whats a good cheap meathed for capturing video/sound from old PC's?

[Soviet Conscript]

can anyone recommend a good cheap way to record video/sound from older PC's. I'm talking nothing using windows xp or USB. I just want to capture some simple things from DOS machines or possibly windows 9x without using DOSBOX. right now if I need to capture something I just point my digital camera at the screen and take a picture or video but the quality is less then optimal. not needing anything high end or professional level.

[Polygon]

A very good question. I'd love to know as well.

[Jorpho]

When all else fails, just plug the computer's audio jack into a suitable Line In port and record. Simple – at least, if you have two computers.

[Gameguy]

When all else fails, just plug the computer's audio jack into a suitable Line In port and record. Simple – at least, if you have two computers.
That's what I would suggest for audio, it seems easiest.

For video there's a few options. There's probably some old screencapture software floating around, though it's probably limited depending on the system you're trying to use. Another option would be to use a converter cable to convert the VGA output to composite(originally available to hook up a computer to a TV), then hook that up to a capture card or DVD recorder.

[Soviet Conscript]

That's what I would suggest for audio, it seems easiest.

For video there's a few options. There's probably some old screencapture software floating around, though it's probably limited depending on the system you're trying to use. Another option would be to use a converter cable to convert the VGA output to composite(originally available to hook up a computer to a TV), then hook that up to a capture card or DVD recorder.

hmmm, thats a good idea with the audio. I have a laptop with what I think is a line in jack. I also think I have an older PCI trident card with a composite out jack that would at least work with early pentium and some late 486 boards.

[CapnCrunch53]

Yeah for audio, definitely just line in. If the retro PC's sound card has it, use the unamplified output jack. Might be called Line out, or might be Speaker Out if the amplified one is labeled Headphones. If you want the best quality record it in lossless FLAC.

For video, you might be able to find an older PCI or AGP TV tuner card designed for recording cable cheaply. One with either coax, svideo or composite, and use a VGA>svideo and a svideo>whatever the card has adapter. Won't be great quality, but I'd imagine it'd be decent enough. I have a couple old Hauppage PVR cards and a Radeon All in Wonder 8500DV that I've thought about using for this. The thing would be to make sure the software for them can actually record, not just work as a tuner. If you wanted to spend a bit over $100 you could get an Avermedia Game Broadcaster HD; I've been wanting one for a while. Captures anything from 640x480 to 1080p at 60hz, BUT there is a way to make it record lower resolutions as well, so you can use it for DOS stuff.

EDIT: Shoot just realized you're thinking of using your laptop for this; I was going off the assumption you had a desktop you could use as the recording machine. Sorry! I think there are some usb capture devices, not sure how cheap they are though.

Found this one, looks like it can record, and it has a cable with composite and svideo connections. http://www.amazon.com/Kworld-Tuner-Video-Capture-KW-UB445-U2/dp/B00AEK5WRC Probably not the best quality but it's pretty cheap. Then you could use a cheap vga to svideo adapter with it, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/S-video-Converter-Adapter-Cable-Laptop/dp/B000P3UB24/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369904934&sr=1-1&keywords=vga+svideo

[Jorpho]

Then you could use a cheap vga to svideo adapter with it, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/S-video-Converter-Adapter-Cable-Laptop/dp/B000P3UB24/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369904934&sr=1-1&keywords=vga+svideoNononono. No. As per the reviews, that is a cable designed specifically for video cards capable of outputting TV-out signals via the VGA port. This is such a highly specific application I do not even know of any video cards that are capable of such functionality.

A real VGA-to-S-Video/Composite looks like http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011407&p_id=4724&seq=1&format=2 .

I hear something like http://www.datapath.co.uk/products/video-capture-cards can capture VGA signals directly, but I also hear it's hella expensive.

[Soviet Conscript]

I do have a desktop I could use I just figured a laptop would be more manageable and mobile. All I really want are mid grade quality 1 minute or so video captures though honestly I'm more interested in recording sound at the moment.

so i'm to understand the following setup won't work?

pentium DOS PC > PCI video card with VGA/composite/s-video out > one of those cheap $10 usb capture cards on ebay > laptop with windows xp?

[Edmond Dantes]

For the OP's benefit, I asked a similar question when I first started coming here, and got some good answers.

Here's the topic for that. (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?155566-TV-Output-cards-for-DOS-Win98-comps)

Hope it helps.

[Jorpho]

so i'm to understand the following setup won't work?

pentium DOS PC > PCI video card with VGA/composite/s-video out > one of those cheap $10 usb capture cards on ebay > laptop with windows xp?Oh, sure, that should work. You just have to make sure you get the right PCI (or AGP) video card. As per the other thread, there are numerous old ATI cards that could produce TV-output at boot without any need for mucking with drivers or whatnot.