"Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket" VS "AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable"

[SoundsGood]

Hi guys,

My 10 year old son would like to be able to capture his Xbox 360 game-play and put some of the videos up on YouTube. Since it's not convenient for him to have a computer near the TV/Xbox I'm considering buying him one of these devices that record to a Flash drive (either USB or SD card). Both of these seem to be fairly similar:

• Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket
• AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable

Anyone here know how these two compare? I'm not sure which one to buy for him.

Any suggestions ??

Thanks for your help!

[usually_quiet]

My advice is to wait on this purchase.

The Hauppauge HD-PVR Rocket was just recently released, so there hasn't been much time for problems to be reported and fixed. The other thing to be aware of is that both devices record video in H.264, and good free H.264 editors don't yet exist. You will have to pay for one. Finally, VideoHelp receives quite a few requests for help with video game capture-related problems from people who are much older than your son, so unless he is a child prodigy or you are willing to spend a fair amount of time helping him, this will probably be a frustrating experience for a child his age.

[SoundsGood]

My advice is to wait on this purchase.

The Hauppauge HD-PVR Rocket was just recently released, so there hasn't been much time for problems to be reported and fixed. The other thing to be aware of is that both devices record video in H.264, and good free H.264 editors don't yet exist. You will have to pay for one. Finally, VideoHelp receives quite a few requests for help with video game capture-related problems from people who are much older than your son, so unless he is a child prodigy or you are willing to spend a fair amount of time helping him, this will probably be a frustrating experience for a child his age.

Hi usually_quiet!

First off, thanks for the help! Secondly, I will absolutely be helping my son with this, so that's a non-issue (although I completely understand what you mean).

As far as waiting goes, this is on his holiday gift list so I can't really wait too long.

I'm not familiar with video formats, to be honest, and certainly not the H.264 format -- but I'll do some research. Question: would "Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9" be able to edit these files? I've got a full/paid copy of that laying around somewhere.

Any other thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks again.

EDIT: I just found this about the AVerMedia unit: "Video formats that it has on it are MP4 and TS" -- Does that help me? Or not so much?

EDIT #2: Hmmm, looks like the Hauppauge unit ALSO records in MP4, so maybe that doesn't mean very much?

If it helps, my son basically just wants to record some of his game-play and upload it to YouTube. Simple as that. Or maybe not so simple.

[usually_quiet]

If you have to get one of these for Christmas,buy the AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable. Specs are similar, but the AVerMedia device has been out longer and is more of a known quantity.

I am not familiar with Vegas Movie Studio 9. Someone else will have to advise you as to whether it is a good editor to use for this. I did read one review that said to use MP4 for reording because Vegas Movie Studio did not like the TS mode recordings from the AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable.

[jagabo]

Find some sample MP4 and TS files created by these devices (or similar) and try opening them in Vegas. This site has a few samples from the original Hauppauge HD PVR:

http://blog.arogan.com/2008/06/hauppauge-hd-pvr-model-1212.html

Most editors do not deal well with them.

Attached is a sample TS file from the Hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition that I happen to have sitting around. Files from the Rocket are probably similar. Unfortunately, it's only a still test pattern so you can't check for things like seeking accuracy.

[SoundsGood]

Thanks to you both, much appreciated!

Just one more question, please: Are there any other products out there that will do what I'm looking for? Maybe something that's more recommended than these two solutions?

Thanks again.

[watsonpunk]

Just one more question, please: Are there any other products out there that will do what I'm looking for? Maybe something that's more recommended than these two solutions?

AVerMedia Game Capture HD II C285 can record to USB or 2.5" SATA Notebook Hard Drive. Also has microphone in for recording game commentary, BASIC editing (trim clips), and direct upload to YouTube.


I just got my LGP so if you have specific questions let me know.

[SoundsGood]

AVerMedia Game Capture HD II C285 can record to USB or 2.5" SATA Notebook Hard Drive. Also has microphone in for recording game commentary, BASIC editing (trim clips), and direct upload to YouTube.

Great, I'll look into this one as well. Does it allow the use of HDMI cable? I'd prefer to use HDMI rather than composite or component.

I just got my LGP so if you have specific questions let me know.

Perfect. Please let me know your thoughts once you've tried it out. Let me know how you like it -- and how it compares to the C285.

Thanks!

[usually_quiet]

Thanks to you both, much appreciated!

Just one more question, please: Are there any other products out there that will do what I'm looking for? Maybe something that's more recommended than these two solutions?

Thanks again.

Yes there are two others,the AverMedia Game Capture HD C281 and the AVerMedia Game Capture HD II C285, but I have read some reports about the picture quality being less satisfactory with these. Of the two, only the AVerMedia Game Capture HD II C285 records via HDMI.

I forgot to mention in my previous posts that you will need an SDHC card for the AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable should you decide to get one. None of these of portable capture devices come with the storage device required to make them portable.

[jestre700]

This is a different application from the original poster's and I apologize for zombifying the thread, but...

Does anyone know if either of these, (or the Elgato, or ANY similar high res device) will spit a video stream over USB2 that can be used as a webcam? I'm thinking of feeding an HDMI signal (or component) into a PC for use in LYNC, WEBEX, or Adobe CONNECT meetings. I can do it with a Pinnacle Dazzle, but you can imagine what that looks like.

Anyone try this with these newer-fangled devices?

Thanks!

jes

[Baldrick]

This is a different application from the original poster's and I apologize for zombifying the thread, but...

Does anyone know if either of these, (or the Elgato, or ANY similar high res device) will spit a video stream over USB2 that can be used as a webcam? I'm thinking of feeding an HDMI signal (or component) into a PC for use in LYNC, WEBEX, or Adobe CONNECT meetings. I can do it with a Pinnacle Dazzle, but you can imagine what that looks like.

Anyone try this with these newer-fangled devices?

Thanks!

jes

Post a new thread then, https://forum.videohelp.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=10

Don't hijack old threads.