Pinnacle Dazzle Video Creator Platinum

This is a perfect product. Installed it as directed by the install guide and works perfectly. Studio 11 that is included with it is completely outdated and not supported, so you'll want to buy one of the newer Studio software's along with this.Dazzle's image is great and I've had none of the "apparent" quality problems lots of others seem to have. If you get rubbish quality, then you probably aren't setting it up properly or misconfiguring it. :)I recommend at least a Core 2 Quad @ 2.83GHz processor to use this: do not use a Core 2 Duo as after a while, the processor will stop working properly.I would wholly recommend this product to anyone :D

In Dazzles defence, i was trying to use it to capture PS2 gameplay and not for what it was suppose to actually be used for.

I had heard that these dazzles were great for recording my xbox 360 gameplay, how I was told a wrong story. It is not the product itself it is the software it comes with. I installed all the cds etc and connect the device up and then i got this message that said somethng along the lines of 'no valid input signal'. I didnt know what to do. I had to look on the web for guides on how to get it to work!!!!!!!!!Be catious if you are going to purchase this product!!!!

My brother wanted this for a while and this was such great value that I had to buy.

my dazzle came with studio 14.in 2 hours i was sending it back completely useless,would not capture to studio 14 at all.kept coming up on screen microsoft is shutting down to protect your computer.the same happened with my digital 8 camcorder.after sending it back.a day later i downloaded pinnacle 15 trial the same thing happen again with my camera.when i read other reviews i thought it cant be so bad,i should have took note iv never had such poor software as this pinnacle.i have had pinnacle studio 8 for years on another computer with dc10 capture card with no problem, bought 7 weeks sooner i bought corel videostudio x4 it picks camera up right away and captures i am still using it.its a good job i bought it from amazon so as i could sendPinnacle Dazzle Video Creator Platinum my pinnacle back.not sure if i could have given less than i star so i settled on i should be none.

I wanted to use this capturing VHS tapes with Vista laptop which was just over min spec, plenty of memory but dual core 2.1ghz processor. That took a little tinkering to capture at full quality. For reference, my 4 year old XP P4 3.2ghz desktop computer gobbled up the VHS videos and spat out top quality captures without missing a beat. If you've got an XP machine close to min spec you should have no problem. A Vista machine with a little higher than min spec, again should be fine. If you know what's going on in the background with Vista then min spec too will work, as mine did.What you get in the box is:-1- Pinnacle Studio version 11.12 - the last version of 11. It does not need updating to work with Visa.2- Instant DVD recorder installs from same disc, version 2. There is an update to version 2.61 available - I got it but shouldn't have.3- The bonus DVD in the box is full of effects you have to pay for - save yourself an hour of your time installing then uninstalling it, throw it away.4- 2 more discs in the box containing 'Scorefitter' allowing you to sync music in time to any movies you are creating/editing - I didn't bother with.After uninstalling that 2.61 recorder update, sticking with version 2 from the box and disabling my anti virus automatic updating service in the background, everything worked at full quality. Sounds easy but it took me a while to pin them down. Out of the box software is Vista fine as it is.The capture process with Studio 11 is simple and effective. With Instant recorder it's even easier but I don't capture straight to dvd. To gauge the capture quality I needed so my files were at least as good as the original VHS tapes I plugged the video player into a big LCD flatscreen and played the tapes. Then I experimented with all types of capture settings. You don't need to capture at full quality DVD as that quality isn't there in your tapes in the first place. The Dazzle can't do magic! Most VHS tapes are also not the widescreen 16.9 aspect ratio but I wanted to fill the screen nevertheless. After exhaustive experimenting ;) I found 2 settings provided perfect results, smoother to my eyes than the original.1- The preset medium mpeg capture(SVCD 480x576 quality as the dazzle calls it)captured at 16.9 aspect ratio in first option box. This plays full screen smoothly without changing your telly's display mode if it's left at the normal 16.9 setting you watch DVD's with2 - Custom avi capture in DivX 720x576 @ 2000kbs 25fps - whether you choose 4.3 or 16.9 in capture settings didn't change the fact that it displays a 4.3 aspect ratio on TV for me. Viewing on a PC allows you control over the DivX codec to display it widescreen, on the telly you generally have no control over the DivX codec your device uses. Changing your telly's aspect ratio to 4.3 then setting the 'pan and scan' option almost fills the screen. The DivX is slightly better quality in my view but the preset SVCD setting is the one I use as it plays full without touching anything being more than good enough.Those are settings for viewing on a TV assuming you have a way to play mpegs and DivX files on your telly. Both settings give nearly identical file sizes @ approx 1.4GB per 90 mins film. (For reference a 'best' quality DVD capture gives you a 4GB file at least, in my view with no benefit).You can go much smaller with settings/file sizes - maybe you'd be happy viewing them on your PC, on a 37" LCD and over TV - they are blocky and artifact ridden.To finish, if anyone is still reading, the dazzle works with other software.H.P's Quickplay (home videos only - commercials are recognised as protected)And capturing video through dazzle but audio through line in/mic socket (Both home & commercial tapes fine)Ulead Video StudioWindows Movie makerFreebiesStoik Video captureWM9 captureVirtual DubI need to get out more - I know

My son spent many happy hours on the computer recording his game playing with this device.

I was impressed with the dazzle but now i have to go though the trouble of trying to buy the cd.