All GE decks are terrible, yes, replace it.
JVC 4500 ... eh.
Non-TBC decks are often fine when paired with ES10/15, but the 4500 is old, from around 1995. And for $200, from a non-video seller, it's a bit rich. The "only used in a church" isn't an "only" whatsoever. That means the deck was heavily used, and by non-video folks (church members).
eBay is a gamble with VCR. You're not buying, you're gambling. I don't think this is a good buy at all.
Remotes for JVCs are simple to find for under $20, sometimes under $10.
User manuals are worthless, it doesn't tell you best settings for capture anyway.
It's just a few years later model, but features and construction differ for the better. I'd feel much better with a 4600 or 4800.
That ATI 600 USB should be fine, good deal on it. My cards are wee bit more in the marketplace, but I also test all my gear. I've found bad ATI 600 cards before, including "new in box" cards. The box doesn't matter when it was stored in an outdoor storage shed for 10+ years, and heat melted all the board leads (and/or cold cracked them).
The ES10/15 is not a TBC, not really all that close. What it does have is a crippled line TBC that works on passthrough (unique feature to these models, other DVD recorders do not have it), along with a basic frame sync found in all recorders. Frame TBC aka framesync TBC is NOT a basic frame sync. It is a very minimalist TBC(ish), ideally fortified with the DVK units which have weak frame TBC. The ES10/15 will have a fail rate, some/many tapes will still have issues or drops, but you can try it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. ES10/15 has side effect, often image quality hits/reduction, but it is a good budget solution.
The ideal solution is an actual TBC. In terms of costs: buy it, use it, resell it. It holds value. This is a project purchase, not a forever purchase.
Correct: VCR > ES10/15 > capture card
Ideally: VCR > ES10/15 > DVK > capture card, for good budget workflows
For budget options, you can also use composite TBCs, not s-video. I have one in the marketplace forum right now. But for it to work best, you'd want a with-TBC VCR. Or non-TBC VCR > ES10/15 > composite TBC. But at that point, DVK better option.
I like Linux myself -- prefer it, actually. But for video capture, it's a terrible OS. No good software, almost no software at all. Save yourself headaches, boot in Windows. OS are tools, use the best tool for task.
Capturing does not work in VMs. Native hardware access needed, no virtualization allowed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by latreche34
If you are willing to pay $200 for a VCR get one with line TBC, Basic S-VHS VCR is still better than a VHS VCR but I wouldn't pay that much for it especially if it has the dynamic drum system, that's a timing bomb waiting to explode if it hasn't been already exploded.
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You're not going to find a deck with TBC for $200 unless it's "for parts". Don't falsely get his hopes up.
Even if the person swears that a TBC deck is "tested" and "working", it's BS, unless the person has vetted video knowledge on VCRs should operate. This is 2020, not 2000, these late 1990s decks are often in a bad state unless properly serviced by somebody like me or Deter, or some of you (members here at this forum) that have learned how to repair and clean these decks.