Annoying newbie question

[zachmontagne]

Hey all,
I am very new to the world of video editing and will try to keep this as short as possible. I have an older Sony handicam 8 mm and a lot of home movies I would like to transfer to dvd. I tried an inexpensive external capture device (Dazzle DVD recorder) which won't work with my new laptop running Vista 64, even after downloading the appropriate update. It actually won't work with my home pc wth XP either and is probably defective. So I am starting over and wondering if anyone has any recommendations. I am leaning towards upgrading to Moviebox Ultimate which comes with a pinnacle capture device and studio 12 ult. software. Does anyhone know if this software would work to back-up my commercial dvd collection as well? Is there a better product on the market?

                                              Thanks 
                                                       Zach

[beef_barley]

I have been using this product since yesterday to convert my VHS to Dvds, but as you will see, it captures from other sources as well. I know it works on XP32 & 64, also the Vista logo is on the box. I purchased mine at Wal-Mart.

http://www.adstech.com/products/USBAV-191-EF/intro/USBAV_191_intro.asp?pid=USBAV-192-EF

To back up your Dvd collection, the following would be one option. Posts #67 to #74, but please also read #78.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f116/dvdfab-5-0-2-2-not-ready-big-league-245636/index3.html

[imkidd57]

[quote=zachmontagne;2205667] Is there a better product on the market?[/quote]If you’re willing to consider non-PC alternatives, you could think about a standalone DVD recorder. Probably your camera has S-Video output? It’s very simple: you just connect, start both devices, stop when finished and then rip the MPEG2 capture from the DVD.