What is this?
Adaptec’s all-in-one solution allows you to convert your old VHS tapes to MPEG-2 format before reaching the computer, and to export the edited clips to CD or DVD.
User Review(s)
"Works" Not a high end video editing suite, but then, most of those are 2-3 times the price.
i got it as PCTV , with the additional benfit that it is the only system that will connect hassle free to my old VHS camcorder.
So far , so good.
Software is a bit clunky, but this is not a professional device.
Does what it says on the tin, and for not much more than a poor TV card, an external USB TV tuner, with PC tv and video capture facilities- I think it does what it says.
You need a decent computer though - suspect at leat 3g P4 and 1G ram From Jonty, August 24, 2004
"Great hardware but severely limited by software" I'm using the Card for 3 months now and I get solid 30fps DVD quality video with sound totally synched. As a somewhat serious video enthousiast, I avoid using MyDVD the software that came with it since it is so severely limited in its functionality the wortst being that I cannot schedule recordings. So I use SageRecorder. I also found that I get better audio/video quality when I use the Intervideo MPEG2 drivers as opposed to the Cyberlink ones but this may be due to the card's limited support. Lately, a trojan corrupted my registry and SageRecorder ceased to function with VideOh. Repairing XP did not help. I guess I will have to do a complete clean install and start all over again. Adaptec support is really bad and did not help on any questions I had regarding alternative software to MyDVD. From RoboCop, June 19, 2004
"Stay away from it and you may sleep at nights" Well, as I said if you use it you may get lot's of sleepless nights with it. This hardware produces good quality video but MyDVD the software that comes with it SUCKS in every respect of the word. It is a complete joke! Can't do anything useful with it. Not even produce a DVD beyond 4.7GB to subsequently shrink it back with DVD Shrink. This stupid software will just NOT let you do so. So I use TmpgEncoder DVD Author to author a DVD. Another bad think about MyDVD is it's lack of a scheduler. How can I tell it to schedule a recording at a given time? I guess using the Windows scheduler is one idea but it is not apparent if this terrible MyDVD software can accept command line parameters. And don't rely on its technical support. Chances are you know more than them already. From Barracuda, June 19, 2004
"It cannot deliver what it promises." Main problem is intermitant "loss of signal" in spite that you can see a good picture on the screen. This stops the whole process of recording. And you are again at square one recording from the begining (or else you have to stitch small blocks of recording together).Will do the same if you try to record while the video player is "paused".
Software bundle keep crashing (with Win Xp) From L Bandara, October 11, 2003
"Disappointing" installation is easy, bringing vhs into PC is easy. creating a DVD from VHS is an elusive task, one I have yet to accomplish in 4 weeks of efforts. No sound on DVD movie, another attempt yielded a thumbnail movie. rereading info from adaptec and sonic mydvd (along with searching for downloads) has not helped. Running a 2.6 ghz with 1 gig of ram and xp pro - this thing should fly. beginning to believe I have been ripped off. From George McManus, August 26, 2003
"Device needs work still." Bought this device to archive my library of VHS/8mm home videos and video projects. Since I had USB 2.0 and a XP machine, I figured this would be a piece of cake.
Pro: Quick workflow for down and dirty TAPE=>DVD work.
Con: Difficult to use software. Not many options to tune settings. Only works with one piece of software. Output is only good for VHS type material as you'll be dissappointed if you try to input Super8 or similar. The max 6mpbs bitrate is insufficient for getting the job done for videos with higher quality requirements. From Zeiram, June 29, 2003
"patience required" I've never used other video-capture products, but there has got to be something that works more consistently than Adaptec's stuff. I bought the VideoOH! DVD and haven't been very impressed. The included capture software (Sonic MyDVD) was never able to produce an audio-synced capture. On top of that, it tended to crash about 20% of the time. ArcSoft ShowBiz (also included) has capture funcionality, but doesn't detect the Adaptec device. This is also true for Ulead MediaStudio. I downloaded Emuzed MovieMill which managed to produce audio-synced clips, but also crashes fairly often. It's luck of the draw whether you make it through the entire video you want to capture without a crash. I doubt it's a system resource problem, as the system I'm using the VideOH! with is no slouch: Dell Dimension 8250 w/ 2.4 GHz P4, 512 MB SDRAM, and USB 2.0.
For the price, one would expect the VideOH and bundled software to work a lot better. If you play with it long enough, you'll eventually get some successful captures. But you'll spend a lot more time than you should have to. Adaptec should stick to SCSI. From George Holbert, June 22, 2003
"Great Product, Affordable price" I been loking for a way to transfer my all VHS tapes to DVD's for a long time, I tried different products from Pinnacle, Dazzle and ADS and all I got were products that did not delivered as advertised. With VideOh the search is over, this is a great product, (It does take time to learn all the functions), I been transfering all my all VHS tapes to DVD and I have not encounter any problem so far. I give this product my highest recomemdation. From Juan Zamora, May 05, 2003
"Exceeded my expectations!" I've been looking for a way to convert my analog video to vcd and this product does it. The transfer process works!! The software doesn't have the best documentation, but if you are patient, you will create vcd's. I used my camcorder's s video out to transfer the video to the hard drive. Using the software took some time, but I did figure it out. The hardware is worth the price. Bought it on line through cnet. From George Stieper, March 08, 2003
"Not as good as I thought it would be" I have been looking to convert my old VHS videos (some are black and white home movies) and thought this would be just the product - it isn't. Once you start the capture process (I am using a composite input for a variety of reasons) everything starts pretty well but at various intermittent intervals the software will report a loss of signal and stop recording. You then have two choices, start from the beginning or collect a multitude of clips which you have to spend the next day or so stitching together to create a single movie. This process is slow and painful and really not worth the effort. My quest for a product that delivers a quick, easy fix to this problem continues.... From Andy Gardiner, January 19, 2003
"Difficult to use, but works" If you have a lot of patience, this product is usable. I used it to create 60 minute VCD disks only so far (no DVD). Quality of VCD video is fair (less than VHS), with audio equal to VHS. Capture of video was easy and no problems occurred. However video editing is where this product is lacking. Software is made up of two separate programs--MyDVD for menuing and chapters; and ShowBiz for cropping, titling and special effects. The chapter points can only be set up as the video is being captured (can't go through and set chapters later),which makes this feature virtually unusable. Also, the project formats of MyDVD and ShowBiz are not compatible with one another, so you are forced to use one or the other program. Since ShowBiz has many more features (and is the better software), I used it rather than MyDVD to create my VCD videos. The documentation is not very good (written at the starter level). For example, they don't really explain how to crop-out frames in the middle of a video segment, only says that the beginning and end of the segment may be cut-off. To do this, you have to split the segment into two segments at the part you want to delete, then cut out parts at the beginnings and ends of the new segments.
Titling and special effects are very good with many options. Can have fade-in titles, rolling titles. Can fade from one scene to another. Can add up to two additional sound-tracks (haven't tried this yet).
CD burning takes a long time (about 2 times the length of the video). I had to reboot (and repower the CD burner) between burnings because my system frequently locked up in the middle of burning (wasted CD).
I give this product a 2 1/2 out of 5. Hard to use and needs a lot more work on the software. From John Brennecke, November 12, 2002
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. VideOh! DVD Specs
Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP
Video capture resolution(s)
720 x 480, 480 x 480, 352 x 480
Video capture format(s)
MPEG-2, MPEG-1
Max. capture rate @ 30fps
720 x 480
Video input(s)
S-video, composite video
Audio input(s)
Right & left RCA
Video output(s)
None
Audio output(s)
None
TV standards supported
NTSC, PAL
Personal video recorder?
No
Remote control
No
Software
Sonic MyDVD, video editing software, Apple QuickTime
Hardware encoder?
--
Power source
Self-powered
Warranty
Two years
Extras Turn on and off this self-powered device automatically with your PC.
Lost a USB cable? Get a replacement USB cable.
Running out of USB ports? Get an extra USB hub.
You may need a new USB card to achieve Hi-Speed USB speeds.
Confirm with our USB 2.0 FAQ if you have Hi-Speed USB on your PC.
Where to buy Adaptec VideOh! DVD?
