Need a little help deciding on a card

[Viper187]

Ok, I want to capture mostly from my VCR (standard RCA inputs) to DVD-R at DVD quality resolution. Here's a couple I'm looking at, but if you know of any others that would suit my purpose please let me know.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?sku=A03-7032%20P

seems like a good deal, but these others claim to capture 720x480 instead of 704x480.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?sku=D450-1078

This one seems nice, but the 150 model claims that it's USB 2.0 support gives 25% better quality.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?sku=D450-1074

the DVC 150 model. Does the USB 2.0 really matter?

[Jester700]

It CAN matter, but not always. USB 1.1 limits you to 5Mb/s bitrate, and that's NOT VBR. This is half of what DVD is capable of, so in REALLY hard to capture scenes, there may be slight quality issues. Having said that, my ADS IDVD looks very good to me. The 704 res isn't a big issue - it's an earlier spec, but DVD compliant, and it's only a 2% reduction in res.

The BIG issue is, these critters don't cap audio - they use your PC soundcard. That means you need a good soundcard for good sound. Also, this method often results in audio/video sync problems, particularly if you're going to edit the captured video. I personally haven't had these problems, but many have. Plus, ADS & Dazzle haven't had great customer service on these units.

If you want hardware capture on your PC, do yourself a favor - get a PCI card based on the iTVC15 card - Hauppauge PVR250 or similar. That's the best cheap stuff going. If you *NEED* USB (I wanted to do this on my laptop, or I'd have the PCI card), I'd try the ADS, but consider all the warnings.

[Viper187]

Well, I didn't say I don't have USB 2.0, it's just that it's more expensive.
I'm leaning toward the DVC 150... I found it for $170 elsewhere ($30 less than Tigerdirect). http://www.pcnation.com/asp/details.asp?item=449033&technote=Y