Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac and PC up to 1080P (10025010)
This review is from: Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac and PC up to 1080P (10025010) (Personal Computers) If you're looking to do any type of recording at all, the Elgato is a MUST buy! Hands down the greatest piece of recording hardware money can buy. The software alone blows all other capture devices out of the water. You can't go wrong with this device.
As an actual gamer, I think I can speak intelligently on this subject when I say that the Elgato Game Capture HD is the best game capture device I've found on the market right now. Set up is simple, the software is easy to use, and most importantly, it does what I want it to do, record game video. I can't really ask anymore from it!
The features that come with the Elgato are a really big plus. In addition to easy recording, game/voice audio adjustments, full 1080p HD video, and multiple export video formats, I've found that being able to retroactively start a recording is a really nice ability I haven't seen elsewhere. More than once I accidentally started the program, forgot to hit record, and started to do a gaming session for a video. When I went to look at the video, I saw that I didn't record it! Fortunately, I was simply able to move the slider back and hit record, recovering what would have been lost with other capture devices.
Pros
- Full 1080p HD recording
- Can export to multiple video formats
- The software can handle most of the basic video editing
- You don't need to be a NASA scientist to use it
- The ability to retroactively start recording is just plain awesome
- The setup is fairly straight forward
Cons
- It's a bit on the high end of the price scale.
- The software system requirements basically require a newer computer. I didn't have a problem since I had a nice gaming PC, but I know not everyone has a nice computer. Be sure to check the software's system requirements thoroughly against the PC you plan to use with it. Requirements: Windows 7, 2.0 GHz dual core CPU, sound card
- It included an extra HDMI cable to connect to your TV, however, it is the shortest HDMI cable I have ever seen.
The Bottom Line
If you are a serious gamer or if your buying a gift for a serious gamer who wants to make gaming videos, the Elgato Game Capture HD does everything you need. I am very satisfied with it and I recommend it to anyone who's looking to start making some gaming videos.
Important Notes
- My set up included HDMI connections, an Xbox360 as the subject of the recording, and a higher end PC for the video editing. Your results may vary with different setups such as a different console, PC, or video connections.
- Be sure you have a computer with Windows 7 (Not sure about Windows 8 support), at least a 2.0 GHz dual core CPU, and a sound card. These are system requirements for the software and the Elgato will not work without it!
- The software for the Elgato is not included in the box as a CD. You need to download the software from their website, which doesn't take long and is covered in the setup instructions.
- Make sure your cable connections are solid and are all the way inserted. One of my HDMI cables wasn't all the way in, even though it seem it was, and I spent a good 5 minutes trying to figure out what was wrong.
This capture card really works and is by far the easiest to setup. I usual do some live streaming of Gears or Call of Duty and I even make montages, this device works wonders. It truly captures in HD and can be formatted to almost every high end HD format with the ability to live stream straight from the software to the Twitch servers. I do recommend for any montage or video makers to pick up either Sony Vegas Pro or some other editing software for editing footage.
I make gaming commentaries, montages, and such as a hobby for youtube and started out a couple years ago using the Basic Roxio Game Capture card. Then I switched to The Hauppauge gaming edition HDPVR and it wasnt so bad but the editing software was absolutely horrible! The hardware itself was big and clunky but did have a nice green light around the top to let you know it was recording which was kind of cool.
The box for the elgato is smaller than The actual HDPVR unit that I got. It is so small and light weight and has little rubber feet on the bottom so it doesnt slide around wherever you place it. It hooks up easily and comes with one page of instructions for ps3 and xbox set up. Very easy install. Then you go to their website to download the software to actually capture your gaming and then youre ready to go.
Ive actually started a series of just live commentaries that I do because the software allows you to record your voice while playing then automatically adjust game volume so it isnt too loud (something that took me alot of time to edit with other software) and that you can hear your voice clearly. It automatically processes it for you in whichever way you prefer (original mp4, 1080p mp4, share to fb, YT, etc). HUGE TIME SAVER!!!
You can easily search youtube as well for preferred settings to get the best quality out of the device.
It says you need a minimum of 2.0 ghz processor to use. Thats probably true but if youre rocking a 2.0 ghz on an old laptop or pc that is a few years old it may be a little off as far as synchronization. I know this because I plugged it into my laptop thats a few years old with windows 7 and has a 2.2 ghz processor. The voice commentary was way behind the gameplay and the gameplay was jumpy. I would suggest a nice desktop with at LEAST a 3.0 to be on the safe side for best performance in both capturing and rendering.
Overall great product as long as you meet system requirements you wont be disappointed.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
I got a Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder
before & I was disappointed that it didn't work with Mac. I ended
up finding a work around by using an older PC, but still didn't realize I
would need to buy another program just to make that work on Mac. After
about 6 months, the device began to glitch & will not work at all
now. I am done with Hauppauge. I've got a friend that had a similar
but yet different permanent crash on his Hauppauge 1212. At this point -
I went to the Elgato. Not only does it work with Mac (without
additional programming), but it also offers many great features that my
Hauppauge did not. Namely - it has an internal memory feature that
allows you to go back & record a certain amount of video that does
not have to be on your computer. In other words, you do not have to
always have your computer recording to catch a great moment in your
favorite game. If something happens, just tell it then to record it!
It's like being able to record from a DVR that keeping a memory cache
going back to a fixed point. If nothing happens, no loss - you didn't
have to keep recording & dumping GBs of wasted space on your PC or
Mac. My friend and I both use this Elgato now - works perfectly fine
without all of the headaches of our previous HD PVR's.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
I ordered El Gato so my 10-year-old son could record various games from
his X-box 360. Out of the box, the device was very easy to set up. It
required a software download for our MacBook Air, but once that was
done, it was just a few simple connections and we were ready to record.
It's a very small device that doesn't need a power cable. I truly can't
say enough good things about the product. It functions exactly as
promised and was a breeze to set up.
I've just received my Elgato Game Capture HD today, and have been using it thus far with my Xbox 360 and had no problems hardware wise. The installation couldn't have been any simpler. All you have to do is plug an HDMI cable into either end of it, one of them going from the device to your monitor, and the other from the device into your console. The USB goes from the device into your computer, and then you're ready to download their software off of [...]
This is where an issue arouse for me. When I first started using their software I was having some trouble with recording. Every 10 mins or so the image would get extremely hazy and laggy for no apparent reason. After troubleshooting for a bit the issue seems to have stopped. I'm not entirely sure what was causing the problem, but it's over now and I've already made a short video of some Battlefield 3 clips edited with Camtasia Studio 8. The software provided is actually very good, and I really like the feature for going back up to 6 mins and recording what's happened in the past.
Overall this is a solid product and I don't have any regrets purchasing it. I plan on giving a more in-depth review after I've had a bit more time to play with it.
For years, I've been looking for a way to capture the video of iOS devices, specifically for screencasts. Up until now, the approach has always been cumbersome. I'm SO glad this device came along. Stupid easy to use... plug in the HDMI cable and the USB cable and you're in business.
I just did a test video (converting the video from M4V to a ProRes MOV), did a quick voiceover in FCPX and it looks great. Couldn't ask for a better device.
Thanks, Elgato!
Buy Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac and PC up to 1080P (10025010) Now from Amazon.com
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