Features:
- External USB 2.0 real-time MPEG-2 converter (USB 1.1 compatible)
- Easy-to-use personal DVD creation software
- Use your existing CD-Recorder to make Video CDs you can play on your DVD player
- Personalize with special effects, sounds, and titles
- Convert analog video tapes into digital
Description:
Adaptec's VideOh! DVD converter kit captures and digitizes analog composite and S-video signals and delivers them through your PC's high-speed USB 2.0 port. Bundled Sonic MyDVD and ArcSoft ShowBiz software help you edit clips, create menus, and record your projects onto DVD and CD media. To test VideOh!, we connected the power supply, USB cable, and external video source (a VCR) and installed the device driver. Next, we installed the bundled software and restarted our PC. The entire installation process was simple and intuitive, requiring only about 10 minutes. In Sonic MyDVD, we followed onscreen instructions to create a new DVD project, to capture and save a brief video clip, to create a simple DVD menu, and finally to burn the clip onto a DVD-R disc. After only an hour from opening the box, we had a playable DVD. Even in "best" mode, picture quality was only fair--slightly faded from the original, a few artifacts in the top and bottom scan lines, and occasional dropped frames--but consistent with our expectations for a low-end capture system. Subsequent tests to create more interesting multi-chapter DVDs were unsuccessful. As we tried to capture clips longer than about eight minutes, to trim and edit clips, and to burn DVDs with more than about 20 minutes of content, VideOh! manifested show-stopping bugs. Even after downloading an updated device driver, our system would completely freeze at seemingly random times after MyDVD had been running for several minutes. Testing VideOh! with other capture and editing software is, unfortunately, not an option, as the manual warns that the "Adaptec VideOh! DVD converter kit supports video capture only by using MyDVD." For extremely simple video-capture tasks and very short DVDs, VideOh! worked adequately well and was easy to use. For hobbyists who want to produce DVDs at home, we would recommend a more functional product. --Mike Brown Pros: - Quick setup
- Easy to learn and use
Cons: - Soft video quality
- Too many bugs
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