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 enlarge | Brand: Pinnacle
Category: CE
List Price: $129.99
Buy New: $84.47
You Save: $45.52 (35%)
New (30) Used (2) from $84.47
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 2347
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 9.1 x 2.6
MPN: 82301002211
Model: 82301002211
UPC: 613570222170
EAN: 0613570222170
ASIN: B0015E2PQM
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Killed a hard drive AND my iPod August 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This piece of junk would not work for me at all. I followed the directions, plugged in a brand new external hard drive and waited for the usb port light to turn on, the unit just shut itself off. Tried several more times with same results. Then tried to plug it into my Ipod (5g video), same results. Now, both the hard drive and the Ipod are completely unresponsive. 80gb of music and video wiped out just like that. JUNK!
 Video Transfer for the "Video Challenged" August 7, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Let me start by saying I'm not any kind of expert in video technology - I usually just hand stuff over to my son and he takes it from there. That said, I wanted something to transfer my old family VHS tapes to a digital format. I had read in a local paper that this device was quite easy to use, so I gave it a try.
I had no trouble connecting to the TV or my very old VHS player - the device recognized both quickly. I did have some trouble with the storage drives. It didn't recognize my Toshiba portable or my IOGear USB flash device. Scored with my Iomega portable and the cheapy USB flash drives I picked up at conventions. Once everything was connected and recognized, I turned on the TV/hit play on the VHS and pressed a button on the Pinnacle device and let it record.
First, I tried capturing from both the TV and a 15 year old VHS tape using the "better" setting. Both were painless. The video is converted to MOV format and when I went to play them on my computer, the only trouble I had was that I needed to download an upgrade to QuickTime. They looked very good on the monitor. Later, I burned these to DVD to see how this quality setting would look on a TV - not very good...
Next, I recorded from VHS at "best" quality, which is really a misnomer apparently, since this setting interlaces the video which is supposed to be better for viewing on a TV (but not computer monitors where my movies recorded in "best" setting looked terrible...). And it did look much better than the "better" quality recordings, though we're not talking movie theater quality here.
I should note that the VHS tape was recorded at EP (as in worst quality) and I didn't use an S-video connection - just regular analog cables - so you may get better results.
The only glitch was burning the MOV files to DVD. I had edited one in QuickTime and then saved it. My son tells me that was a big mistake and I should have edited it in Nero (the software I used to burn the DVD). Since I kept getting error messages from Nero, I had to start from scratch and re-edit. I couldn't use the "re-writable" option in Nero either (so I could add more later...but maybe you just can't do that...).
All in all, if you're looking for a relatively easy way to transfer those old VHS tapes to a digital format, this does the job. The captures were very good for monitor viewing (even my son said so!) and considering the quality of my VHS tape, I was pretty happy with the TV quality.
QuickTime and Nero are the only software I used - and I didn't do much with them - just what I needed to view and copy/burn. Expect to tie up a big chunk of computer time converting the files to TV-playable DVDs...which is why I'm sticking with just copying the MOV files to DVD to play on my computer instead.
Only gave it 4 stars because the documentation is pretty meager - I suspect the manufacturer assumes that people who use this device know a little more about video transfer/editing than I do. But even without a lot of guidance, I got the job done!
Easy to use, but poor video quality July 30, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
While I was surprised at the ease of use of this device, I was disappointing at the poor quality of the video it produces.
This is a well designed device that does exactly as it promises: transfers analog video to digital with a simple click.
Now, here you have the disappointing parts:
- The resulting video is very pixelated, even in "highest quality" mode. No better than what you'll find in youtube.
- It doesn't resolve interlaced video properly, producing even more noise in the resulting video.
- It does work well with hard drives and flash devices, but had a hard time having it transfer video to a computer. It only seemed to work with an external storage device.
In the end I found the video quality poor for archiving.
This device is well designed and may work well for people that just want to capture old VHS tapes to digital so they can put them online. And to do it quickly and painlessly.
If you wish to capture your memories in good quality, this product is not for you.
 Suitable for Ipod, not for viewing on Tv July 29, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
The biggest mistake a person can make in purchasing this item is to assume that the converted video will be of any reasonable quality when viewed on a tv. The results were extremely fuzzy, lots of trails. . .plain horrible. On the other hand, the quality on the Ipod itself was great. Viewed on the PC, don't change the window size from anything other than what it was converted to or intended for or you'll be greatly disappointed again. The video loses it's integrity very quickly.
I started by recording at the highest setting onto a hard drive, thinking I could burn a DVD. . .big mistake. Terrible picture. I then sent the video to my 3rd generation nano, plugging that into my tv with the available adapters from Apple. . .still horrible. The adapter allowed for component input to the tv. Tried the s-video input to the tv to see if it might help improve some of the trails and it did to some extent, but the picture was still terrible. By the way, if you own a 5th generation Ipod, don't bother using the highest setting. It's not supported.
If you're planning on making clips available online or just using it to view movies on your Ipod, you won't be disappointed. If your expectations are any great than that, don't waste the money.
Best quality? Better quality? Good quality? How about poor all around! July 28, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I purchased this product on the notion that it would simply convert my old home videos on DVD into a digital format. That's a seemingly fantastic idea, that this box converts videos quickly and efficiently. However this product is one of the worst executed products I've used in years of work with electronics. The first unit I purchased did not function at all! I had purchased a defective unit. I then exchanged it for another unit, updated the firmware (twice), and it recorded videos! However I was too eager to celebrate my victory. Once I played the video on my PC using Quicktime the picture, which I had recorded in `best' quality, was garbage. The sound, if there was any in that scene, was off in excess of ten minutes! Then there was the picture, oh that picture, that fuzzy, fuzzy picture, when anything moved on the screen you could see where it moved from and where it moved to! It was terrible. I then contacted chat (three separate times over the course of both units) and all they were willing to suggest to me was to reinstall the firmware. Well if it didn't work the second time it won't work the third time. After those three miserable chat sessions I called pinnacle phone support, big mistake. I will mention I did not wait long to talk to someone but after trying to convey to them three times the unit I was calling about was called Pinnacle Video Transfer (they seemed not to know what it was), or PVT, they once again said update the firmware. I told them that didn't work before so they placed me on hold for 10 minutes while they `consulted a senior tech agent' and decided to elevate my case. Well any day now I should be getting a callback from a senior tech agent, who will be able to better assist me with my problem. However I am thrilled to say that my most recent unit is back in the store, and I have never been happier to get my money back.
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