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I'm just starting out in the area of video capture. Having done various bits of research into devices and with a budget in mind, I went out and got a Dazzle DVC 150, as it was marked down by £90 from normal price. For this reason I chose it over the Dazzle DVC 90.
Having read various reviews about Dazzle and Pinnacle products I was expecting some issues. While the hardware itself performed successfully and excellently (no dropped frames at best quality), I soon ran into problems with the Pinnacle Studio 9 software. When capturing, the video and audio are not in sync, though the output file is fine, but this makes it difficult to start and stop capture at the right point. Also having patched the software from the official web site, it now doesn't even detect the device!
The other issue is that the Dazzle 150 has a built in MPEG-2 decoder, and as such cannot capture in any other format. This, together with the way in which it's installed, means other software such as Windows Movie Maker (easy to use, captures in AVI, great results) cannot detect the Dazzle 150. I've also tried Roxio Capture 8 and Ulead VideoStudio 9, with the same results as Movie Maker (failure to detect device). When connected, the device appears under Sound, Video & Game Controllers in Device Manager, thus making it impossible to manage. Therefore I have decided to return this and look elsewhere.
Which leads me to the Dazzle DVC 90. Again I've heard conflicting reviews, but what interests me about this is that it works off USB2, and claims it can capture AVI (it doesn't have MPEG-2 decoder?), which would make it compatible with Windows Movie Maker, is this correct? I was wondering if other people can share their experiences and confirm if the Dazzle 90 works with Windows Movie Maker (or software other than Pinnacle Studio). I am happy with the capture quality that the Dazzle hardware produces, all I need is the compatibility with multiple capture software.
Could anybody also recommend alternative solutions? I prefer USB as I only have one laptop with FireWire, and I need to be able to use it with a number of computers.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to your input and suggestions!
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