Dazzle falls short - why you should pick another product
Written: Jan 19 '03 (Updated Jan 20 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Cheap. Simple. Easy to use and understand.
Cons: Requires re-encoding for DVD.
The Bottom Line: Get it if you don't mind delayed gratification and your computer has nothing better to do than re-encode. Better yet, get a different capture device!
|
|
|
| magnusmx's Full Review: SmartDisk Digital Video Creator 150 Hi-Speed (DM-2... |
Hi!
Thanks for reading this review. I will begin by saying that this is not a ‘finished’ product and definitely is not as easy to use as the box and advertising would have you believe. It is definitely a step forward in the right direction. If you want to record DVDs on the fly with no hassle, the best way is to get a dedicated DVD recorder.
Like a lot of people I know in the professional video industry, the thought of a quick and easy straight to DVD recording solution is too good to be true for under $200.00. I admit, I got suckered in by the captions and salesperson who ‘swears’ by his Dazzle.
Many of you may know that I tend to write some very extensive reviews – I will do no such thing with this unit as I’m returning it before the return window is over but I will do my best to help you decide if this unit is right for you.
What you get:
Dazzle Digital Video Creator 150 Hardware
DVC 150 Quick Start Guide
Dazzle DVD Complete User's Guide
Dazzle OnDVD User's Guide
Dazzle MovieStar 5 User's Guide
AV Cables – S-Video and composite video and audio (1 set)
USB Cable (1.1 or 2.0? don’t know)
I purchased the unit at Best Buy for $199.99 (with a $50.00 free gift card).
Installation was quick. Required software update to fix bugs in the first release. Took about 10 minutes total from opening box to finish installing and plugging everything in and updating software over a cable modem.
All necessary cables for capture were included so I started capturing almost immediately after reboot.
First lets talk more about the product:
There are a lot of claims on the box. The one that peeves me the most is that the “DVD Encoder Saves Time and Space: The DVC 150 has a DVD encoder chip inside which automatically converts video in real time to DVD format before it lands on your hard disk. This shrinks the video to about 1/4th its original size while keeping DVD quality…you do not need to convert video later which can take between 4 and 10 hours per one hour of video.”
While it is true that there is a DVD encoder chip, and that it does shrink recorded video, what isn’t is that you don’t need to ‘convert’ video later. The format that the unit produces is actually an accepted DVD standard which is not readily ‘burnable’ right after you record it. The Video is encoded in MPEG2 format, while the audio capture audio in LPCM – therein lies the problem. The audio requires re-encoding to MP2 and combined with the video before the file can be written to DVD. What this means is that the theoretical time saved is actually just transferred to the re-encoding process which you will need to do anyway in order to write to DVD. On my Athlon 2100XP with 1.5GB DDR ram, recording in real time was 45 minutes; the mandatory recompressing took roughly another 45 minutes). (with my ads instant DVD unit it just takes 45 minutes beginning to end).
On the plus side the software is much more refined than I recall when I last used a Dazzle DVC years ago. Its simple and gets the job done with little hassle. The value-added software bundle is pretty good but not without its bugs. In fact, the second after you install your DVC 150, you are encouraged to go download the bug fixes from dazzle’s site ASAP – best before you plug the unit in.
One more thing. The USB2.0 ‘hi-speed’ is not necessary for DVD captures. I thought that there would be additional benefits to USB2.0 interface but since the recording quality is fixed/set by the software, and is not Variable Bit Rate configurable, you get the same capturing performance with usb 1.1 as you do usb 2.0! USB 1.1 is perfectly capable of good DVD recording, I just *thought* that I’d be able to make better use of my USB2.0 capable machine. I *thought* wrong. Maybe you will be able to make use of it in a later software release, but not right now (2003/1/19).
Reasons why you should get this unit vs other units out there (no particular order):
1. You are a big Dazzle fan. You like dazzle’s software and simplified interface. You are happy with Dazzle’s other lower end consumer products and just want to upgrade.
2. You simply cannot get ads Instant DVD to work with your system.
3. You got a really good deal on this. $100!
4. Don’t mind re-encoding your DVD quality captures because you want to edit and place transitions in there anyway.
5. A/V sync is your biggest problem when using competitor’s products.
6. You must have all you’re A/V connections in the back to reduce clutter.
7. You don’t mind waiting or letting the computer run.
8. ‘Technically Savvy’ is not a word that describes you.
9. You own Dazzle stock
Note to first time capture device users:
Because cheap, decent quality real-time recording devices are really in their early stages at this point, do not expect professional results. They are and can be very good results with some tinkering but they definitely are not up to Hollywood standards. Most people cannot tell the difference unless pointed out the sometimes not to subtle details. You get what you pay for at this point, but its definitely light years ahead of what you can get for $200 just a few years ago!
Some of you will install the unit with no problems, others may want to pull their hair out. These units simply are not as simple as sticking a tape in and pressing record. Don’t get one of these for your grandma to use yet! However, the instructions and ‘wizards’ make this just about as easy to use as it gets in the industry. They really do offer a complete package that can do everything they claim on the box – just not ‘no need to re-encode’ part.
Technical support:
Should you have problems using the unit, they give you free technical support for the first month you own the unit, then after they have the ‘gold key’ service for $12.95 per incident. Your best bet to save some money and aggravation is the read some of the user support forums which are free!
Bottom line is that there is a better choice for the same price. The ads InstantDVD by ADS Technology. The software is not as slick, and you may have more issues synching audio if you have an older sound card or incompatible one, but its faster in the end at doing what both claim to do – capture and edit to DVD with ease in one step. Burning to DVD is another step since no consumer class product can do it on the fly and do it well.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
magnusmx
|
|
Member: Mike Mu
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 7 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.