DIAMOND VC500 One Touch Video Capture, Edit and Burn to DVD USB 2.0 Adapter

Pros: Small footprint Simple installation with software Works fine with Windows XP and Windows 7 machines

Cons: Doesn't play nice with Windows 8. I couldn't get the software to install. Even after visiting the website for the Windows 8 Instructions, I still could not get the software to install without crashing. I didn't deduct an egg as it does not state Windows 8 is supported.

Overall Review: I needed a cheap video/audio capture device as my old DVDXpress finally gave out on me. This fit the bill nicely. I didn't need HD capture or anything, because this would be used to convert client VHS tapes and the like. Installation was straight forward and recording is as simply as clicking the button or using the software to do so. Great little device and it is currently on sale with a promo to take off 20%!

Pros: see my post below

Cons: limited editing software but not a deal breaker if u use your own

Overall Review: Ok.. I guess I am one of those who went ahead and bought this unit despite a lot of bad reviews... Ain't that the case most times? you have sucess with a product that many give a thumbs down on. Actually, as long as I read at least 5 or 6 reviews where as the person has sucess with a product and is using the same OS I am, then I know it works and don'y pay attention to the "don't buy this product" reviews..Apples and Oranges I assume. Lot of people GIVE UP to quickly I guess.Sometimes u have to be a bit smarter than the software and do a bit of tweaking. $39.00 products do that some times..In this case the drivers installed correctly with no tweaking. a dozen reasons or more why the diamond doesn't work for many so won't get into bad installs or Over the Top exspectations for a 39.00 product with minimal editing software. The Diamond 500 works great for me... I have it attached to a 8MM analog VCR and I am able to import those 20 yr old Super 8 tapes to my Laptop. From this point on, I'm done with the Diamond and any of the encosed software. I use my own editing software,[ I prefer Corel Video Studio and Imgburn for final Writing to a dvd. So as far as a Analog to digital highway, it's perfect for just that. Getting those OLD vhs or Video 8 Camcorder tapes onto your Pc. btw: garbage in/garbage out.. it is VHS tape so don't exspect much more quality than what is on the original tape.. we're not talking HD here folks. [ ALSO GET A HEAD CLEANER BEFORE YOU START AND PLAN TO USE IT A LOT BECAUSE THOSE OLD TAPES WILL LEAVE A BIT OF TAPE GUNK ON THE HEADS AFTER A WHILE.. For those that are not having a problem with the Diamond, I learned a little trick here. It has been said that when you go into setting adjustments, [hue, sharpness, brightness etc,] after you hit the record button, you cannot Get into the settings untill you stop recording..Right but WRONG.. Here's what you do...and this happened by accident............. click the little gear for settings, bring up the screen with all the adjustment bars and DON'T CLOSE IT.!! Move the screen over to a corner of your screen.. It will overlap a bit onto the blue viewing screen but won't be a problem.. Now it is open and will STAY OPEN while you are recording and the best part is you can adjust color, saturation, brightness etc while you video is being displayed....I am using windows 7 64 bit so the Diamond 500 does what it claims IF you install it correctly.The Arco software wasn't used so don't have any imput on it. I just un-installed it.

Pros: Makes viewing and copying legacy VHS tapes on/onto a computer easy and doesn't require additional hardware. (You WILL need a VCR or other "source", game console, etc., of course.)

Cons: Included documentation doesn't exactly match software prompts. Some settings (specifying alternate copying destination) cannot be saved and must be set each time the software is started.

Overall Review: Attaches to VCR (or game consoles) via composite cables and interfaces with computer via USB (2.0) port with included software. No tv capture card/etc required. Very easy and simple to use once you learn the software's quirks. I purchased this after reading online reviews from multiple sites (incl Newegg) and my experience has been very positive. (I'm using this on a Windows 7 system.)

Pros: It does work with windows 7, it has a simple easy to use interface.

Cons: The drivers available online did not work for me but the drivers that came with the cd did.

Overall Review: I can't figure out how to delete my previous review.

Pros: Plugged into VCR and USB. Installed driver and EZ Grabber from CD. Pressed play on VCR, clicked record on EZ grabber and it was recording. Couldn't get any easier.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Pros: Worked for a little while.

Cons: When the driver actually did work without crashing, the device was buggy. After I upgraded to Win7 64, it took them forever to get a somewhat compatible driver. After a while it just stopped working with Windows reporting "the device has reported an error and stopped working". Tried it on 3 other computers to be sure. Sure enough it was dead.

Overall Review: Diamond really has become a joke of a device maker. They purposely ignore support for future OS's in the hopes you'll buy something new that they actually did release drivers for. But if something changes in the future, don't expect them to actually devote any energy into getting a fix out for you.

Pros: I've used this to capture about 15 VHS tapes so far and it has worked great. There are not a lot of bells and whistles but for $40 it's a great value.

Cons: As far as I can tell it only works with the software provided. I tried to use it in conjunction with several other software packages and it was either not recognized at all or locked up the software. I ended up using the included software to capture and then Roxio to work with the captured files.

Pros: I have about 100 or so vintage VHS tapes, some as old as 21 years. I plan to recycle the factory recorded tapes to a senior center and find a recycle place for the broadcast recorder videos. In the meantime, the Diamond One Touch Video Capture was the most economical solution to converting the tapes I wanted to make into DVD. I got my Diamond One Touch in mid February and have been converting these successfully. There are some got-chas but all in all I am happy with the purchase. If you have a lot of tapes this is an easy way to convert them. There is a learning curve with the ULEAD software, but in general it is fine for taking the captured VHS and converting to DVD. Learn to use the 'mulit-trim' feature and you will be an expert at removing commercials from your old recorded broadcasts. Learn to make menus and add menu clips and add music to your DVD menus to make your own personal touch to your mastered DVDs. There is still much more to this than I have space to write about.

Cons: Yes the ULEAD software could be better, but for VHS to DVD this is ok. If you try to convert DVD with DOLBY to DVD, it will not work. ULEAD does not have the right stuff to handle DVD DOLBY or so you end up with a silent DVD.

Overall Review: I notice several reviews that stated once you have converted all your VHS tapes to DVD, this device becomes useless, what can you do with it? Well, guess what, you can convert live broadcasts. HOW? Get a digital converter box, one with S-Video output and run the S-Video signal from the converter box to the Diamond One Touch S-Video input, and you can capture live broadcasts in very good quality providing you have a good signal, antenna, etc.