Hauppauge
HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition High Definition Game Capture Device with HDMI
In and Out and Real Time Passthrough for Use with PC, Xbox 360 and PS3
This is the best product ever made now for HD Recording! So Get This And Is Even Cheaper Then Any Good Recording Device!
Great game capturing device. Shipped faster than expected, packaged very well, great price & service. Tried the Elgato, Roxio & Dazzle, but the PVR in my opinion definitely has a higher quality than them all.
This piece of equipment is amazing and absolutely essential for quick and easy game recording. You can hook it up to a Playstation3 or an Xbox 360 and record in 1080 HD easily and without delay. Easy to hook up, easy to operate. There's a button on top of the PVR that starts and stops the recording. This is a new feature and it is very useful. I would highly recommend this product over many other of its kind.
This device is quite lovely and, while it does take some time to get set up properly for recording, it is easy to record, edit, create, and upload the videos that you get onto YouTube or whatever video service you choose to use. The included editing software is pretty good, also; better than Windows Movie Maker, for sure.
The package arrived on time, and nothing in the box was damaged. The setup for ArcSoft Showbiz went smooth, and so did the driver install for the HD PVR. The only problem I had getting it to work was that when I tried to capture video from my Xbox right after the setup, it wouldn't recognize the source. Oddly enough, that problem seemed to fix itself the next day. The only problem I have now(a big problem to me) is that it doesn't record my own voice from my Turtle Beach headset. I really need to find out how to do this. Other than that, the sound and video quality is good, the hardware seems sturdy enough, and I haven't had any other issues getting it to work. The only thing i'm wondering is if the record button on top of the device is necessary, since I can start and stop the recording with 1 click in ShowBiz itself, while the device sits on the floor across the room. I'd recomend this to anyone who wants to record good quality video from their Xbox.
Raiden: to record in-game chat from your Turtle Beach headset, you need an external mixer to mix the audio from your game console with the audio from your headset. It's pretty easy to set this up and Hauppauge is working on a short video tutorial to show how to make the connections.
There are a number of audio mixers on the market, but here is one which is sold by Amazon:
Technical Pro PM-21 Podcast System, Silver
The mixer should be around $50.- and needs a microphone input plus Stereo RCA in and Stereo RCA out.
The king of mixamps is the Astro Mixamp. Here is the Amazon description:
ASTRO Gaming USB MixAmp
It does everything it said it does and I am satisfied with my purchase. The quality is great this time around. The colors aren't as "dull" as the original PVR. What I like most about this device over the old model is of course HDMI and slimmer sized unit. No more messy wires and and PVR take up much less space. My only grip with this however is that this didn't come with a remote. This is minor but I wish it came with one.
*PS3 can only record on component.*
Apparently the cool new thing to do is record your video game play to showcase your l33t g@m1ng skillz on youtube to summarily be trolled by all that is unholy. Set up was a breeze. I t's just a matter of connecting the cables and installing the software included in the package's CD-ROM. Depending on how fast your computer is, the software itself may be a bit slow, but recording is a snap and saving it to an avi file is a snap. I'm sure you'll want to cut and edit the footage after saving the project but that shouldn't be a problem for anyone who's got the time and talent to do stuff like that.
As far as quality of the footage is concerned...here's a link to a brief clip I captured to test the device:[...]
I'm one of the many who got the Hauppauge HD PVR 1. The capture card worked like a champ and I still use it today. But lets face it, Component is going out of style. HDMI is coming strong and you better get on the wagon before it leaves you behind. With that said, there are a few options to choose from when capturing your gameplay. If you're looking for something cheap, Roxio is probably your choice. Then there is basically a three way tie for the top spot, Hauppauge HD PVR 2, Elgato, and the Black Magic cards (there are also some AverMedia cards out there, but I'm not up to date on those). Obviously my choice from the top three is the HD PVR 2, and here's why.
My favorite thing about Hauppauge capture cards is that you do not have to have your PC on to play games. If you get an Elgato capture card or the Black Magic cards, you must have your PC on just to play games.
Then there's the size of the capture cards. The PVR 1 was pretty big. Thankfully, Hauppauge cut the size of the PVR 2 by quite a bit. Yet, the Elgato is still much smaller than the PVR 2, and the Black Magic cards are also a bit smaller.
Connections are basically the same across all three devices. You can't use HDMI on PS3 due to an HDCP issue, but Hauppauge supplies you with component cables when you buy this product.
Lastly, the software. I'm not fully aware of Elgato or Black Magic software, but Hauppauge's programs work pretty nicely. I will say that changing the settings is a big sluggish, but I've never had a problem with their programs, and I doubt you'll have issues either.
Overall, I really love this capture card. Just a bit of advice, be sure to install the drivers and software before using this device, as it won't work otherwise. Whether you're new to recording gameplay or you're a Youtube veteran, this capture card is a very good purchase.
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