Honestech 5.0 VHS to DVD trouble!

[crainbebo]

I'm having issues with my Honestech 5.0 VHS to DVD. My Vidbox has worked well for the past 3 years or so, the NW02 version. Now every few days, I will have no access to video or audio on the Windows 10 computer. When I go into Device Manager to see why, I have to click on 'show hidden devices' to see the VIDBOX NW02 driver! I did not unplug it any time in the night, I went to bed and left everything as it was.
But when I tinker around a bit, it shows that the last time I 'unplugged' it, was the time that I turned on the computer this morning! It shows a Code 45, that it's unplugged. It's not unplugged, but Honestech does not register a picture or audio, and there's no option to change the video or audio input. I've tried to restart, uninstall and reinstall the drivers, etc. and it's no use. I've even gone as far as uninstalling my USB drivers because allegedly 'Windows will reinstall them'...HORRIBLE mistake. That cost me $81.00 in computer repairs because my keyboard and mouse no longer worked. The next day, it will work just fine for 4-5 days until it happens again. Is my VIDBOX running out of steam? My USB input getting worn out? Should I just upgrade to a newer Honestech version (like 7.0?) Thanks as always!

[hdfills]

best option upgrade too a better capture device

[crainbebo]

Sounds like that's the only way out. Worked just fine for the past 5-6 days, then Saturday the Code 45 showed up for 2-3 hours, then it worked. Today, I've had the computer on for about 2 hours and the device is shown as 'unplugged' and hidden. Honestech 7.0 goes for $20-40 on eBay so I may have to go to a newer version of Honestech.

[lordsmurf]

Honestech just rebadges Chinese junk.
Seek a quality capture card, not just any other capture card.

[crainbebo]

I did some digging around and found out what's going on. Apparently it will work IF and ONLY if the computer is not shut down for the night or restarted. I haven't shut it down (just low-power sleep) in days, turned it off on Sunday night and for the last 2 days there's been the Code 45 issue. 'Unplugged' when it's not, no video, no audio, no way to look at the VCR's picture. And when the computer turns on, shortly after it will AppHang and AppCrash in the device manager event log.

I'm looking into a new converter. Either a newer Honestech or Roxio, or something else. What's the best (to upload videos to YouTube) outside of Honestech? And which one is going to allow me to upload a file with the best quality AND with the smallest file size? Thanks.

[redwudz]

Take a look at a Diamond vc500: https://www.diamondmm.com/product/diamond-vc500-one-touch-video-capture-edit-stream/
It has fair quality and is dependable.

[crainbebo]

I just purchased a Diamond VC500 off eBay for $35.00. Hopefully it will be better than the old dead horse, ala Honestech 5.0. I have the old VIDBOX still in the computer and nothing is displayed. It 'installed' the drivers successfully - no picture, no audio. %$#&!

[LMotlow]

I just purchased a Diamond VC500 off eBay for $35.00.

Did you know that it sells for brand new on Amazon and other dealers for less than $40?
But you get it from some dude on eBay?
Brilliant!

[crainbebo]

Well, thanks a bunch for your snarky reply.
The new Diamond VC500 box works...only taken out by the original owner to make sure it worked, never used after that. I've had some decent success with the new box. What I DON'T like about it...blue screen on poor-quality tapes. Is there any way to disable this? If you play a tape in the Sony SLV-N55 and it's a fuzzy recording, none of the picture is interrupted. Static and the breaks in between partial recordings also stay intact. Just wondering because I have a few tapes that were recorded off TV and the signal goes in and out. I'd rather have a fuzzy picture on my DVD than nothing at all.
Also notice that almost every time I go from the processing back to editing to delete the original capture files (after they are put into a compilation), the software stops responding, quits, and displays a message 'PDR12.exe has stopped working'. Not sure why this is, I don't have any issues with the computer freezing up or what not. Didn't used to, started up on Thursday night.

But the quality of clips is so much better on this new box than the Honestech in compressed quality. Not too many artifacts or pixels in an LP-quality recording. And at least the USB software isn't acting up every time I shut the computer down! It's also easy to combine files to process into various file formats - MPG, AVI, WMA, etc. So far, so good.