now. And I did get it with a rebate that made it $99.99...

[edDV]

Not less than $100, but I've been using a Hauppauge PVR USB2 for almost 2 years now. And I did get it with a rebate that made it $99.99...

That is what you want. Save up for it.

Any USB2 device that doesn't hardware encode will be worthless. The PVR USB2 is known to work well. Mileage varies on the others.

A standalone DVD recorder will also work but each has different issues for recording VHS. VHS is the worse case source. Read the reviews and the forums.

[JimboS]

Forgive me for saying this, but I use an ADS DVD EXPRESS...for doing VHS to DVD...
Have had it for 2 years or so...Works fine cost about $70 at Wal-Mart...

[edDV]

Forgive me for saying this, but I use an ADS DVD EXPRESS...for doing VHS to DVD...
Have had it for 2 years or so...Works fine cost about $70 at Wal-Mart...

That one does include a "Cirrus Logic 2288 DVD Encoder chip" so go for it if user comment is favorable. Avoid non-encoding models.

[gruuvmunky]

Good INFO

THANKS