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General discussion

video capture

Aug 16, 2005 10:25AM PDT

A friend of mine wants to transfer his VHS tapes to his computer and then burn them to DVD. His setup is as follows: HP P4 3.0ghz\512pc3200 ram\PCIexpress video\200gig hd\380 watt power supply. His VCR does not have an s-video port but he does have a firewire port on the front of his pc. I suggested a Dazzle external device but it comes with a firewire card and he doesn't need that. I have learned that firewire is better for capturing video than USB 2.0 despite the fact that the USB is faster. He is not very computer literate so he wants to learn the easiest way to do this. There must be other external devices that he can use. Thanks in advance for any help.

Rocco

Discussion is locked

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I\f not comp literate, don't use a comp.
Aug 16, 2005 10:53AM PDT

I suggest a dedicated DVD recorder since the video capture and edit will plunge comp illiterates into an upsetting spiral of issues.

Bob

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He'll have assistance
Aug 16, 2005 11:08AM PDT

I will be assisting him with this being the fact that he is a good friend and usually calls me with questions and I help him all that I can. He is interested in learning how to do this and he wants me there for my pc experience and because I don't treat him like he's stupid because he doesn't know much about pc's. Plus, unlike just about every other tech (no matter the quantity of certs they have) I...will...not...talk to him in a condescending manner. So..any advantages an internal device will have over and external device?

Rocco

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Just the price.
Aug 16, 2005 11:46AM PDT

While I use an under 49 dollar ATI or Haupaugge TV/Capture card, the time it takes to do a 2 hour capture is... 2 hours.

Then you may have some edit time. An hour? Then you play with your DVD software and wait a few hours for it to compile or encode the DVD content. If successful you can record your average 1 to 2 hour DVD in about 6 to 8 hours on a really fast machine.

What I find is that people chuck such time investment and just run out and buy the DVD recorder you hook directly to the tape player.

-> And if the person is truly illiterate they will be calling you daily to help them clean off the hard disk between each session.

Be sure you are ready to invest this much time in the project.

Bob

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Video Capture
Aug 16, 2005 12:51PM PDT

Plextor has some devices called ConvertX.

I have the PVR-PX-TV402U, which also has a TV tuner built in.

If you don't want the TV tuner, they have the PX-M402U.

They require that you have USB2 and a fast computer with a DVD burner.
Your friend's computer sounds as if it meets the requirements.

You can copy from a VCR to your hard drive
or
It will also copy from the VCR and record to a DVD in real time. It comes with the necessary software.

If you get the model with the TV tuner, you can capture a TV program and go directly to DVD (in real time).

Here is the link:

http://www.plextor.com/english/products/product_dvc.html

...
..
.

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Thanks
Aug 17, 2005 5:45AM PDT

Thanks for the reply. Got the info I needed.

Rocco

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Follow up question
Sep 8, 2005 3:37PM PDT

Do you have to have a graphics card or will intel chipset with integrated graphics work?

By the way, how does this Plextor product compare quality-wise to an higher-end ATI or Hauppauge product? It seems to be quite a bit more expensive.