Customer Reviews

ADS TECH INSTANT DVD +DV ( USBAV-703 )

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I bought the ADS Tech Instant DVD +DV after reading some great professional reviews in some of the online magazines. I was really excited to get this product. I now wish I'd paid more attention to the actual user reviews, as near as I can tell the people writing the magazine reviews must have never actually tried to use this product. Put simply... it doesn't work. Believe the user reviews, this is a bad product.

I wanted to transfer some old VHS videotapes to DVD, and I also got the +DV option thinking that it would be a nice way to add Firewire capabilities to my USB 2.0 based system for use with my new Digital camcorder. The Instant DVD box failed miserably to deliver on either of these goals.

Using the DV input with my digital camera I had strange artifacts start to appear on the screen. There were weird blotchy sections that started out small, but then grew as the capture progressed until half the screen was covered. While transferring my old analog VHS tapes, certain sections of the tapes would cause the box to completely lock up. When I could get a capture that didn't freeze, I couldn't get a capture where the audio and video would stay in sync. I tried multiple tapes, multiple DVD mastering programs, even multiple computer systems, nothing worked. This was simply making DVD's straight from the captured footage, I wasn't transcoding anything. The only thing that worked for me was taking a nice clean analog signal from my digital camera (since the digital DV capture didn't work.) That was the only thing that stayed in sync, any input that was less than perfect, like 10 or 15 year old VHS tapes, forget about it.

I sent several email queries to the ADS Tech support, after giving up on their telephone support after waiting forever on hold. Other than the automated "Well get right back to you as soon as possible" responses, I've heard nothing else from them. That was six weeks ago... and I'm not holding my breath. If you buy this product, you're definitely on your own.

I've long since returned my box, and chalked it up to a learning experience. Here are a few things to think about, first of all, do you really want a box that converts straight to MPEG2 format? If you want to change *anything*... clip out a few scenes, add a title screen, join several clips together... you have to reencode the file anyway. By uncompressing then recompressing you're sacrificing quality, and not gaining anything from the built in compression. Also, I didn't realize at the time, but you can get a Firewire card with a cable for almost the same price as just a cable... it's cheap, and much better than spending all the extra money for the +DV option.

I now own a Canopus ADVC-100, it's more expensive but worth every penny. More importantly... it actually works! That's much more than I can say about the ADS Tech Instant DVD.

ADS touts the Direct to Disc feature which Ulead DVD Movie Factory provides, where you can burn straight from a video source to DVD without going through the lengthy process of first capturing to an MPEG2 file then mastering a DVD. This is a feature similar to what a stand-alone DVD recorder for your television would allow. However, this feature only works from an analog source. If you try to do it straight from a DV source, the audio and video will not record smoothly. It will cycle through insanely fast, where everyone sounds like a chipmunk and moves at lightning speed, then pauses, then back to fast again. I've contacted ADS about this problem, and they instructed me to contact Ulead. I contact Ulead, and they tell me to download the latest ADS and Ulead drivers and patches. As of 12/13/03, I have all the latest drivers and patches from both companies posted on their respective websites and they still do not work. I've tried it on two different computers, one of which was a clean Windows XP Pro install on an Athlon XP 3200+ with 1GB of RAM and 160GB of free disk space. I think it is ridiculous for ADS to bundle software with their product and not provide support for it. I suspect that the problem is actually in their own drivers and yet they are just passing the buck to Ulead who passes the buck back the ADS. I didn't buy a single product from a single company to deal with two different companies that blame each other! To be clear, DV to MPEG2 captures do work, just not the Direct to Disc functionality. The DV straight to MPEG2 captures are convenient because it does it in real-time, however they are not as good as if you were to capture DV via Firewire then use a quality software MPEG2 encoder like TMPGEnc. I've also received better results capturing analog video by going from analog Hi8 to DV to TMPGEnc than I have from analog Hi8 straight to MPEG2 with this product. Also, this product does not use standard capture drivers so you will only be able to capture using the ADS Capture Wizard program or the bundled Ulead software. The touted DV device control is unresponsive and only works with Capture Wizard is and more of a distraction than a useful feature. In short, if you need convenient DV or analog to MPEG2 captures, this device may work well for you. But if you need the best quality video or want to burn from DV straight to DVD, look elsewhere. Hopefully they do fix the DV straight to DVD problem.

I can't really add too much to what's already been said. The product doesn't work, tech support is non-existent. I bought it online, received it on a Friday, returned it the following Tuesday after reading about the tech support problems everyone else has been having. When I was installing it, as I plugged in the USB connection, I got the Blue Screen of Death and my computer crashed. When it rebooted, Windows told me the hardware was not designed for XP and that I should not install it. Hmmm, why then does the box for Instant DVD have the "Designed for Windows XP" logo on it? I went ahead with installing the updated software and drivers anyways. When I tried to preview captured video, I got nothing. A black screen. Could not get it to work or do anything. Tried capturing even without seeing anything in the preview in 2 different programs. After 20 seconds it stopped and told me the file was corrupted. And despite the fact that the unit was doing nothing, every time I had the device plugged in, my computer slowed down, my mouse wouldn't respond, and the programs would crash. So I had even less success with this product than the other reviewers here. I have a month-old computer with all the latest gadgets and gizmos. If this doesn't work with my computer, whose computer does it work with?

Having read the positive review here and hundreds others on another website, I will be trying out the Canopus ADVC-100 (do a search for "Canopus" only if looking on Amazon). If after reading this, you are still considering buying this product, do yourself a favor and shoot yourself in the foot instead. It will more fun and less painful.

Avoid this ADS Instant DVD (?) at all cost. Have tried on two computers, and the USB2 cannot be detected on either. Sorry I bought it.

I bought this due to reviews. What a mistake--I have worked for over a week, burned many many DVD's and none have been able to play. The software causes shutdowns, freezes, and misup, plenty of varying error messages. I even had to reinstall Windows XP. This is a lot of trouble and will drive you nuts. I suggest other products, stay away from ADS Technologies' USB Instandt DVD. It is neither instant nor is it DVD!

I have had the DVD+DV for (edit 2: several) weeks now. I have been able to record several movies using several different options. The DV recording works but I find some issues with it.

My best estimation is that the chipmunk sound (when recording with the DV option) comes from my having selected 12 bit sound when I recorded on my sony camera. Some tapes have it and some don't. I am still trying to nail that down. This problem does not present itself when using the analog output of the camera.

I also have some issue with several blocks on the screen being either a frame behind or ahead while the rest are fine. Again, I do not know what causes it but it is repeatible when recording through the DV. I suspect that it has something to do with the settings I recorded on because some tapes do not have the problem. This problem does not present itself when using the analog output of the camera.

I read reviews that indicated that the DVD+DV gets hot and locks up. Well, it gets hot and that is for sure. However, I have recorded 1.5hrs straight on a couple occasions with no hiccup. (edit: I have recorded more sessions and can say that I see no instability in the device. Its been powered for days now and I record at will.)

I have attempted the direct to DV process. It worked as advertised and by that I mean that since I only had a 1.6ghz chip, I got a movie but with lost frames. You can tell when this is going to happen because it shows in the preview menu. Looking at the requirements, you have to have a 1.7ghz minimum to make this work. I think that is accurate. The dvd I created I was able to play it fine with all the menus created on the fly. The only problem is with the dropped frames. I have a 2.6Ghz on the way and that should solve the problem.

I use w2000 pro and have applied all known patches for video, system, ulead software. I did ask one question of ADS tech support and am still waiting for something besides the autoresponder. If you need technical support you might need to look elsewhere. (Edit: !Still waiting!) (Edit2: Still Waiting)

All in all, I am (edit2: less happy with my recent observations)

(edit: The main reason for this edit is the following. The manual for the DVD+DV indicates that using the variable bit rate option in the custom settings allows for a generally higher quality recording while maintaining smaller file sizes. This is the way it works with MP3's so I starting using this option. What I've found over the last several hours of recording is that their implementation doesn't work well. The whole concept of variable rate recording was meant to apply bits where they are needed. Specifically, in fast moving scenes. Now with this option selected, I get substantial artifacting in the area of movement (i.e. my child's hands that move around). I've found that this remains the case even though you select 9mbs (the highest setting). However, the constant bit rate option creates images that are as good as what I can see directly from my camera on the TV.

My guess is that they have created their codec to optimize file size at the expense of quality. Anyway, I've just turned it off and am recording at either 6mbs or 9mbs depending upon the video.)

(Edit 2: I have just started trying to backup VHS tapes and ran across a nagging problem. I've have tried a SONY and a cheap brand VHS with no correction. ADS tech support is non-existant. I found a 3rd party support site that has the answer and describes my problem exactly. To summarize, there appears to be some common distortion from the audio track when reading VHS tapes. This appears as a static laden line across the bottom of the video and a vertical black bar on the left. Based on my experience, the amount of distortion at the bottom is related to the quality of the player you use. A side note is that my SONY camcorder RCA output does not produce this problem as it is not based on VHS (I presume).

Apparently, the TV used to display the video will determine if the issue is actually seen when playing the DVD (some TVs play on an area larger than the glass portion that you look at). The distortion will appear on any player that shows the whole file (i.e. PCs).

I cannot speak to it but some have suggested that other converters do not have this problem.

...

I am pretty impressed so far. I have been able to capture VHS tapes that were wearing out and improve the quality before moving them to DVD. I have noticed that the machine should not be left plugged in when not in use. It gets very warm and does not work well.

I am still working on how much I can improve a video and still keep the size reasonable. Over all I am very happy.

We've had this for well over a year (without the DV option), and it worked what I'd call "fair." We didn't expect prices on DVD/VCR recorders to come down as quickly as they did. We found a LiteOn DVD/VCR on super sale on Black Friday last year and haven't used the ADS unit since (the LiteOn recorder is far superior).

What bothers me most is the price I'm seeing on this now, as old as it is. It appears you can pick a used one up on eBay for a fraction of the new price, but I'd want to be sure I could return it if it didn't work, based on the number of complaints I see from others. We got ours at Circuit City, I believe, and I knew I could return it if it didn't work. I updated the software, had plenty of drive space, and read the instructions. In our case, it worked fairly well on some very old, rather poor quality VHS tapes, and though it wasn't a great image, the DVD was better than the original VHS tape. I suspect those who found this to be junk may not have upgraded software, etc., and/or may not have had adequate systems to include drive space, in most cases - it works adequately on some systems, so clearly it's not just a problem with this product, even if their tech support stinks.

My recommendation? Spend just a little more and get a stand-alone VCR/DVD recorder that will copy both ways from one to the other. You can get them for little more than the current price for the ADS unit. Or, if you happen to find a used one for very little, and your budget won't support a combo recorder, this will at least get your old tapes to DVD in reasonable quality (at least in our case, and apparently we're not the only ones despite some poor reviews).

No matter what - get your tapes copied to a disc ASAP. Tape images deteriorate, DVD images don't (though DVDs themselves can deteriorate if not properly stored - i.e. out of sunlight, for example). And you can always "upgrade" the DVD to the next new technology with little or no loss in quality. Tapes are magnetic and both the image and the tape itself deteriorate.

same as above:
I've had it for about two months have dubbed some twenty of my VHS tapes. While I can capture fairly easily the moviefactory 3SE is lacking(software/driver updates applied)
I get better results with Nero.

and often the resultant DVD's are coasters,,,for no obvious reason.

I've also begun using the Plextor m402u capture-X,,,
much better product,runs cool for a few dollars more.
same !@#$ software(studio 8, ugh!). But other software is included.

Easy installation. Software installs easily however you MUST use the latest software, updates and patches available onlineat www.adstech.com and www.ulead.com. Capture worked flawlessly the first time and burning to DVD went smoothly.

Highly recommend this product!