Would I be better off with a new capture device?

[turbowman]

I have a HP Pavilion 1.8GHz Intel 4, 512MB Memory, 120GB hard drive, 64MB GeForce2 video card, HP DVD writer 100i. I am using a Dazzle DVC 80 capture device with USB plug.

I have used Studio 7, Vediowave 5.0, Unlead Vediostudio 6.0 to capture, edit, author, and burn my VCD and DVD. I can only bring video in from the VCR useing a s-video cable as AVI format. By what I have read that is the only way that capture device works. After I edit, Author, and burn to VCD and DVD (MPEG-2) when I play them back the CDs on my stand a lone unit I can not get a good picture or some quality is missing.

Ive read that the DVC 80 is not a good choice for capturing, that the Dazzle Digital Video Creator or Dazzle Digital Video Creator II are a good choice. Ive follow all of the ways to inprove your computor performance, Refrag hard drive, set DMA, closing all programs ect.I have invested more money tring to copy my old tapes and I am still not getting the quality I would like.

Would I be better off with a new capture device, I know that the price differance of the two I talk about are $100.00 or more apart but would the Digital Video Creator do the job? or is the other that much better? As I have read Trash in is trash out.

In closing I am not up on IEEE 1394 ports and capture cards, as I have IEEE 1394 ports open on my system. I asume the the USB use my vedio card? I found that Unlead Videostudio 6 was the most frienly program to use.

Thanks and hope you can help with this.

Wayne

[sracer]

You're right, the DVC 80 is not good for capturing.

I have had the Dazzle DVC (USB version) for over 2 years and have had great results. But the luster on my praise is tarnished a bit. Dazzle really doesn't support this device anymore. The DVC requires DirectX 7.0a or less and if you install a higher level , like DirectX 8, then the DVC software doesn't preview video correctly. Dazzle's response is to install a lower version or to upgrade to their newer MovieStar software for an additional fee.

It also depends upon what you want to do. I've been burning VideoCDs because I like the flexibility of playback choices...PCs with a simple CDROM drive, most DVD players, etc.

The DVC is a solid choice for that.

If you plan on getting into DVD authoring, then you should look for a device that can capture MPEG2 streams, like the DVC2.

If you are planning on capturing TV shows, then perhaps a TV tuner card is an option. I picked up an I/O Magic PVR card ($40). I then can record TV shows right off the card into high bitrate MPEG1 format.... then use TMPGENC to re-encode down to VCD-compliant streams. It also has MPEG2 capture modes for those who will burn to SVCD or DVD.

I don't claim that these are the best, but just the ones that I've had firsthand experience.

[yg1968]

I have heard a lot of people praise the DVC II. Although it sometimes has IRQ problems. It seems to be one of the better options.

Others include the Canopus ADVC-100 or a digital camera with a pass through feature.