The ADS Tech Video Xpress is a USB dongle accessory that captures any source capable of outputting to RCA jacks or S-Video and converts it into video with quality scalable up to DVD. We installed the Video Xpress through its USB 2.0 connector to a test Toshiba Portege R200 notebook. Installation required mounting a custom driver through USB. We did not encounter issues installing this to an already in place Windows XP SP2 setup.

On the software side, the package includes Ulead’s Movie Wizard, which initiates the capture procedure. You can set different style templates and themes and even add music without knowledge of A/V editing. The Movie Wizard lets you capture in resolutions up to 720x480 on NTSC and 720x576 on PAL. Video can be outputted to .AVI, compressed .AVI, MPEG-1 for Video CDs or WMV format. Photo snapshots are also a possibility.

The ADS Tech Video Xpress is great if you have a lot of homegrown movies you wish to transfer to PC. We lament that there is no support for MPEG-2 for DVD level capture but the price being $59.99 US, we would think it would cost a lot more. The package also includes Muvee AutoProducer, which is a more complex editing tool and will let you string together your various captures into a more professional video.

All in all, the ADS Tech Video Xpress does what it sets out to do. We would have liked to see in the future support for component or if possible, even HDMI captures at higher resolutions. And of course, support for MPEG-2 encoding would be great too. For most people with VHS or Laserdisc collections, ADS Tech Video Xpress should help videophiles preserve their collection digitally. Aspiring movie directors and artistic teens will find this a great buy.