Hello All,

I have a Dell XPS 730 desktop computer that I purchased new back around 2009. It has been sitting for the last 10 years or so. It still works great and is running windows 7. This machine is hefty, somewhere around 40lbs. It has a 1394 fire wire port, and both C: and D: drives. It also has two DVD bays, one I think is a burner.

My question is:

Is this the type of computer that would make good desktop for capturing video?

-- merged --

Below are the specs of my Dell XPS 730 above:

1394 fire wire port
Two bays for C & D drives.
Nvidia Graphics GTX280 card
8 GB Ram
Intel Quad Q9550 2.83GHz
Directx 11.0

If you use Pinnacle 710-USB or Pinnacle 510-USB capture card and PC has fresh Windows 7 installation on SSD drive, I believe it is OK.

That should be fine. :congrats:

You could do better, you could do worse.

- Normally, anything from the 2010s is suggested. But that CPU was top-of-the-line in '08/09.
- 2gb+ RAM is all you really need.
- Graphics card doesn't matter much for SD analog video capturing. In fact, sometimes GPUs are just a nuisance.
- Firewire/IEEE1394 doesn't matter unless DV camcorder transferring/"capturing"
- OS drive + capture drive is what you want.
-- Copy OS drive to SSD is ideal, even a cheap 128gb from Amazon. I bought a new/NOS Samsung EVO 120gb for $30 recently (and no, not fake).
-- Seagate 2tb HDD for captures is ideal, those can also be had cheap.

In general, that's an excellent card model. However, remember, versions of those cards exist. Good ones, and bad ones. It's not something you can visually see on the units, but something that requires dismantle, confirmation testing, and a few tell-tales. For that reason, I suggest people get those from me in the marketplace, or just get ATI 600 USB instead (no versions to deal with, though audio registry hack needed for that ATI).

Thank you Lord Smurf for your detailed answer!

Mark

I checked some forums and I then discovered Dazzle DVC 100 and Pinnacle USB 710/510 have a same Philips SAA7113H (with same problem when recording is old

The Pinnacle MovieBox 510-USB / 710-USB will not give good results when capturing from VHS or other analog videotape sources unless you have a TBC.

See 22:48:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTOChbbTRgs#t=22m48s

In this respect (no good results without frame TBC + good SVHS deck with line TBC), Pinnacle 510-USB / 710-USB is no different from any other card on the planet Earth :)

Fortunately I do own a Data Video TBC 1000. But I will be selling it as soon as I get around to taking some pictures.

I am also selling this Dell XPS to a friend who wants to use it for some video projects, this is why I was asking if this older model desktop would be suitable for this type of work.

Well, that system is fine for capturing, and a poor choice for most modern "video projects". Just capture.

Sell him the TBC-1000, too. He'll need it for capturing. I'm sure you'll give him a better price, and as a long-time owner (since the mid 2010s), it will likely be in better condition than random "in the wild" units are now. Although, being a TBC-1000, it does need to be check out, possibly recapped or bypassed in the 2020s. TBCs have gotten rarer in the 2020s, and he'll have a hard time finding another one.

Add quality JVC VCR, capture card, and he'll be ready. Send him my way he needs anything else to complete his workflow, and to this site to help him in his capture journey. :)

Fun fact: Tearing is byproduct of a VCR, due to the tape's time base, and has nothing to do with a capture card. You've conflated here. Tearing actually presents in several visual ways, including both "flagging" and the "sickly green". The tape is bad, and requires line TBC. Without line TBC (usually located inside a quality S-VHS VCR, or an ES10/15 type passthrough recorder), the card is given a bad signal and told to "figure it out". Garbage in, garbage out.

That "mystery device" DV box was definitely a neat find, but the conclusion is off. In several places, you've overlooked important concepts, resulting in not-quite-right conclusions. You've wrong dismissed USB (which is just a communication method), especially that Pinnacle card (not Dazzle), which is known for its resiliency and color quality -- assuming you don't have one of the reject versions (and you might).

While that "mystery device" may have a line TBC, it definitely guts color fidelity and saturation, maybe even more harshly than the Canopus ADVC boxes. So it's not a perfect device. JVC/Panasonic S-VHS VCR with line TBC, then ideally frame TBC, followed by a lossless capture with a quality capture card, will yield the best results. There's no excuse for any professional to not be using this best setup. And any serious home hobbyists or DIY'er should strongly consider it, as it just makes capture life easier. Almost all visual and signal issues are resolved with both TBCs in place, smooth sailing, problem-free experience, with quality results.

^ I added that onto the Youtube video as well, in the comments.

Again, there are versions of the Pinnacles. You may have had the known "bad one".

The reason the Pinnacle is such a quality card is that it is resilient to dropping frames (the opposite of Blackmagic cards), as well as have excellent values. Retention of highlights, proper shadows, though it will legalize illegal values that 99% of other cards. So blacker-than-black is "crushed"/truncated to black, when that is encountered.

Same as Dazzle DVC100 (They got same chip as i said formerly)

This is not true. 510-USB is nothing like a Dazzle.

- 510-USB is actually a Pinnacle products.
- Dazzle (card) are former Dazzle (the company) products, not Pinnacle designs/R&D or parts/specs.

But the catch is that 510 has both "good" and "bad" cards. The differences are a combination of factors, including noise patterning/spew, lacking resiliency, sometimes highlight handling, among others.

The "bad" Pinnacles are still not Dazzles. Those Dazzle cards are miserable for multiple reasons, and I'd always choose a bad Pinnacle over it. Similar to how I'd always choose cat shit over dog shit. Bad is bad, but less bad is less bad.

The definition of quackery is "operating with quantities whose meaning is unclear." ;)

See earlier in the video where the tape is shown playing fine on a TV, with no visible tearing.

And you're basically just agreeing with me that a TBC is necessary when using the Pinnacle MovieBox to capture VHS.
We've been through all that before; no need to rehash it again here.
vwestlife capture device comparison of USB cards?

TVs are designed to compensate for unstable timing. All CRTs are, but LCD/plasma is subject to the pre-filtering. Capture cards are not display devices, and the tech is apples vs. car tires (not even apples vs. oranges, because both are still fruit, somewhat related).

Any capture card, with some odd exceptions, which has downsides of their own. I really wish I could run that "mystery box" head-to-head with my other TBCs, so I could find the fail points. My inclination is that it's 1:1 with one of the Roland DV box, which can be great, or disappointing, depending on source. There may also be versions of the Roland, based on comps between latrech34 and myself.

:congrats:

Selling him my TBC-1000 wont be an option as he is not that serious about his transfer process. I have noticed not nearly as many TBC-1000's on ebay as their used to be. I purchased my TBC-1000 new from B&H Photo back in 2005. I used it to transfer my wedding video and a couple other VHS tapes, that's it. It has been sitting in my basement for the last 20 years or so. My basement is humidity controlled. You won't find to many TBC-1000's out there with this level of care, original owner and lack of use. I will be hooking it up this week and running some tapes. I might even have some tapes with some signal issues to use.

attached is my original invoice.