Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac and PC up to 1080P (10025010)
The Elgato Game Capture is one of the smallest yet most effective HD Game Capture I have ever seen and used in my life. One of the most simple if not the most easiest HD Recorder to be made yet. With only 3 cables that need to be used of which two are in the box and one was supplied with the PS3 or XBOX 360 when bought it is very easy to connect and start recording. The software available online can be downloaded in seconds and recording can be done within maybe 10 Minutes of receiving the Game Capture. It is not only small but also very easy to use and a lot better than other HD Recorders available. This Game Capture is the best I have seen yet and it will be very hard for other companies to top this amazing device. I was thinking about buying one myself but I had a doubt because of my previous experiences the Devices all turned out to be junk. However when this device was gifted to me I was not disappointed at all by the quality of the device and how it was not complex. The software can be used on Mac an Windows which was also a common problem for me since many other Devices only work on a Windows computer which I do not own. All in all this Game Capture is a great device and I expect it to become more popular as more and more YouTubers will use it. I don't expect a better device than this one for a while.
For whatever reason, eBay users are selling this for more than the price on Amazon...yet people still buy them. Being a smart consumer who likes to save money, I bought it from here.
First off, kudos to Amazon. Even with super saver shipping, I got my device the Fri. before the release of Halo 4. Estimated delivery wasn't until after the release of Halo 4, so great job on their part (even with Hurricane Sandy going on).
As for the device itself, the video files are automatically compressed into .mp4 @ 30 Mb/s. This results in high quality while achieving a relatively low file size (i.e. no need for a 3TB HDD). In order to conform to YouTube guidelines, I use Adobe Media Encoder to drop the final video to a variable bit rate (VBR) of 8.25-10Mb/s @ 1080p. Needless to say, the footage still looks great at 1080p on YouTube. The raw footage stored on my HDD looks about the same between 720p/1080p. However, on YouTube, it seems the bitrate is capped when viewing 720p as full screen viewing is terrible unless there is a 1080p option, hence, why I upload at 1080p.
The new beta release adds Live Commentary and Streaming. I have no interest in the streaming, but having Live Commentary cuts out one more step in the production process. Unfortunately, reverb or sound compressors can't be added in the Game Capture software. Hopefully, this can be added in the future for higher quality voice overs.
One strange thing is that some of the buttons disappear between windowed and full screen mode in OS X. If you can't find a button, try maximizing the window or click around in the drop-down menus at the top of the screen. I was looking for a play button for about 5 minutes before I stumbled upon the fact "spacebar" is the shortcut. Though it seems obvious after the fact, not having a button to click was a bit odd.
Overall, the program is simple to use, and the recordings exceed many of the other options out there. Highly recommend this product.
Thank you for making this device portable. I take it with me everywhere with my laptop. (Just in case I go to a friends house)
Records smoothly. But I still don't understand how to record stuff that I forgot to record. I need to look into that. Overall I recommended this product to my friends and to the fellow YouTube community :)
Thank you for your hard work. :)
The Elgato is just amazing, it's so small and only uses 3 simple cords to connect to your console, pc, and monitor/ TV. The amount of time it can record is absolutely fantastic, it records in great quality which i really like and learning how to use it was fairly simple.
I wanted to get into creating my own Youtube channel with doing game commentaries from my XBox 360. The Elgato is a slick little item. It records video and sound at a very high quality and in almost seamless real-time. I had a little trouble at first because I wasn't seeming to get a connection but then I restarted my PC and that fixed it. Just make sure to unhook it when you want to watch Netflix or it will give you errors. Great product!
This device completely blew away my expectations. Usually you only hear about Hauppage or Roxio when it comes to capture cards, not Elgato (or at least, I never heard of it before). The card records in High Definition at 720p or 1080p and it comes out as smooth as butter. The features of the software are really cool too. I personally love the flashback feature that allows you to go back and capture something if you weren't recording already. It allows me to not have to worry about recording all the time. The software is also streamlined and easy to use as well. It's also well taken care of and it received an update the other day that allowed for live commentary while you recorded.
If you are new to the capture card business like I was, definitely buy this.
My only previous experience with a capture card was with the original HD PVR, and after only having the el gato device for a few hours, I can tell I am going to enjoy using this new one so much more. I got this capture card because I wanted to record Xbox games in HD (this one can record up to 1080p, but my TV is only 720p, so that's what I'm restricted to), and I wanted one that used HDMI. No component cables are necessary, only HDMI in/out and usb to your computer, which is a huge improvement over the mess of cables with the HD PVR. On top of this, the el gato capture card is small enough to fit in your pocket.
Setting up the device and software took at most 5 minutes and it was ready to capture, automatically set to record in 720p for my TV. The software was easy to use and there was absolutely no video lag, so my game-play did not suffer. There is a slider for video quality, which I changed to highest quality and a 10 minute video was about 1 GB.
I cannot say how this capture card compares to the HD PVR 2 (which also can use HDMI), but here is a quick list of improvements over the original HD PVR that I have immediately noticed:
- Uses HDMI, component cables not necessary
- Can record in 1080p
- Easy to set up device and install software
- Easy to use software
- Small
This works well but you need to be aware that it must be powered by USB or the signal will not be passed through to the TV set when the capture card is not plugged in to your computer/laptop's USB port. When it is not in use just plug the USB power cord into one of the XBOX's USB ports to power it.
Buy Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac and PC up to 1080P (10025010) Now from Amazon.com
