- Joined
- Jul 20, 2006
(Since this is probably ONLY of interest to console gamers... I figured I'd post this review of mine here.)
I purchased this TODAY: March 2nd, 2013 (for my PS3). Here I want to touch on the fact that a LOT of the problems that people who bought this thing in 2011 had were fixed with a number of firmware updates during 2012... including one just before New Years. It no longer records an avi file at all... it records a regular mp4 that you can upload straight to Youtube. I downloaded the latest firmware (as instructed on the box for 1080p) only to discover that it was already installed. Unlike others my installation was not without a few hiccups... I plugged everything in, started it up, formatted the drive... then it reset itself just before going to the main menu. After that it refused to read the drive. I had to unplug the thing, remove and reseat the drive, then plug it back in.
It was smooth sailing after that though.
I keep both the HDMI and Component cables plugged into my PS3. So when I'm just playing I use HDMI and when I want to record I switch to Component. All this I can do without even leaving my couch. Since this device doesn't need a computer I don't have cables running all over my living room. Everything's tucked away neatly behind the TV stand. I think HDMI, in general, is sharper than component, but I wasn't willing to pay the money or jump through the hoops to get that to work.
This device eliminates two crucial hurdles to capturing High Def PS3 video: The USB Cable and The Computer.
I have no faith in the lasting ability of a USB-based solution. Better to have some device that can just record the HD signal directly... which is what this is. The signal is recorded at the source that's plugged into your PS3 (as opposed to being re-encoded at the source and then further sent on another trip through the USB cable to a computer that has WHO KNOWS WHAT going on in the background.)
This device functions because it is the path of least resistance.
...but it is not flawless.
CONS
-An audible POPPING noise is made when playing back video (yes it has a menu system and overlays and a media player...)
-The install had a few hiccups for me.
-It will ONLY recognize FAT32 and NTFS. If you've got a regular FAT (like most thumb drives) forget it.
-There is absolutely no connection to a PC. This means forget about streaming... forget about software... it doesn't even come with a USB cable. This is as PC-free as it gets. It's basically a DVR. Hell... it IS a DVR... only geared towards gaming.
-Resolution? Bit rate? File type? Yeah... as far as I know there's no way to control any of that. There are some generic recording options like "Optimum" and "Medium" that are not thoroughly explained in the sparse menus.
-No HDMI out.
PROS
-Reliability. Once you do get this thing running it will not fail on you like the USB products.
-Convenience. Unlike the USB products (where if the recording device isn't being powered you can't play the game system) this one has a REAL A/V passthrough. So even if you turn the device off your system will keep right on going. Also all the cables go out the back where all the rest of your TV cables probably are.
-Features. It functions like a DVR. It comes with a remote. You press a button and there is a screen overlay. You can bring up a menu where you can browse all your stored videos by thumbnail. You can also plug in a thumb drive or an external hard drive and copy your videos using this menu. You can use an external drive or thumb drive for recording too as long as they're fast enough. The remote and media player are pretty neat.
-Accepts a 2.5 inch SATA drive.
All-in-all this is a lot of great features for the money. I do wish it had HDMI out... but I that would probably jack up the price. I'd easily trade that feature for the 3-game system component cable it comes with... or the fact that you can install a hard drive into the thing.
It works... With the 3.2.0 firmware it works exceptionally well. I think their upcoming product (April 2013) will be a bit of a letdown since it only has SD card input. I have a 160 gig hard drive in my Game Capture HD... how big is the biggest SD card?
I purchased this TODAY: March 2nd, 2013 (for my PS3). Here I want to touch on the fact that a LOT of the problems that people who bought this thing in 2011 had were fixed with a number of firmware updates during 2012... including one just before New Years. It no longer records an avi file at all... it records a regular mp4 that you can upload straight to Youtube. I downloaded the latest firmware (as instructed on the box for 1080p) only to discover that it was already installed. Unlike others my installation was not without a few hiccups... I plugged everything in, started it up, formatted the drive... then it reset itself just before going to the main menu. After that it refused to read the drive. I had to unplug the thing, remove and reseat the drive, then plug it back in.
It was smooth sailing after that though.
I keep both the HDMI and Component cables plugged into my PS3. So when I'm just playing I use HDMI and when I want to record I switch to Component. All this I can do without even leaving my couch. Since this device doesn't need a computer I don't have cables running all over my living room. Everything's tucked away neatly behind the TV stand. I think HDMI, in general, is sharper than component, but I wasn't willing to pay the money or jump through the hoops to get that to work.
This device eliminates two crucial hurdles to capturing High Def PS3 video: The USB Cable and The Computer.
I have no faith in the lasting ability of a USB-based solution. Better to have some device that can just record the HD signal directly... which is what this is. The signal is recorded at the source that's plugged into your PS3 (as opposed to being re-encoded at the source and then further sent on another trip through the USB cable to a computer that has WHO KNOWS WHAT going on in the background.)
This device functions because it is the path of least resistance.
...but it is not flawless.
CONS
-An audible POPPING noise is made when playing back video (yes it has a menu system and overlays and a media player...)
-The install had a few hiccups for me.
-It will ONLY recognize FAT32 and NTFS. If you've got a regular FAT (like most thumb drives) forget it.
-There is absolutely no connection to a PC. This means forget about streaming... forget about software... it doesn't even come with a USB cable. This is as PC-free as it gets. It's basically a DVR. Hell... it IS a DVR... only geared towards gaming.
-Resolution? Bit rate? File type? Yeah... as far as I know there's no way to control any of that. There are some generic recording options like "Optimum" and "Medium" that are not thoroughly explained in the sparse menus.
-No HDMI out.
PROS
-Reliability. Once you do get this thing running it will not fail on you like the USB products.
-Convenience. Unlike the USB products (where if the recording device isn't being powered you can't play the game system) this one has a REAL A/V passthrough. So even if you turn the device off your system will keep right on going. Also all the cables go out the back where all the rest of your TV cables probably are.
-Features. It functions like a DVR. It comes with a remote. You press a button and there is a screen overlay. You can bring up a menu where you can browse all your stored videos by thumbnail. You can also plug in a thumb drive or an external hard drive and copy your videos using this menu. You can use an external drive or thumb drive for recording too as long as they're fast enough. The remote and media player are pretty neat.
-Accepts a 2.5 inch SATA drive.
All-in-all this is a lot of great features for the money. I do wish it had HDMI out... but I that would probably jack up the price. I'd easily trade that feature for the 3-game system component cable it comes with... or the fact that you can install a hard drive into the thing.
It works... With the 3.2.0 firmware it works exceptionally well. I think their upcoming product (April 2013) will be a bit of a letdown since it only has SD card input. I have a 160 gig hard drive in my Game Capture HD... how big is the biggest SD card?
