Reviews (5)

Don't buy, Software is garbage
This reminds me of the days of Windows '95 when about 1 in 4 products took hours, sometimes days to work right. Mine came with QuickStart 8 and I never got it up and running, even after downloading patches, re-installing, ect..... Total garbage.

Not a good buy
I bought this after reading reviews on other sites that said if you follow the directions and get all the updates,you would not have any problems. There were many reviewers that disagreed, but I thought I'd try. I did everything I was suppsed to do. The software that comes with it is flaky at best. It will work once and then quit. Or it will work for an hour and then hang up. I could never re-open anything I had made to edit it more. Dazzle has just been bought out by Pinnacle and the Dazzle messagge boards are closing down Aug 31. Becareful before you buy.

Never got it to work
This product was frustrating to try to use, the software didn't work, and tech support was very unhelpful, and expensive, considering you waited on hold on a non-toll-free number. I returned it and went with the ATI Radeon All-in-Wonder 7500, which I love.

Run from Dazzle
This is half-baked software at best. While the box seems to imply that you will be able to capture video at mpg2 on the fly, the result of this capture in most cases, cannot be burned to DVD without re-processing by the computer. I truly wish I had sprung for something else (like matrox). It is a shame you cannot list zero stars, in my opinion that is what this product is worth!

Dazzle 150 is a nightmare ! ! !
If you have a issue to resolve, you can use the toll call number they give you for 30 days, but expect a hold time of 30 min's or more.
Then most of the time they have to pass it on to another support group person to email you back.
30 Days is not long enough for what you go threw to get this to work, I can now see why there are so many up for sale on auction sites, it will drive you Crazy to use . ... Read more

Reviews (22)

You Get What You Pay For
For the money, the Dazzle is not a bad purchase, depending on what your needs are. Although (as pointed out in another review) digital camcorders can work as analog-to-digital signal converters, that's not always the best solution, so you may need a standalone "bridge" or capture device for your analog footage.

Considering that pro analog capture cards can cost upwards of several thousand dollars, no one should expect the Dazzle to be much more than than it is: an [inexpensive], amateur-level capture device, that more or less does what it claims. I've used a Dazzle for a year and a half, and it's been fine as a capture device. Burning back to VHS has been often problematic, sometimes getting audio and video artifacting. However, I burn most of my stuff to DVD or VCD, so that's not an issue much of the time.

Don't slam the product before making a dollar-for-dollar comparison with other options, based on your needs. If it doesn't do what you want, don't get it, but for the price, it does a lot.

Fantastic Product
Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge does exactly what it's supposed to do. It allows you to transfer analog video (ie VHS tapes) to digital format. I had attempted to do this using the TV card that came with my computer, but the quality was at best mediocre. Using the Hollywood DV Bridge the quality is just as good as the video tape.

I have made VCDs with quality as good as video tape. I have recorded 2 hour videos with no problems and no system crashes. I can't comment on Dazzle customer support since with everything working perfectly I haven't had to call them.

I do not use the Dazzle software that came with the product. I am using Pinnacle Studio 8 which works great. I had the Pinnacle software before and had spent the time to learn how to use it so I never used the Dazzle software.

A good solution, but not the best
After reading the extremely positive and extremely negative reviews, I wasn't sure that I'd be happy with my purchase. I can't say that I am or that I'm not. However, I can say that it did what I expected -- the majority of the negative reviews are from people whose computers just don't make the cut regardless of what type of video device they're using.

I thought this would be a cheap solution ($200 compared to $3000 for a new digital camera), but as it turns out, a decent MiniDV camcorder from Sony costs in the range of $400-$900. If I hadn't purchased this product, I would only have $200 to go... but if I hadn't purchased it, I wouldn't know how much fun video editing can be.

This device gives you the potential to edit analog movies and make them look PROFESSIONAL (I really prefer Windows Movie Maker over the software that comes with the package), but the video and audio quality is obviously still amateur-looking (and sounding). If you want to create the next Titanic, you're going to need a higher image quality, so go with a new digital camera (this device is only for analog cameras), but if you just want to play around and get a cheap taste before making a more expensive dive, this is the way to go. It all boils down to how important video quality is to you.

Canopus ADVC100 is far superior
I've owned a Hollywood DV Bridge for more than a year, and also a Canopus ADVC100. The DV Bridge is adequate for importing analog video into Adobe Premiere. Just adequate. But having the benefit of owning both products, I have no hesitation about recommending the ADVC100 over the DV Bridge. The ADVC100 allows you to lock audio to video during capture, the image quality is superior to that captured with the DV Bridge, and I have yet to drop a frame during capture with the ADVC (even with older vhs tapes). The DV Bridge might look cool to some (I thought so when I bought mine), but it's simply not as functional as the ADVC100 because it tends to fall over when it has cables plugged into the front and back of the unit, whereas the ADVC100 is a nice looking box that sits flat and cables fit snugly. Snug cable fit is an issue with my DV Bridge because my S-Video cable fits somewhat loosely and works best if I wrap scotch tape around the unit and plug to improve the integrity of the S-video input connection. Finally, the ADVC100 has a built-in on-off switch while the DV Bridge does not. It's a small thing I suppose, but I'd rather not have to plug and unplug the DV Bridge's power supply from my power bar after each use. It can get dusty down under my desk sometimes. Since getting the ADVC100, my DV Bridge is officially retired. In my opinion, the Canopus product is superior to the DV Bridge in every way, and is the way to go for those interested in purchasing a product for capturing analog video.

Great product
It works just great with a beefed up computer, about twice the RAM of the suggested. Easy setup, but the software that comes with the program is hard to use and not worth bothering with. If you want a very simple, easy to use and effective editing program, use Windows Movie Maker which comes with a Windows XP update. ... Read more

Features

• Capture video and still images from DV camcorder to a PC
• Edit DV videos with software editing suite
• Record edited DV videos back to DV camcorder, DV VCR, or CD-R
• Add videos to an Internet Web page, e-mail, or PowerPoint presentation
• Convert DV video to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 formats to reduce file size

Reviews (1)

Inventory coordinator
Heard about the product and it gives me the impression that its the best one available in the market for video editing. Want to buy one . ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Horrible!!!!!
... Read the fine print on your Dazzle video capture screen - you only get 50% of the resolution on your TV - this should be called "Dazzling Fuzzy Pics Creator"!!! Bundle programs will only install one component at a time - leaving all the install boxes checked will cause your computer to crash because of install hangups. Will not "build" and "burn" your DVD at the same time. After much time and grief, the best analog to DVD movie conversion was a one frame per 3 seconds slide show (with the in between frames lost) and totally garbled sound. The program/hardware concept sounds great, which is why you will believe you ought to buy this RIGHT NOW. The program/hardware execution and results leave me furious that I did not read the reviews. There are other on-line stores with this product's reviews too, and they all sound like my review. I'm not ordinarily this stupid, but my impulse to buy this thing definitely was duuuuumb!!!

Brought and returned....
This is a great paperweight... Customer/technical service is terrible... Online troubleshooting is terrible... It plain just doesn't work... Even their message boards for pier technical-help agree, don't buy this...

dazzle fusion has NO "dazzle"
I purchased the dazzle fusion product because of the multi card reader capabilities and the ability to run slideshows. Problems started from day one with this software. Updates first need to be downloaded from their website which take awhile. The slideshow program was slow to load pictures and I always had problems burning the pics with music to a cdr. Don't expect to call the company and get answers either. I called numerous times and no answer. My last try I waited 45 minutes until someone answered and then he had no clue on how to fix my problems. I since downloaded a software program from photodex and this software works great with 10fold more features compared to the dazzle program. ... Read more

Features

• Incl. 32MB SmartMedia card
• High-speed data transfer
• Plugs directly into USB slot