Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 Receiver

The Hauppauge HD PVR is a great device, but it depends on what you are using it for. Personally, I use it to record playing video games, but do not turn you off from recording other things such as TV. There are only a few con's with this machine; this machine seems pretty cheap on the outside(haven't opened it up to see what is inside) but that is not really a problem, it requires a decent computer to re-watch what you have recorded, and it also saves the files in very weird files, that make it hard to et the footage. the pros are that it is light, small, easy to set-up, and it is used by many people which allows for pretty easy support, without using the Hauppauge support system. Overall it is a great product, and since this is my first time using a PVR of the caliber, i would have to give it a 5/5.

To begin, this high definition (720p or 1080i) H.264 video looks damn good and can be played back on your computer monitor with the packaged software from ArcSoft called TotalMediaExtreme (TME). I'm amazed at its refined, high quality HD H.264 recordings. And its ability to burn Blu-ray compatible HD content on to standard DVDs is an archivist's dream.

I gotta say, using this device is the easiest way to capture High-Def content to your computer. You can also hook up your VHS and record older home movies or PlayStation 1, as it uses the older Yellow/White/Red inputs. Keep in mind that you DO need a good computer setup. I use this device on a laptop that uses 4GB of RAM, a dual core processor at 2.20 GHz per core, and the onboard GPU I can't recall right off, but it is fine. So if you have a computer with specs around that, you'll be fine.

The included software is great! The default settings for the actual capture program work just fine, but if you're like me and want the highest HD quality, you will want to record in 13.5 MBPS using the .m2ts format. There's also the option to create a schedule for recording TV shows as well.

The process of recording is straightforward and simple. I get the feeling that the developers had in mind that whatever HD content was to be captured, was more than likely going into a separate video editor, so they made the capturing process quick and easy.

For those who are using Sony Vegas as their preferred video editor, you may want to check out some YouTube tutorials. The tutorial that really helped me out is titled: Hauppauge HD PVR Sony Vegas Best Quality Settings Tutorial. From user wepeeler.

A great color correcting tutorial using Vegas is titled: Sony Vegas Color Correction Tutorial. From user BlowFishCinema.

I mainly bought this for video projects and gameplay footage for YouTube, but will also be using it for recording older VHS home videos, and maybe some live streaming here and there.

I can't really think of any cons about this product. For me, there are none. 5/5 Well deserved.

Everything about the Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 Receiver is excelent, i have hade diferent types of recivers but this on tops it all so far.

The only thing I wish this device had was a HDMI input/output! It would have made life so much easier instead of having to buy extra wires and devices just to use on a computer monitor. But well, other than that this device is simply hands down the best HD capturing tool in my mind so far. It's a great piece of work as it records in great quality depending on your TV standards!