EasyCap USB Review

191 Comments

If you want to capture your favorite TV program right to your computer without any kind of fancy video card, usbfever has the answer. The EasyCap USB2.0 audio/video adapter captures high-quality video and audio directly through your USB port all while allowing you to record in your favorite DVD formats.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of these truly useful little gadgets and it did not disappoint. The EasyCap came with its own drivers and Ulead video capturing software that had me recording tonight’s Red Sox game in about 5 minutes. All I had to do was install the driver/software, plug in the EasyCap to my digital cable box, tweak a few recording options and to my delight I was recording in no time flat.

Nothing is better when something just works the way it is supposed to and the EasyCap is no exception. For those of you who don’t have a fancy video card with all kinds of inputs or like me have your computer in a place where you just can’t hook it up to your digital cable line the EasyCap, at only $39, is a great alternative to grabbing high quality audio and video for your desk or laptop.

Filed Under: Video

191 Responses to “EasyCap USB Review”

  1. i got an easycap it doesnt work on my laptop i have windows vista ultimate
    and i wan to record from my tv but it picks up no signal whats so ever anyways its basically a peice of shit that doesnt work

    Reply
  2. I have one of these devices and have installed as directed. However, when I get to the capture stage – I am copying old vhs tapes via a vhs recorder – and click on ‘capture’ a little screen pops up to announce – ‘no input signal or image is unclear’. The small screen top left is green and nothing records/transfers. Anyone got any ideas about this, please?

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  3. Got it to work using the comments on here!!! THANKS SO MUCH!!! i ended up setting properties to the NTSC_M format, here in the US. works great to capture video from sony video 8 handycam, which only supports tapes to record. STUNNING AUDIO AND VIDEO QUALITY, i am using rca cables

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  4. Bought one of these from ebay for the amazing price of £8.98! Arrived from Hong Kong in a week, very happy :) Installed it and was recording dvd quality from my old hi8 camcorder in 15 minutes. My only concern is that the storage is 3gb per hour of video using PAL DVD quality mpeg. Since I want to record my home video tapes of the family from vhs and hi8 I do want the recorded quality to be as good as possible. Any recommendations on conversion to another video format that will take up less space but have no noticeable video loss due to compression? AVI? MPEG4? I will want to cut DVD’s from the recorded files. Cheers.

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  5. qwertyuiop[]

    LISTEN UP GUYS – I WAS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS AS YOU GUYS, HERE ARE A FEW TIPS

    1) IF RECORDING FROM VHS PLAYER – ENSURE THAT THE RCA (RED YELLLOW WHITE) CABLES ARE CONNECTED TO THE “OUTPUT” – THIS MAY BE VIA SCART PLUG OR THREE WAY RCA WHERE YOU CAN PLUG THE RCA’S STRAIGHT IN. YOU SHOULD BUY A SPECIFIC “SCART OUT” PLUG IF YOU DONT SEE ANY PICTURE ON SCREEN CONNECTING THE CABLES IN OTHER SLOTS – NOTE: MAJORITY OF SCART ADAPTERS ARE SCART IN, SO YOU WANNA GO DOWN TO MAPLINS AND SAY ” I WANT A THREE WAY RCA COMPOSITE SCART OUT ADAPTER PLUG” – BINGO NO MORE THAN £7

    THEN, TRY MAKING SURE IF URE IN THE U.S. YOU SELECT NTSC MODE NOT PAL – CHANGE THIS VIA THE OPTIONS WHEN IN CAPTURE MODE

    ALSO, YOU SHOULD CHECK THIS DRIVER OUT – ITS NEWER AND IT WORKS GR8 – MUCH BETTER THAN THE CRAPPY ONE THAT COMES WITH THE PRODUCT – FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS : 1. I Un-installed the software and restarted the computer.
    2. Placed the installation CD (that came with the product) back in the CD drive.
    3. Click on “Install Driver” (this only installs the USB 2 drivers so that the computer can see the device)

    Make sure you do not attach the Easycap Device before you have installed the USB Driver (as above).

    http://www.digital-devices.co.uk/downloads.php

    ALSO, ENSURE YOU USE HIGH QUALITY LEADS – THESE AFFECT PICTURE

    MAKE SURE YYU2 COMPRESSION IS SELECTED TOO, IF YOU WANT SOME SCASRT OUT PLUGS LET ME KNOW- I SEND THEM WORLDWIDE

    IF YOUVE GOT ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, JUST EMAIL me [email protected]

    PEACE… KEV.

    Reply
  6. Steve in Seattle

    I picked up this unit on eBay from a Chinese seller for $15 shipped. :)

    My unit is USB 2.0 and has 3 RCA plugs (for composite video and stereo audio) as well as an S-video input (useful for 480p DVD players, or Super-8 video cams, but few if any VHS use s-video and if you have a computer you’d just rip DVDs direct instead of via an external player).

    The included Ulead Video Studio SE DVD software is version 10. This software is “ok”, though written in 2006. Ulead is now owned by Corel, and versions 11, 12, X2 are now called Corel Video Studio. The new Corel products are top quality, though the Ulead software does show its age by hogging computer resources.

    I also have a full version of the newest Nero 9 (specifically the Nero Vison componant) and find it works faster than the older software included in this package.

    I run a 1.9Ghz AMD Turion 64 X2 laptop, running Vista SP1, with 2GB of 677Mhz PC5300 DDR3, with a 1GB Ready-Boosted SD card, and a 5400rpm 140GB harddrive set to use 55 GB of space for each rip.

    I found that the .AVI format is a total memory hog. I had an audio-to-video sync issue during my rip, though I have to admit the video quality was great for 480i, no new noise introduced at all. Use a top quality VHS player, decent cables, and you’ll get about as good a quality image as you can expect. In avi format, 1GB will get you about 1 minute of rip… no, I’m not kidding. ~50 min VHS will cost you 55 GB.

    Ripping to other formats would be best for most users. I’d also recommend a sizable hard drive, and decent memory. Personally, I plan on a 7400rmp hard drive, 4gb system ram, and a 8gb readyboost SD chip eventually, but obviously its not completely nessesary if you rip, edit, and burn one VHS at a time, but its something to think about.

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  7. im thinking about getting one of these or somthing simular to it to copy my videos from my old HI8 camcorder to the pc. do you think this will do the job?
    email me [email protected] for the answer
    thanks :)

    Reply
  8. I just got an Easycap and was hoping to use my security camera that uses AV jacks, to hook to Easycap then to my laptop and record wild life etc. directly to my hard drive or onto a dvd r. However I can’t get any video captured at all. Any suggestions? Thanks

    Reply
  9. Gwyneth, London

    I have purchased the EasyCap and the instructions clearly tell me to install the software before connecting the gadget, but when I insert the CD, only the standard windows auto-run screen comes up so there is no option to ‘Install driver’. I have a new high spec dual boot system with XP & Vista, and I get the same auto-run screen on both. If I open the CD there are so many different folders and icons I don’t know what to click on. Some people are suggesting allowing the ‘new device found’ wizard to automatically search for driver, but this would mean connecting up before installing software. Others are suggesting downloading the up-to-date driver from the manufacturer which I have done, but what method do I use to install it? should I connect the gadget first? If not, how do I install the driver? If the gadget is connected to a VCR I am guessing it will need to be switched on for EasyCap to be recognised. I am new to video editing. Can anyone help me with this?

    Reply
  10. for vinlys i use my creative sound blaster usb now i wont buy device like this in my country i can only get EasyCap usb and avermedia pci and usb gold ezmaker wich is better

    Reply
  11. I have been copying vhs tapes to DVD+R disks. they play great on computers but not on sony home theater player. the player does not recognize the disk. What do I need to to to fix this?

    Reply
  12. I bought this device and when I tried it on my laptop which has Vista and it did work…but then wouldnt do the burn to the DVD. It gave me a “power calibration error”. So I deciede to try it on my computer with XP hoping to overcome the DVD burning problem with a different DVD burner…and it just crashes that computer and reboots it.
    I am using Windows XP, Direct X 9 and a Nvidia Gforce mx440 graphics card. I have tried every configuration I can dream of and waiting to connect the device after I selected the output type within ULEADS software just incase that was the problem. I am not a complete novice to video capture having previously owned afew capture cards…so the setting arent completely foreign. I also tried Nero software…ran its setup test and it passed…then it crashed in the same manor when it finished its tests. Hardware problem ?
    You CAN see the image within the window before it crashes most of the time.
    I am well within the requirements for memory, speed ect.
    Soooooo ! Can anyone either help me over come the “power calibration” problem trying to burn the DVD on the laptop with Vista….or….The crashing and rebooting on the machine with XP ??? Getting a hammer out is starting to look like a good option !
    If anyone can help feel free to contact me at [email protected]

    Reply
  13. Jim Thomson

    I have amcap nerovision and movie maker (came with vista) on a Dell dual core 64×2 4400+ I find the preview very spasmodic on nero I lose sound on amcap and I cannot see a capture option on MM . I’m connected to vcr via composite and audio via scart adaptor Has anyone been successful with a similar setup? or can anyone point me to a site for instructions
    TIA
    jimbthomson hotmail com

    Reply
  14. Connor .M

    I bought one of these but I needed some cables. I found the audio one in some wired but cant find one that fit’s onto the video one. Where did you get yours?

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  15. Hanyodel

    To fix “Change Field Order” problem, remove any connected imaging devices which is like a web camera.
    I hope this helps you who has similar problem.

    Reply
  16. I bought this to convert analogue Hi-8 tapes to disc. I had it working initially until I came to transfer my secong tape, now I can’t view what i’m taping on my pc screen and how do I save a completed capture?!

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  17. KIDWAV3

    someone please help me capture card wont work my pc when i plug it in it just shows green screen and dont record at all what do i do

    Reply
  18. can you tell me where i can get i from in stores in the uk please help
    has to be frm stores.

    Reply
  19. I just got this device on eBay, and I’m really excited to use it, but I’ve been having some problems. I got everything installed OK, (and I have Vista and it works fine, but the software is a little slow), but I have my Sony Handycam Hi8 camcorder plugged in and in Playback mode, and the software keeps saying when I hit Capture that there is no incoming image. I saw that other people are having success with Hi8 camcorders–what am I doing wrong? And yes, I do have the cords plugged in the right places, I’m in NTSC mode, etc. etc.

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  20. Robert B

    Is this device easy to use for recording your gameplay an xbox 360. And, is it compatible with a mac?

    Reply
  21. Does anyone know any Canadian stores that sell this device? I don’t want to buy online. (ie. Bestbuy, Future Shop, Canada Compuers, etc.)

    Thanks in advance.

    Reply

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