Suggestions on Good Budget Capture card ??

[SladeZero]

Hey there,

I am am looking at getting a new capture card FINALLY . The only thing is which one ??
I have been looking at the:
1) ATI TV Wonder VE
2) Hauppauge WINTV PVR-250
3) LeadTech WinFast TV2000 XP

I have an XP PRO system with the specs below. Ram is good 256 PC2100 and XP 1600+.
I am looking to spend around $100 for this card. I would like something inexpensive that will
get the job done. The card will be used for capturing video from VHS, DVD and converting formats
to MPEG1 or MPEG2.
*****AGAIN it MUST be compatible with XP PRO***********
I would appreciate any SUCCESS stories you may have
If there is another card you have had good luck please let me know.

SladeZero

 

[cdub]

Are you trying to capture TV or VHS/DVD? Some tips:

For DVD conversion, go to doom9.org. You will learn everything you need to know there. Let me just say that it is much more efficient and will produce higher-quality encodes if you read the raw data off the DVD and use software conversion programs on the result (programs like FlaskMPEG). Keep in mind the video on a DVD is encoded in MPEG2 to begin with.

For VHS, if you are not planning on editing the content, then any kind of MPEG1 or 2 board will do. The WinTV PVR apparently has a MPEG2 encoding chip on it, that's not bad. I remember when my work paid $2000 for an MPEG2 encoding card. Or some ridiculously high amount in that range. If you want to edit the videos you bring in, I recommend a card that encodes the video in the MJPEG format.

For PVR functionality, you can get one of the cheaper TV cards and use a free PVR program, such as MSDVR. I just started using this program and it seems pretty cool. Although as far as I can tell, it will not be able to use any hardware encoding format your card may have... it encodes everything with the Windows Media Encoder. (Outputs .WMV files). So for example you wouldn't be able to use the MPEG2 encoder of the WinTV-PVR.

(disclaimer: you may be able to set up a WME profile that does nothing but write the raw data from the encoding card, however I doubt that's possible).

This is just some general tips, nothing too specific about those cards. Hopefully it helps.

 

[SladeZero]

Hey there,

I went ahead with the LEADTECH WINFAST TV2000 XP since it seems the most stable for
XP PRO. It also got the best ratings when I checked around on websites and NEWEGG.
Not to mention all the GOODIES that com with it. $65 for it Not bad. I hope the $65 will
be worth it. Wish me luck.

SladeZero

 

[cdub]

Wow, that card is packed with features for that price. Too bad it doesn't mention the encoding chip, still that looks awesome. Have fun!

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: SladeZero
Hey there,

I went ahead with the LEADTECH WINFAST TV2000 XP since it seems the most stable for
XP PRO. It also got the best ratings when I checked around on websites and NEWEGG.
Not to mention all the GOODIES that com with it. $65 for it Not bad. I hope the $65 will
be worth it. Wish me luck.

SladeZero

SladeZero, how do you like the card? Just today I started thinking/shopping, researching a video capture solution, and this looks real insteresting. I do FM ---> MP3 recording all the time off a receiver and I'm thinking I could start doing it with this card. Aside from that I have some VHS stuff I want to save on my HD. How's it going? THANKS!

 

[SladeZero]

Hey there,

Yea the Antenna is pretty good. It will pick up anything your normal stereo antenna will. I actually got mine for
$64...no biggie though. I really like the video capture quality. Obviously, you aren't going to use this for professional
capturing but I will say I am using it to back up my wedding videos to VCD . The software that comes with it makes
it simple to use. There's a really big button that you push to record AVIs for video and WAVs I believe for the sound. Get this
as well, the video capturing software can be used to record stuff like a VCR. In other words you can set it up for recording
in the future such as recording on TUES when it is SUN. I was able to scroll as far as 2005 ......after that I stopped scrolling.
Better plan ahead for those 3D movies . I really like this card. If I ever get a primary video card in the future it would
be a LEADTECH just because I have had such luck with it yet. Just be aware that recording AVIs can only be recorded up to
4 GB on a FAT32 file structure that's a limit for FAT32. I have WIN XP PRO...some people claim to have probs but I have non yet
and I have the NON SP1 version too . If you have any other questions be sure to post back ok ??
OH BTW - The antenna connector for the antenna plug on the video card is a little hard. What you have to do ...or at least I had
to was move the FM connector on the antenna outward since it was really tight. If you don't do this it can damage the
FM connector on the card and maybe something else. It's not that big of a deal. The FM antenna plug just fits really tight
that's all. Other then that I really like this card. GREAT DEAL I would say.

SladeZero