Customer Reviews

Rescue Your Videotapes [Old Version]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you use a Windows XP Service Pack 3 computer, please know that installation of this device involves two (2) steps:

1. Go to http://www.magix.com and browse to the RESCUE YOUR VIDEOTAPES product page and download the newest USB driver for Windows XP Service Pack 3 and then unzip and install the driver WITH NO USB DEVICES attached to your computer. This will install about half of the driver.

2. Next, insert the CD that ships with your RESCUE YOUR VIDEOTAPES device into your computer's disc drive and -- then -- connect your RESCUE YOUR VIDEOTAPES USB capture device to your computer. Decline the option to connect to WINDOWS UPDATE then click CONTINUE and the next dialogue will ask if you want Windows to install the second half of the driver AUTOMATICALLY. Choose the AUTOMATIC install option. Then you should see everything install smoothly. Click Finish.

The competing Canopus Firewire ADVC-55 ($200) is another great capture device and I use that at work. But the Canopus device seems too expensive for me to buy for home use. So I bought this Magix device instead because I've had good luck with Magix multimedia products and the Magix device cost less than $50.

My computer is weak. It has a 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 processor and 1.5GB of memory. Yet, I'm still able to open Windows Movie Maker and capture directly to .WMV format -- without loss of audio/video synchronization -- and without frame drops. Since my purpose for this device was to convert old VHS cassette material to a digital format, I'm not that concerned about pristine quality. The quality of my captures, however, is surprisingly good... on a par with the quality of the captures from the Canopus device. I'm definitely pleased with the performance of this Magix device. It works perfectly well and I can't complain about the price. The CD that ships with this item contains some bonus Magix capture and DVD authoring software, which I chose not to install because I already own Magix Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus, which also supports this device.

Pay careful attention to the Windows XP Service Pack 3 issue because I previously ordered a Diamond VC500 USB device and tried to install that on my Windows XP Service Pack 3 computer using the driver that Diamond provided on the CD that shipped with the device and it wrecked my Windows installation and I had to reinstall Windows and all of my programs to clean up the mess. I recommend that you always use Acronis or some other type of program to "image" your computer before installing these types of devices so that you can restore your computer in the event of an installation snafu.

Another minor plus regarding the MAGIX device: It looks cool. It's red and white in color with a big MAGIX logo. It comes with one of those extension video cables with the yellow, white and red RCA plugs on each end.

First of all, the instruction booklet in the box doesn't match the programme once you boot it up. What use is that? Secondly, the scart/phono cable is cheap and nasty - mine broke after a couple of hours. Thirdly, the program doesn't work - the audio & video just won't sync up. All in all, a total rip off. Don't go near this appalling product.

I do not understand why some people have a problem with Rescue your Videotapes.

I ordered it (guess why) from Amazon - thanks for the fast shipping - three weeks ago and it is still working ;-)

All joking aside "Rescue your Videotapes" does exactly what it promises - rescuing your tapes but of course it cannot work wonders.
That means if your tapes are in a really bad condition it will be even harder to rescue them.

How does the whole thing start?

-install Rescue your Videotapes
-connect everything that has to be connected (hint: the included hardware is indeed not some high-end stuff but it is working perfectly if you treat it well)
-insert your videotape and let the software practically do the rest - what means that you're well guided through the rescuing process and every step is explained.

You can correct some of the damage which arises by the reason of time but if it is too blurry or to wiggly its almost impossible to fix it.

+easy to use
+some extra functions (not only digitizing some editing options too)

Installation went smoothly. It took me a few tries to master the process of transferring the VHS and then burning. The final products were very good, and I was able to transfer many VHS tapes to DVD. It also has a nice copying utility. You can select frames from the movie to use as chapter menus. There are many more sophisticated features available in this software that I haven't tried because I just needed these basic functions.

The downside, as with other Magix products, is the poor customer support. The Knowledge Base on their web site contains nothing useful. The messages left on the forum are rarely answered by tech support or other users. My experiences with emailed questions for other Magix products have varied. Sometimes they're helpful; sometimes they politely wash their hands of the problem; sometimes they don't respond at all. Make sure you check for software updates, as they've issued patches for XP and Vista.

I haven't seen sterling reviews for any VHS-to-DVD software product. Among the choices out there, Magix is worth trying.

This product worked well using the USB capture device and Magix Movies on DVD software to capture my VHS recordings to the digital mpeg2 format. Once captured I used other software (ConvertXtoDVD) to create DVD's from the .mpg files.
I also used the freeware application called Handbrake to convert the DVD files or .vob files to XviD within the .avi container.

I captured the video at 640x480 with the interlaced option set as suggested by members of the [...] forums.

ConvertXtoDVD deinterlaces the video as it creates the DVD files.

I also captured the video with the quality setting set to 15 (max) and bitrate adjusted to record 1hr 40 minutes at a time.

I do not have the fastest PC. I have a pentium 4 3.4ghz and 2gb ram. WinXP.
My system and hardrive were able to keep up and not drop many frames at all while recording. The software help says if frames drop more than 10 per min you have a problem and need to lower quality setting, bitrate, resolution..etc..

With the settings I used as mentioned I had very few dropped frames while recording and the audio came out perfectly in sync with video.

I did not use the software Magix Movies On DVD much for anything other than recording the video to .mpg and that part of it like I said worked well for me.

I am pleased with the results and have no regrets at all on spending the $[...] bucks to rescue some old VHS tapes I've had of family times from 20 years ago.

I can now use the digital video to make still pictures for prints and all sorts of neat stuff.

For anyone who might be interested in the freeware handbrake app that program does work well but I have read newer version of it will not be supporting output to the popular divx or xvid formats. The software is being designed to support mainly mpeg4 and H.264 output which is even newer stuff for High Def video.

If your looking for an inexpensive and fairly easy way to rescue your VHS I would say give this kit a try...

Happy capturing!
Jim