Customer Reviews

TURTLE BEACH Video Advantage USB

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Ahhhhhh. Ok. Well, I used the ADS DVD Xpress, and BOOO, it had a frequent interval of skipped sound, the unit got super hot, and the software sucked.

Enter Turtle Beach. Their Video Capture unit doesn't use external power (it uses the USB cable for power), is smaller, cooler, captures video without a lag unlike the ADS, doesn't get hot, and is just better all around.

The bundled software isn't very good, according to MaximumPC and user reviews on tigerdirect.com, so I use Intervideo's WinDVR3... their WinDVD Creator works well also.

So, this is probably the best unit for your money. Stay away from ADS Xpress...I'm not sure about their higher end models, but the Xpress version is horrible!

~bB

I have several hundred movies I have taped over the years on VHS tapes and decided I wanted to transfer some of them to DVD before they started to deteriorate so I purchased the Turtle Beach Video Advantage USB.

The first consideration you should make in purchasing this device is whether your computer will be able to support the heavy demands of the Video Advantage USB (and transferring VHS to DVD in general). I had recently purchased an HP Pavilion Laptop with Intel Duo Core T7200 2.0 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM and an 80 GB 5400 RPM hard drive. The laptop has done admirably in the capture process even though my hard drive is below the recommended 7200 RPM. You may want to consider the advice in the users manual to purchase a separate hard drive dedicated to video capturing. The size of the captured files is quite large (up to 10 GB for a 2 hour movie) so make sure you have adequate hard drive space and the hard drive is not highly fragmented. I would not even consider running the Video Advantage USB on my older Dell Dimension with a P4 1.8 GHz processor and 1 GB RAM. Also beware -- Video Advantage USB does not "officially" work on Vista (although the Turtle Beach site has some sort of work around listed).

The actual Video Advantage USB has worked quite well -- I have experienced no dropped frames or sound. The mysterious "copyright error" others have mentioned has popped up but it has not caused problems (I notice it when I use the time limit function when capturing). I did have to buy an RCA adaptor ($2 to $3) as my VCR has only one audio output and the Video Advantage USB has two audio cables (they neglect to tell you this in the set-up instructions although it is on the Web site).

You also need to consider whether the provided editing software is adequate. AD Full Cap is not what I needed and doubt I will ever use -- it is more for professional grade movies as the files it creates are huge (64 GB for 1 hour). Of course I did not learn this until after I started my first movie. If you are transferring movies like I am then you will use Power Producer and Power Producer Express (both by Cyberlink). Let's just say I have had my share of headaches with them. One of my movies had sound almost inaudible after I burned it to DVD -- little did I know that the input for the sound was too low and was adjustable in the process of creating an MPEG file. Also I found cutting out commercials to be less than intuitive although I finally was able to do so with much effort.

Also this process can be quite time consuming (which is why I am glad I have the laptop to do it and can use my Dell for other things). The total time to transfer a two hour movie to standard quality file (MPEG) and burn to DVD is about 3.5 to 4 hours. Not that you need to be at your computer the entire time but your machine will be seriously tied up. Fortunately most of what I want to transfer is commercial free otherwise it would be even longer.

Overall I give the Video Advantage USB good marks but the software provided lower grades. I figure once I am further along the process of transferring from VHS to DVD everything should be smoother. You may want to consider simply purchasing a video capture device and editing software separately -- software that one person loves is another person's nightmare so you can see what you like before you buy. Most importantly make sure you have a computer with not only enough processing speed, power, and hard drive capacity/speed but also the ability to dedicate almost completely to this process.

Do you like using hardware that isn't compatible with the software?
Do you enjoy pulling out your hair?
Is it about time you had a yelling fit?
Do you need a new prank to play on yourself?

If you answer yes to any of the above questions, then this product is for you! Yes, sirree, ladies and gentlemen. If you enjoy the frustrations involved in having a wonderful hardware product that doesn't work quite right with the software that comes with it, then I highly recommend this product.

On initial installation, everything works great. Even the software, although somewhat lagging, gave me satisfactory video and audio quality. The interface was very user friendly, and offered many options. I had no problems.

However, upon using it the second time, the product accuses me of copyright infringement, saying "that is a copyright movie, and will not be recorded." This was completely ridiculous considering I was trying to capture some simple analog video from a Hi8 camera -- the very same camera I used last time!

And that's not all, folks! There are even more ways you can shell out even more money to this company after paying for this product: they charge customer service over the phone. Quoting from their website: "Two Months Voice Support Package US$29.95 Please note that this service is for North American users only. The phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 1:00 PM - 10:00 PM CST."

If you want free customer service, you are stuck with the slow email response.

Imagine how much frustration you too can share when purchasing this product.

It does what my dazzle product could not do. I can capture my older analog 8mm tapes without dropping any frames and with the audio and picture in-synch. Highly recommended.

The converting hardware is simple to use but once you get beyond that things get a little more complex. To set chapters in the DVD or have the title screen changed and minor issues like are not so simple. Some items are in the help text. But the help text does not actually jive with what is on the screen. Simple solution would be to e mail them to get clarification right... not so--- their contacts points are like the CIA. basically, you bought it now you are on your own to figure it out. oh well, live an learn

I was kind in giving it two stars since the Editing may work well, I don't know - never got that far. The Capture is terrible. They give you two capture options, PowerDirector and AD FullCap.

I got almost an hour into capturing my Hi-8mm analog 'home movie' tape using PowerDirector when an error popped up about the tape being 'copyright protected' and it stopped recording. The support FAQ on their site claimed in one Q&A that "legal liability of introducing a technology that would allow an end user to copy a work they do not own would be the responsibility of the manufacturer of said technology."

Yet then they tell you in another Q&A "...the protection feature was set to on, on the camcorder that recorded the original tapes. If so, make your capture in AD FullCap and save your file... Once you have our file saved, you can import it into Power Director." What happened to their legal responsibility? Anyway, I tried the capture from AD FullCap and it just did not work. Frames were jittery and frozen up as it recorded, and the audio was slurred, regardless of the different settings I tried.

Another feature that is lacking over the USB is camera control. I owned Pinnacle a few years back. It had some minor issues, but I liked how you could start/stop/pause the camera right from within the software. I may be going back to the newer release of Pinnacle after this.

It takes tremendous CPU and I/O resources. I have a P4 2.8Ghz w/512MB RAM. I even installed a second disk drive (small 40GB at 7200 RPM) as recommended by them to capture to. Still, it just doesn't cut it.

And more frustrating than the software itself is the Support! The other review on here nailed it about the fax. I emailed my issues, and wait on average 3 days for a response. And even then, they may not answer your question right away. It's shameful actually.

Yet the reviews of this product when I read them on different sites were very good. Maybe they own Cray Supercomputers to run it on.

If you decide to buy and try, I'd love some feedback on here if you find workarounds to these issues (would be faster than their Support).

Audio and video were out of synch. Couldn't use the Studio to import due to "copyright protection" even from my video camera on video that I taped. Had to use ADS to import and then you lose the automatic color correction.

Files it creates are WAY to big. I returned it.

Stay away...I am still looking.

Well I am returning this item because it was defective. Support was non existent (fax a question to support and wait for an answer? I don't think so). I checked the reviews first and thought I wouldn't have issues but this was not the case. The video conversion was poor and things were not as intuitive as I would have thought. DVD burning just did not work. I tried it in my computer after burning (I have a Dimension xps with 2GB Ram) and couldn't play it on my new DVD player either. It's a shame as I couldn't find anything else. It got a good review on CNET or PCmag but I can't see how this could be the case.

I've been researching analog capture devices for a long time and finally bit the bullet and bought this one. With horror tales about crashes accompanying the reviews for many similar products, I was fearful even after receiving the package. But I needn't have worried. It was simple and worked great. I am loving reliving memories of my son's infancy that were stuck on 9-year-old VHS-C tapes.

The capture software was easy to use and very effective for my purposes. But the editing software, which you don't need to install to capture video to your hard drive, doesn't compare to Adobe Premier Elements. If you combine the two products, you get a fantastic package for the money.

This product has to many situations in which it would not work and not enough that would work. The tech support was all email. That is OK however, you try a fix and wait on the next email. I did not buy this product to have problems. I bought it to use. I returned it and used another product that worked out of the box.