USB VHS to DVD recorder?

[654321]

Ok so I want a capture card for my new computer. I dont know too much about them but I know plenty about computer. I want a cheap cature card that can record my halo 3 videos and record TV (optional)
If internals are cheaper then Id preffur it.
I found this http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-VHS-TV-to-DVD-Capture-Card-S-Video-Grabber-xBox-360_W0QQitemZ1...3A1%7C294%3A50
But it looks like a peice of junk to me >.>
Can someone link me to something with those specs?

[654321]

Damn people what the hell?
2 days 50 views and no responce at all?
These forum are real slow goin. hot daym

[edDV]

You left us guessing.

Are you running XBox360 with composite or S-video out?
Do you want a TV tuner or what are you capturing TV from?

Classic internal SD TV capture cards are cheap. $20 up
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000380047%201685342847&bo...nd&Order=PRICE

Do you want a card with hardware MPeg encoding? Figure >$40

Cheap USB devices cut quality to fit USB bandwidth. Better models encode to MPeg2 or MPeg4 in the device.

Low end http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815255032

Better (no tuner) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815255011

HD cap (no tuner) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116030

[654321]

Sorry I dont know what allot of that means Im a nub at this. I think that low end one could work but is the quality for Ex: recording a halo clip good? I need it to be good enough graphx. My mobo has a display port if that makes for any cheaper options. but I have no idea what a tuner is...
and S-video out would be a little more helpfull.

[olyteddy]

Want my advice? Get a standalone DVD recorder. A lot easier than a capture card.

[edDV]

Want my advice? Get a standalone DVD recorder. A lot easier than a capture card.

If running SD, I agree.

[hech54]

Damn people what the hell?
2 days 50 views and no responce at all?

That's because nobody....and I mean NOBODY wants
to see you playing a video game.

[robjv1]

Yeah, DVD recorder is the way to go. Run an s-video cable out from your PC (typical graphics card connection) into your DVD-recorder. Then you can just record on -RWs in any quality that you like and edit them on your PC.

[654321]

Alright sounds good. Thanks olyteddy for the advice.
hech54 your real badass how you think you know what Im using it for. You think your so cool acting like the forum smart ass troll.
Thanks again

[vhelp]

Don't give up all too easy just yet on this card. I think that they can be found at BestBuy. I was in there just yesterday and saw it: was in their software section, of all place. I mean, it should be in with the graphics cards section, but wasn't. I guess, because its software bundled, they felt it best to match it up with the other software: audio; video editing; and so on..

I think there's another one of these type gadgets in that same software section. So, you might want to have a look and see for yourself what they consist of, etc. I prefer to hold and touch my things when I'm deciding on purchases.

Also at BB is another USB capture device. Its by Pinnacle. It looks more beafy: it was much heavier than the other ones mentioned above. Read the packing of these products.

Personall, I would prefer anything that includes ULead software. They have one of the best MPEG encoder engines around--I believe it is a licensed MainConcept, but they (MC) make excellent (mpeg) encoder engines..or used to--I don't keep up with these sort of things. But, my ADS VideoXpress usb2 capure device was excellent!! for vhs, at least for all the commercial tapes I own. It came with ULead (and MC) software/encoder. Home recordings, particulary old-er (shelf-ed or aged, and w/ problems) stuff will require more attention to detail and equipment(s), nursing, etc.

These are all USB 2.0 devices. If you have a lap top, you might want to check it and make sure that it has usb 2.0 else you're gonna get usb 1.1 speeds, which is aprox 1.5MBits transfer--too slow and not greater than 320x288 resolution.

* note, with lap tops, these come with slower HDD's, they are usually 5400 rpm vs. 7200 rpb of desktop pcs. The (noticable) differences will be dropped frames in the laptops, etc. So, testing certain (capture/encoding) criterias may be required.

Also, bare in mind, that when using these equipment, you want to capture at the highest bitrate your product is capable of. At least, for DVD, you want to set your bitrate to 9000MBits so that you can fit 1 hr on DVD discs. That would be your minimum setup for vhs->dvd archiving/transfer projects. And don't (turn on) use any noise reduction features on these devices because most hd tv's and hd graphic cards have their own built-in Image Processors that deal with "noise" in their somewheres. this is assuming that you will be watchign these videos from one of these devices, if not today, surely, tomorrow, since they are are getting rid of standard tv's slowly but surely.

These cards (the one you posted at least) comes with other codec format captures. I see it includes "raw" AVI captures: which means highest quality (and largest HDD space requirements) but make sure your computer or lap top includes usb 2.0 or else you'll get many dropped frames or worse.

If you do choose DV as your destination codec, (for maximum quality) be sure to install the cedocida codec.

For AVI captures (ie, dv, above, or mpeg-4 aka, divx, or other raw avi capture codec) you want to make sure you are connected to a usb 2. In these (avi) cases, require advance knowledge of more than you want to know. But I threw these notes in here in case someone comes along and says, "you can't capture to raw avi w/ usb", and this is not true because you can--you just have to have a good (fast) usb-2.0 system and proper driver setup, etc. etc--like I said, is advanced area, not for the faint heart.

Good luck,

-vhelp 5089

[rpe94]

Don't give up all too easy just yet on this card. I think that they can be found at BestBuy. I was in there just yesterday and saw it: was in their software section, of all place. I mean, it should be in with the graphics cards section, but wasn't. I guess, because its software bundled, they felt it best to match it up with the other software: audio; video editing; and so on..

I think there's another one of these type gadgets in that same software section. So, you might want to have a look and see for yourself what they consist of, etc. I prefer to hold and touch my things when I'm deciding on purchases.

Also at BB is another USB capture device. Its by Pinnacle. It looks more beafy: it was much heavier than the other ones mentioned above. Read the packing of these products.

Personall, I would prefer anything that includes ULead software. They have one of the best MPEG encoder engines around--I believe it is a licensed MainConcept, but they (MC) make excellent (mpeg) encoder engines..or used to--I don't keep up with these sort of things. But, my ADS VideoXpress usb2 capure device was excellent!! for vhs, at least for all the commercial tapes I own. It came with ULead (and MC) software/encoder. Home recordings, particulary old-er (shelf-ed or aged, and w/ problems) stuff will require more attention to detail and equipment(s), nursing, etc.

These are all USB 2.0 devices. If you have a lap top, you might want to check it and make sure that it has usb 2.0 else you're gonna get usb 1.1 speeds, which is aprox 1.5MBits transfer--too slow and not greater than 320x288 resolution.

* note, with lap tops, these come with slower HDD's, they are usually 5400 rpm vs. 7200 rpb of desktop pcs. The (noticable) differences will be dropped frames in the laptops, etc. So, testing certain (capture/encoding) criterias may be required.

Also, bare in mind, that when using these equipment, you want to capture at the highest bitrate your product is capable of. At least, for DVD, you want to set your bitrate to 9000MBits so that you can fit 1 hr on DVD discs. That would be your minimum setup for vhs->dvd archiving/transfer projects. And don't (turn on) use any noise reduction features on these devices because most hd tv's and hd graphic cards have their own built-in Image Processors that deal with "noise" in their somewheres. this is assuming that you will be watchign these videos from one of these devices, if not today, surely, tomorrow, since they are are getting rid of standard tv's slowly but surely.

These cards (the one you posted at least) comes with other codec format captures. I see it includes "raw" AVI captures: which means highest quality (and largest HDD space requirements) but make sure your computer or lap top includes usb 2.0 or else you'll get many dropped frames or worse.

If you do choose DV as your destination codec, (for maximum quality) be sure to install the cedocida codec.

For AVI captures (ie, dv, above, or mpeg-4 aka, divx, or other raw avi capture codec) you want to make sure you are connected to a usb 2. In these (avi) cases, require advance knowledge of more than you want to know. But I threw these notes in here in case someone comes along and says, "you can't capture to raw avi w/ usb", and this is not true because you can--you just have to have a good (fast) usb-2.0 system and proper driver setup, etc. etc--like I said, is advanced area, not for the faint heart.

Good luck,

-vhelp 5089

Isn't Firewire the way to go? Windows Movie Maker doesn't even recognize USB connections (at least not with camcorders - MiniDV).