Terratec's Grabster AV150 is a simple, pocket-sized analogue video capture device that comes bundled with all the software you need to create, edit and burn DVDs of your treasured recordings.

The Grabster AV150 basically provides a bridge between your video source and the supplied software.

Simply plug one end into a spare USB port and, for example, your VHS video recorder into the other.

A video-through connector is also available to allow you to optionally connect a TV at the same time to monitor the video.

The Grabster AV150 has no built-in support for audio. Instead, a stereo audio cable is provided which must be connected directly from your AV device to your PC's audio-in socket.

Then it's just a case of installing the supplied software (Ulead's Moviefactory 3 and Videostudio 7 SE DVD) and you're ready to go.

Simple as this may seem to those who know something about how these things work, if you're a total beginner you'll find a distinct lack of help.

There's no handy quick start guide to tell you what plugs go where and no printed documentation of any kind - it's all on the CD.

Starting up the install disc presents you with a menu of six options including driver and software installation. It's not until the fourth entry down that youíll find the 'documentation' button.

The pdf manual then goes on to tell you to insert the CD and what to do if the menu does not start - not very useful considering you will have already had to work this out for yourself to reach this point.

The provided software packages aren't trial products, but full versions of slightly older releases of Ulead's video and DVD authoring products. Upgrades can be purchased online.

Unlike the Grabster itself, these are sophisticated and powerful consumer-orientated applications that let you do just about anything you can think of with your video content.

Since it uses software encoding, transferring from your video source to your PC can take some time.

The Plextor Convertx (read a review here) provides much faster hardware encoding complete with DivX support. That said, it does cost over twice as much as this offering from Terratec.