Hauppauge HD PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder USB Port

Pros: Easy setup, Good quality recordings, works in Windows, OSX, even Linux.

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: Newegg is great to do business with. My only gripe is with the packing of products. I received hard drives & electronics packed with crumpled paper while cables have been in a big box with a million packing peanuts.

Pros: Works great with Windows 7 media center.

Cons: Hangs at "scanning for channels 0%" when adding device to Windows 8 media center, making it unusable in Windows 8 media center.

Other Thoughts: Many people report the same issue on the web - but no help on the Hauppauge web page.

The supplied application "Total Media Extreme" works under Windows 8 but that application is very limited.

Pros: The quality is definelety high quality (up to 1920x1080)

file compression is nice

Cons: It's kind of annoying how it runs off of HD Component cables. They are extremely bulky and a pain to work with.

I've been using the Hauppauge HD PVR for a little under a year now, and there's one MAJOR problem with mine. I'm sure that it's a problem with only my device, but it's a MAJOR problem none the less. One of the video cable plugs on the device itself is very sensitive. If the cable isn't plugged in a certain way, than the screen will go black. And to top that, even when it is plugged in right, it will cause the screen to go black for a couple of seconds, then work correctly for a minute or two, then black out for a few seconds, work for a minute, repeat over and over again.

Other Thoughts: Get any other capture card

Pros: -Relatively small

-lightweight

-nice lighting

-supports Composite cables (please see cons and other)

-software is easy to use and allows you to record not only off the PVR but the software allows you to record things off your Webcam too if you have one.

-great video quality.

-Livestream's procaster allows you to select this as a device to stream from.

Cons: -The price. Please See other

-Does something weird with the Wii sensor bar if you use the composite ports in the front. It makes the cursor waaay too jumpy and sensitive. Adjusting the sensitivity didn't work . Also, plugging a Wii into the composite ports and playing a GameCube game also messes up your aim and the direction that you move your character in.

-Software only records in three formats: MP4, M2TS and TS meaning

-If you want to edit it, you'll need a converting program as some online converters have a file size limit. Windows movie maker and Corel Video Studio Pro X5 -at least the Demo of X5 anyway- does not accept MP4

Other Thoughts: -I found an electronics store an hour away had the same products as this but Newegg had it for a cheaper price and yes it was cheaper on Newegg even when taxes and shipping were included -thank goodness.

-The software apparently doesn't work on a Mac. A Friend of mine found that out when I took the PVR over to his house. To me it's not a con as I have a PC, But Mac/ Apple users beware.

-As stated in the Cons, The Wii cursor acts weird when you have the composite cords plugged it. The only way to fix this is to get come Wii component cables to plug into the back of the PVR.

-In order to record in the highest quality possible, you will have to change the input resolution in the software. Also depending on what device you have set up, you may have to change the screen resolution. If you connect a Wii to this device, you'll need to change the Wii's screen resolution to 480P or higher -I was able to change the screen resolution to 480p on my 17' TV screen after I plugged in the Wii component cables.

Pros: This is one of the only PVRs I've seen that does HD video via component cables, and it works great. The video capture software is basic, but does the job just fine. You can do very simple editing with it, or bring the video into your video editing software of choice. It's also supported by Linux out of the box! It's a little rough, but you can find some stuff related to it with MythTV if you Google it.

Cons: Linux support could be better I suppose, and official, but the fact that it actually works at all is pretty amazing. The included capture/edit software is also very basic, but on the upside it's pretty simple.

Other Thoughts: All-around excellent product that does exactly what it says. I've been using it to record gameplay sessions from my Xbox 360 for editing and YouTube and it's been great. Very happy with it.

Pros: Looks pretty, easy to install/use, software simple to use

Cons: Freezes/locks up, unreliable

Other Thoughts: I've purchased Hauppauge products in the past and have had a lot of success with them but this thing is a piece of junk. I've tried contacting their support and have had no success. I have it hooked up to a VCR and am trying to rip old VHS tapes and have had almost no success. Generally I have to start with a clean boot, and then it's anyone's guess as to whether it's going to work or not. I've gone through about 10 tapes and have about 30 more to go, and at this point I have given up.

The problem I'm having is that, after recording for a bit, the device will get choppy, lockup and eventually freeze. The software keeps recording, but the input the software is receiving from the unit is garbage. I've tried a few different software programs to confirm it is the device and not the software that's causing the problem.

For what it is, it is way over priced. I purchased this thinking I was getting a quality product. In the end, I've been left with a mountain of frustration and an expensive piece of hardware I can't return.

Pros: Lets you save the stuff off your set top box-DVR in 1080i format. Picture and sound quality is very good. You can record as you watch, pre-schedule. If you have stuff recorded on a DVR this can save it to your PC.

Cons: Software could be better, especially the conversion options. Have to use the RCA audio. Can't get the Optical to actually record sound.

Other Thoughts: Works well even over the USB connection. Have WinTV-DCR-2650 on the same PC and both can work at the same time. Editing software is very limited. Does work to transfer stuff to DVD.

Pros: Produces excellent quality HD recordings & easy installation.

Cons: Software has a somewhat strange user interface, but is functional.

Other Thoughts: I have no real complaints about this product. It functions as advertised. I already have two proprietary DVR's. The key word here is proprietary, meaning I cannot export/burn the programs. That's where the Hauppauge HD PVR comes in.

I only use the Hauppauge to archive shows that I have already recorded on one of my DVR's. Thus, I cannot comment on the scheduling software or the IR blaster. I would differ to the comments of others regarding these features.

Connections: Included component video cables & (added) optical digital audio cable.

Recording procedure: I get the desired program queued up on the DVR, and preset the recording time on the Hauppauge using the included software (e.g., 1:30:00 for a 90 minute program). When everything is ready, I hit the capture button on the included software, then hit the play button on my DVR.

Recording config: I always set the recording bitrate to the maximum, but with a variable (rather than a constant) bitrate. This may consume a bit more storage space than necessary, but I'd rather use extra space than compromise on recording quality (after all, the signal is already being converted from digital to analog and then back to digital). I record in .TS file format.

Editing - If I want to split the file and/or cut out unwanted parts, I use mkvmerge. This will also mux the streams from the .TS file into an .MKV container file, thereby killing two birds with one stone.

Pros: Cool it off, and it's great. Does what it should after that. Nothing complicated.

Cons: Crack the thing open and laugh at the ridiculous heat sink they included. They spent more money on the pretty blue LED's than on proper temperature control.... pretty strange really. Clearly somebody needs a demotion in that company.

Pros: does exactly what i needed it for

Cons: wish had more optical ports