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cnelson87 · Jul 6, 2004, 02:20 PM

I just bought the ADS Instant DVD from OWC and it seems it's DOA. The software gives an error message that it doesn't recognize the capture box. The tech support FAQ says to check the power and USB connection, they check OK. The USB connection is a little loose but seems to make a connection.
I've emailed tech support, but thought I would check here for other users experiences.
Thanks,
Chris

tr · Jul 6, 2004, 04:15 PM

i've been using one since they came out, with no problems. i think i may have had an error once, but reinstalling the software solved that. so, the only thing i can think of is trashing the app, and reinstalling from the CD. unplug the box first, trash the app, reinstall, restart, and plug in the box. also, try plugging into your main USB ports, and not off a hub, and see if that works.

tr

cnelson87 · Jul 8, 2004, 01:17 PM

TR, I had already tried what you said, no luck. It's good to hear you haven't had any problems though. The tech support email I received was less than reassuring; they said "if it doesn't work, send it back." So I am. The replacement arrives today.

vmpaul · Jul 8, 2004, 09:09 PM

I've got one and never had a problem with it. I know that's absolutely no help at all to you and your problem.

All I can say is send it back. It's a good product. You just got a bad one.

cnelson87 · Jul 9, 2004, 11:45 AM

Excellent! The replacement arrived last night - thank you OWC!
I captured some Sci-Fi channel to test and edited out the commercials in mpeg cutter. Works a-ok and looks great.
I converted an old VHS movie (The Stoned Age) and it looks even better than the original.
Can't figure out how to burn it with Toast yet. I tried several settings and Toast wanted to re-encode it every time. Hmmm, I'll figure it out eventually. Any pointers? Are there certain capture rates (I used custom and changed the capture rate from 4 to 5) that Toast doesn't like?

cnelson87 · Jul 12, 2004, 02:53 PM

OK, I figured out the re-encoding problem. For those interested, Toast doesn't actually re-encode the mpg or mpeg2 video. The re-encode process only took a few minutes, so I suspect that it was merely the process of converting it to VOB. I've used Toast before to encode to mpg and it takes forever and a day, hence the assumption no re-encoding is taking place.
All is well, what a kick-butt new toy!

tr · Jul 15, 2004, 09:53 AM

Originally posted by cnelson87:
OK, I figured out the re-encoding problem. For those interested, Toast doesn't actually re-encode the mpg or mpeg2 video. The re-encode process only took a few minutes, so I suspect that it was merely the process of converting it to VOB. I've used Toast before to encode to mpg and it takes forever and a day, hence the assumption no re-encoding is taking place.
All is well, what a kick-butt new toy!

yeah, using the ADS captured stuff and making DVD's with Toast is a snap. after i capture some video, i edit it with mpeg cutter, then drop the file in toast and burn. couldn't be simpler to make a video-DVD.

i'm glad you got everything up and running with your ADS box. enjoy it, like the rest of us do!

tr

cnelson87 · Jul 26, 2004, 02:43 PM

argh! Hope this isn't getting too old for the rest of ya...
My success rate is only about 50%. Everything (mpeg2 4.5mbs, audio 192kbs, 720x480, vbr) I've captured so far looks and plays just fantastic. I'm recording Stargate off SciFi, and a couple VHS movies. Dropping into Toast and burning DVDs is so simple (the included DVD authoring software is the very definition of frustrating). BUT..... the audio/video slowly goes off sync on some things. The VHS movies are fine, all I did was trim the beginning and the end with mpeg cutter. But the TV episodes are just not consistent. I've edited them all in the same way - cut out the commercials and trim the beginning and end - and save to a new file. The resulting mpg's play perfectly in Quicktime and VLC. Drop in Toast and burn, some work and some don't. If I had to guess, I would say it's the VBR capture that's giving me this headache. I'll try CBR next, but this sucks if the episodes I've captured so far are unburnable. Maybe a more advanced authoring app like DVDSP will help fix the a/v sync? I'm not shelling out for that though.
Any ideas? And thanks for listening!
Chris