Capture Card problems, advice needed.

NEØ · Post by **NEØ** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 6:25 pm

Gah!

Okay, I’d really welcome some advice right now.

My second video capture card (an identical model to the first) just died, The first got fried with my motherboard, graphics card, sound card and modem, so I assumed it was not a fault of the capture card itself and bought an identical replacement.

Last night I was using it to capture some still images and my computer froze, I use Windows so this was not an exceptional occasion. I restarted and when the computer was loading I noticed the tray icon for my card didn’t appear, I booted the program manually and it came up with an application error, I restarted again and then my computer crashed, it did this several times before I decided to uninstall the program and remove the card, following that I had to adjust my windows registry as it continued to have problems even without the card.

To summarise that sad story I am pretty much convinced the card is beyond repair. I have just started a project that requires me to record various media, I am low on funds and am looking for some suggestions on cards.

The next card must have S-Video input, be able to record movie clips with high quality sound in MPEG2, and capture clear still images with a minimum size of 640 x 480, it would also be helpful if it could capture from both PAL and NTSC (if there is such a card).

*Smashes old capture card into a thousand pieces*.

Sorry about the long topic but I really need some specific suggestions and I don’t have a lot of time or money to spare at the moment.

*Thanks everyone in advance for reading this*.

NEØ · Post by **NEØ** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 7:59 pm

Sorry about double posting.

I am wondering if the ATI RADEON 9200SE TV-OUT 128MB, or something similar would do the job, I see tons of them on EBAY at a good price too, any suggestions?

madmag9999 · Post by **madmag9999** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:10 pm

do u need a new video card and capture card or just a capture card. the ati radeon 9200 only has svideo out and as u said in your post u need a capture card. i sugest getting the ati tv wonder pro if u only need a capture card. if u need a capture card and a video card get one of the ati all in wonder cards if ur not doing much gameing i suggest u get the ati aiw 7500 its a decent card i used it for quite some time. if u want to do some gameing get a ati aiw 9000 or 9600. or u could get the tv wonder pro capture card and a cheep video card sepratly like a nvidia tnt2 or a ati 9000. but that will most likely cost u as much as just getting an aiw card

Org Profile · Post by **LantisEscudo** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:17 pm

NEØ wrote:I am wondering if the ATI RADEON 9200SE TV-OUT 128MB, or something similar would do the job, I see tons of them on EBAY at a good price too, any suggestions?

No, the 9200 SE is only a video card, not a capture card. That card will give you monitor-out and output to TV, but won't let you capture video.

For capture, if you want an ATI, you'd need a TV-Wonder or an All-In-Wonder. I've got an All-In-Wonder 8500DV that I like very much, which replaced a not nearly as good All-In-Wonder 128 PCI. The newest All-In-Wonder is the 9800 Pro, with other slightly older models available.

I've heard very mixed reviews of the TV-Wonder series, though.

I know of a lot of people that swear by Pinnacle cards, though the two models I've heard the most about seem to be discontinued now (DC 10 Plus and the DV500). Pinnacle cards are also very expensive from what I've seen.

Check out the hardware reviews; they should help quite a bit.

NEØ · Post by **NEØ** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:22 am

Thanks for the advice guys, it’s a real help, I’m reading multiple reviews of the ATI TV Wonder, it seems reasonably good for the price.

Does anyone know of a UK website that sells these?

madmag9999 · Post by **madmag9999** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 3:23 pm

newegg ships to the uk. at least im pretty sure they do

NEØ · Post by **NEØ** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 6:15 pm

madmag9999 wrote:newegg ships to the uk. at least im pretty sure they do

I checked and they only ship to United States and Puerto Rico.

Anywhere else I can get this card?

If not does anyone know any good UK capture cards that meet the specifications I listed in my first post?

madmag9999 · Post by **madmag9999** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 6:48 pm

have u tried your local computer shop?
or u could try www.ati.com
im pretty sure they will ship to the uk
well nvm on that one
ummm hmmm i cant seem to find anyone who will ship there.
my friend has a tv wonder ve not pro that he wanted to sell if your intrested i can ask him for you and you can do a paypal transaction.
i dont know if your intrested in the ve or if your intrested in purchesing from a private party. but if you are just tell me and ill ask him. also you can try ebay but theres the private party again and some ppl dont trust that.
i think your best bet would be to try a local computer show

Org Profile · Post by **LantisEscudo** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 6:59 pm

ATI only ships directly to the US and Canada. They've got a list of approved retailers for the UK, though, at http://www.ati.com/buy/consumer/pc/europeretail.html#uk

There's also a list of approved online retailers at http://www.ati.com/buy/online.html

NEØ · Post by **NEØ** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 6:21 pm

After some consideration I’d decided the terrifyingly mixed reviews is enough to dissuade me from buying it, any other suggestions on a good UK card?