Review: Belkin VideoBus II

Don Bradbury takes a look at a neat video capture device

Product	VideoBus II
Company	Belkin
Web	www.belkin.co.uk
Price	£84.99 incl
We like	Effective video capture. Choice of editing software
We don't like	More expensive than competition. No user manuals.
Rating	8/10
Requirements

Video capture to an editing system on the PC is a growing application among amateur photographers. To do that you need a capture medium, but while they are often in PCI card format, a USB device is not only convenient in that you don’t have to open the system box, but it doesn’t consume a precious BUS slot in addition.

This Belkin unit features a plain box (no activation LED), from which protrude three leads to attach to video devices, and from the other end, another flying lead to attach to a USB port on the PC.

The three video leads include RCA AV patch cords (video and audio in), and an S-Video option. A camcorder with a single audio output would connect to the white RCA socket while the red one would then be redundant.

Installation

Software installation was, once again, not quite precisely stated. However, if you just load the CD into its drive, install the software Belkin provides, and let Windows detect and install the required drivers for the capture device, you’ll be up and running in no time.

Again, as with the Dazzle unit we looked at previously, a primary USB port (on the system box) is preferable to using a hub port. In this sort of application, USB often doesn’t quite live up to its plug-it-in-and-forget-it label, even though hub attachment is invited in the brief manual. When I tried a hub, the Belkin device kept deactivating my Swift Syncro flash memory card reader. That would happen most boots, not every time.

Windows’ Device Manager entries confirm the correct installation of the required devices for video and audio capture:

Software

MGI VideoWave III SE and MGI PhotoSuite III SE are the options for editing, and it’s nice to have the options for those who are already familiar with one or the other. Learning a new software package is not what aficionados are necessarily looking towards when they are anxious to make progress.

Also included in the software package are Internet Explorer, MS Outlook Express, MS Media Player, MS Netmeeting, and TeVeo Live for webcam support.

Unfortunately, once again, the all-important user manuals for the editing software are in on-CD format, this time PDF. While occasional checks on procedure are accommodated adequately in this way, first timers will find probably it something of a frustration.

Hardware

Windows 98SE or later for the OS, a 350MHz CPU or faster, 128MB of RAM or more, and 1GB of disk space for video capture are stated as minimum requirements, though the latter will be restrictive.

A video camcorder or VCR (NTSC, PAL, SECAM are catered for) can be used for input, and the former, usefully, may be of the analogue flavour.

Using your camcorder as a webcam is a suggested alternative application for your expensive hardware, but it does have the virtue of versatility over the standard fixed focal length dedicated webcam.

Extras

Belkin include some useful notes on optimizing the applications. Enabling DMA for your hard disk, for a start, is sensible if you need to attend to it, and the user manual shows you how to do that. Regularly defragging your hard drive is also sensible because video capture and replay require, above all, a fast system.  A Troubleshooting guide completes the multi-language literature.

In conclusion

The Belkin VideoBus II video capture device works nicely, though a primary USB port will probably once again be found necessary, as opposed to a hub port.

Not one but two major applications are featured, and while both may require references to PDF user guides, this seems to be a standard cost-cutting mechanism with such inexpensive gear these days.

Don Bradbury