Hm, which capture card to acquire...

[Kelranox]

So, I finally have a decent laptop and enough money to leave me comfortable after the acquisition of a capture card. However, I'm unsure of which capture card I should acquire. I can paste my specs here, even though they're listed in my profile. I figure this will make things easier. I've been told that I should stray from HD capture cards with these specs, but that was from one particular perspective.

HP Pavillion dv6 Notebook

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P7450 @ 2.13 GHz

4 GB RAM

285 GB HDD

Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530

I'll be using the capture card for any particular game that can be found on the Wii, PS3, PS2 or Xbox 360. So, I'll need a viable capture card with a bit of range as far as resolution and capability adaptation goes. Any suggestions?

[usually_quiet]

The only USB HD capture cards that you could use with that laptop would be those that perform hardware encoding.

The Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 and the AVerMedia AVerTV USB HD DVR would both work. Both have a video and audio passthrough for using with a TV to avoid delays caused by recording, and both perform H.264 hardware encoding.

Of the two, the Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 is likely the better choice. The video and audio quality are reportedly superior to the AverMedia device, plus it has a larger community of users, and better software available for it.

[Kelranox]

Would this be the particular model you're referring to? link

I just want to make sure.

[usually_quiet]

Would this be the particular model you're referring to? link

I just want to make sure.

Yes, that is the one.

[Bjs]

The other way around .

AVerMedia AVerTV USB HD DVR ... better video quality.

Yes I have had both and sold the Hauppauge because of inconsistencies.

Avermedia ... many capture applications can use the device ... the Hauppauge is something else.

Avermedia ... when you contact them related to product support they actually make contact in a very short time ... a week on average and are precise.

Hauppauge has had a very spotted past and this is why you'll find most owners of their products trying the forum for better support when they have problems .

[usually_quiet]

The AVerMedia AVerTV USB HD DVR (sold as the DarkCrystal HD Capture Station outside N. America) has HDMI out (but not HDMI in). The Hauppauge HD PVR doesn't have any HDMI ports. If the video source is component, I'm not sure how much improvement is possible just from using HDMI out vs component out as a pass-through, but it would be helpful in a situation where component connections are not available on an HDTV, or for use with a second computer monitor.

Another review I read from someone who had both devices say recordings made by the Hauppauge device have better picture quality. I guess the Hauppauge fans and the Avermedia fans can fight it out between them.

The Hauppauge device can record from and pass through optical audio (Toslink) received from devices that can provide it. The AverMedia device doesn't provide the option. It is limited to RCA stereo.

Owners of either device often report problems using them in customer reviews, but this is true with capture devices in general. People living in different regions may also have better or worse experiences with a particular capture device, and different problems to contend with. Bjs is in Australia. Most N. American users at VideHelp have seemed pleased with the Hauppauge HD PVR.

There are complaints about the capture/conversion/player software provided for both of them, which is also typical for capture devices in general. In Hauppauge's case it is Arcsoft Total Media Extreme version 1.0.9.9, in AverMedia's case it's AVerScheduler for recording and ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 3_V_100312 for playback.

I'd like to hear which capture applications in particular Bjs is referring to when he stated "many capture applications can use the device." That information would be helpful to those contemplating a purchase. My understanding is that choices for both are somewhat limited in this respect, but the Happauge HD PVR's was slightly better in the area of PC-based PVR programs for recording TV. The AverMedia device isn't even an option for Linux users.

I've seen the Hauppauge HD PVR can be used with a GraphStudeo/GraphEdit capture graph http://blog.arogan.com/2008/06/hauppauge-hd-pvr-model-1212.html It's one alternative to the included ArcSoft software. AverMedia's HD DVR can probably work this way as well. The choices for 3rd party conversion and editing software would be the same for both, since both record in H.264.

[jagabo]

Other things to keep in mind:

None of the HDMI capture devices will capture HDCP protected sources. That includes almost all HDMI sources like cable boxes, satellite boxes, blu-ray players, upscaling DVD players, etc.

The Hauppauge HD PVR ignores CGMS-A so it can capture all component sources.

[usually_quiet]

Other things to keep in mind:

None of the HDMI capture devices will capture HDCP protected sources. That includes almost all HDMI sources like cable boxes, satellite boxes, blu-ray players, upscaling DVD players, etc.

The Hauppauge HD PVR ignores CGMS-A so it can capture all component sources.

The OP wants to capture games from a variety of consoles in HD using an average laptop, so HDMI capture is not an option. All the HDMI capture devices I am familiar with have an interface that is not available with his laptop and require a beefier CPU.

...but you are right. Even if he had a very fast quad-core desktop with PCI-E and USB 3.0 available, HDMI out from a PS3 has HDCP.