I just got a pinnacle 710 and I have a newer Inspiron 5675 with 3 ssds and an old spinning drive. It has an 07pr60 motherboard that I think isn’t compatible with windows 7. It has windows 10 pro on it. I saw the windows 10 drivers drivers on this site for the pinnacle 710s but I hear windows 10 is a pain and a new update can mess it up. There’s an HP Pavilion p6204y computer desktop with a monitor and keyboard that looks like it’s in good shape and a lady has had in a closet forever. She wants 50 bucks.

Hp Pavilion p6204y computer desktop specs
.https://www.newegg.com/hp-pavilion-p...82E16883147161

I am wondering what’s the best approach. Since windows 10 is prone to problems capturing should I just get the older computer and would it be ideal for capturing vhs?

So I have the cds that came with the card and there for vista and xp. I guess I could download the drivers for windows 7 on a flash drive and download them on the new computer. I think the specs are okay but I don’t really know what to look for that well. It is HP so idk it’s not Dell, Toshiba, or Sony. It’s like a 2010 build so I kinda thought that would be alright. Obviously ideal would be a build that would be about a grand.

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Someone has this to by me and it’s a Dell with a little better specs I think but what am I really looking for?
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...mall_form.html

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I completely mislabeled the title of this post. It should be capture computer recommendations. I don’t know how to change that and I don’t know how to edit my post.
Fixed. -LS

One thing both of your options so far are missing is a second HD (or SSD). It is strongly advised to capture to a different drive than the OS and software is running on.

The older HP looks capable and would have room in the case for upgrades, additional HD, etc. I have a similar age HP and the case is decent and it takes a standard power supply which is often marginal on prebuilt PCs. The CPU on that should be adequate being about equivalent to a Core 2 Duo E6700 which is a known quantity at least for ATI AIW capture system "builds" requiring an AGP slot. You don't need the AGP slot for your USB capture device so can use newer equipment. I believe the cpu on this HP could also be upgraded a bit if needed. It's hard to find the right info on this system from HP (I hate their support site!).

The Dell is definitely newer, faster, etc. but being SSF it has limitations for upgrades, esp. the PSU which is proprietary. The newer, faster part would include USB3 ports (useful) and SATA-2 drive ports, but it only has 2 of those which are both be in use if the optical drive is to be used. For me this might be a show stopper, but you can usually make do without an optical drive...

If you haven't seen it, you might want to follow along on this current thread discussing almost the same thing.

BW

I saw that thread and a few others. Do I need a usb 3.0? My pinnacle 710 card is a 2.0 I’m pretty sure. Well that’s cool all I need is a ssd for the OS and virtual dub. I’m gonna give windows 10 and the pinnacle drivers for 10 one more try this weekend and if that doesn’t work then next weekend I’ll get a computer for capturing. Thank you for your help.

USB 3.0 isn't a need, just a nicety. It just allows faster data movement on and off the machine. Some people have had success capturing directly to USB 3 drives but it's spotty. Apparently the USB 3.0 spec was very loose and was implemented accordingly. Also, as stated elsewhere, be sure to connect your Pinnacle to a USB port directly on the motherboard and don't connect other USB devices to the same root hub if possible (mouse, keyboard, etc.). In fact, you may have better luck connecting it to a USB 2 port than USB 3 just because USB 2 specs were better controlled that USB 3 (per forum member jwillis84's in-depth discussions).

BW

(Start of EBay rant)
I used to capture with an intensity shuttle that I just sold on eBay that captured with 3.0. I got rid of it because of the advice from this site and I’m glad I did. Man that buyer was bad. Wanted to return because he said it didn’t work I told him it required software and he should look for drivers and contact the company then he said he contacted them and they said it didn’t require drivers. He told me if I did a full refund he’d remove his feedback so I had eBay remove his feedback for feedback extortion. He’s not getting his money back and keeping the product. I even wrote this isn’t good for converting vhs and isn’t compatible with virtual dub in the description. I sent a pdf of the manual, an email I got from tech support that said where to get the drivers, and a picture of the new products that have the software ce with it. I sold it for 100 which is what those sell for with just the card and the cable usually. I packaged it really well and sent it fast. The guy only checked his eBay once a day then he ghosted me after he asked for the refund before I sent all that stuff. I facilitated a return but after all that he never did the return. When I tried to tell him something he would just say how much he knew about everything and wouldn’t take and time for anything. The return reason was defective even though he told me he wasn’t using any software and was expecting it to work and if he would of returned it I woulda had to pay 10 dollars in shipping.
(End of EBay rant)

That’s interesting about the 3.0 port I didn’t know any of that. Okay so I should ho with a usb 2.0 and plug it into the front of the PC? I just thought a 2.0 would be good because my card is a 2.0. I’m gonna hold my horses for a little bit and do a little more research on what I’m looking for. There’s quite a bit of old pics’ son marketplace. I need to figure out what to look for.