Reviews

Pinnacle Video Transfer

Transfer your video to iPod or PSP without a computer

For many folks the prospect of working with video on the computer is still a daunting task. Some folks just don't want to deal with hooking up their camcorder and importing video footage. Others don't want to learn how to use a video editing application. Soon though that will change as camcorder manufacturers increasingly abandon miniDV camcorders in favor of those that capture to flash disk, DVD, and hard drive. But for those who don't want to use a computer to capture video, there is a solution from Pinnacle Systems that is not only fiendishly simple to use, but it also captures very good quality video as well, all without the use of a computer.

Called the Pinnacle Video Transfer, and not much bigger than the original iPod, the device is easy to use and set up to capture video from your camcorder to a thumb drive, PSP, iPod, or USB hard disk drive. And again, no computer needed to capture.

What's in the box and setting it up

Pinnacle Video Transfer includes the transfer device, an AC adapter, composite video cables, and the manual. Because there is no interface or LCD on the device, it relies on color coded LEDs to let you know how the process is going. To test out the Pinnacle Video Transfer, I plugged in a Sony TRV11 miniDV camcorder into it using the Sony-supplied composite video cables. On the receiving end I plugged in a standard 1GB flash memory card. There is a big button on the Video Transfer box with Record and Mode stamped on it. Pinnacle's Video Transfer. The red lights let you know it is recording video to the USB Flash drive.

Pinnacle's Video Transfer. The red lights let you know it is recording video to the USB Flash drive.

When you plug in the source device and the output device, all of the LEDs light blue, letting you know that the device is ready to capture. When you are ready to capture, simply press the play button on your source device, the Rec button on the Video Transfer, and the LEDs light red, both on the source side and the output side, letting you know that a recording is in process. To stop recording, press and hold the record button and when the lights turn blue, recording has stopped.

Image courtesy Pinnacle Systems

Video Transfer captures the video to the H.264 MPEG-4 format in three different video qualities: Good (320x240, 512kbps), Better (320x240 768kbps), and Best (640x480 1.5Mbps). This is at the iPod setting. Sony’s PSP setting is similar, while other video device support ranges from 320x240, to 640x480 to 720x480. The video quality is set by pressing down the mode button when prompted by the blue LEDs. One LED denotes Good quality, two LEDs denote Better quality and three LEDs denote Best quality. When you are finished recording, remove the Flash memory drive and stick it in the USB port on your computer. Locate the file on the drive and click it to play.

First Impressions

Pinnacle's Video Transfer has got to be the coolest video gadget I've looked at this year. It works as advertised and is very easy to set up and use. Once you know how to adjust the video capture settings, which takes about two seconds, you can easily connect your video capture device to the Video Transfer box, connect your iPod, PSP, USB hard drive or even Flash memory drive to the rear of the Video Transfer box, press play on the source video device and record on the Video Transfer device and you are recording straight to hard disk, iPod, PSP, or Flash memory, without the use of a computer. It is really that simple. It is priced at around $140. For more information, visit www.pinnaclesys.com