Hauppauge HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus Review

My colleague Simon Telford got hands on with the Hauppauge HD PVR2 Gaming Edition late last year and if you missed his review you can catch up here. Simon had some concerns about the build quality but felt confident enough to award it our Worth Considering Award. Today we are going to take a look at the Hauppauge HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus. The big question is, does the Gaming Edition Plus have what it takes to get our coveted Must Have Award? Specifications: High definition H.264 encoder, at datarates from 1 to 13.5 Mbits/sec. Input: Xbox 360 (unencrypted HDMI). Input: PlayStation 3 (Component video). Output: HDMI (no delay passthrough). Video resolutions: 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p recording, with 1080p60 passthrough. Interface: USB 2.0. Dimensions: 15.2cm × 15.2cm × 3.8cm. Weight: 350g. Mac requirements: Mac OSX 10.7 / 10.8, Intel 32/64bit only. The Hauppauge HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus ships in a bright box with a clear image of the capture device and some key features. The side of the box is where we can find a more detailed overview of the technical specifications. Included in the box are all the cables you need to connect the HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus to either the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360, a quick start guide, a disc with the recording software and a power adapter. Taking a closer look at the capture device itself we can see the design has remained unchanged, with the Stop/Start button prominently featured on top and the LED ring across the length of the mid section. The Stop/Start button has received a rubber finish while the rest of the top surface has a brushed aluminium look to it. Around the back and below the capture device we can see Hauppauge have made sure there is enough ventilation to prevent heat build-up. All inputs and outputs have been placed on the back panel, maintaining a clean look up top and from the front. From left to right we can see the VDC IN, USB, A/V IN, HDMI IN, HDMI OUT, OPT IN and IR inputs and outputs. The IR input is an interesting addition as it allows for a remote control to be used in combination with the HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus. We did not receive an IR Blaster and Remote with our review sample, but more information can be found here and here. Hauppauge includes an installation disc in the box which can be used to install the device drivers, Hauppauge Personal Logo Inserter, Hauppauge StreamEez and the ArcSoft ShowBiz software. If you no longer use an optical drive the drivers can also be downloaded here. The Hauppauge StreamEez Dashboard is a pretty straight forward affair. The Basic screen shows a quick overview of the selected Video and Audio sources and Quality Profile. After selecting the Streaming service and entering your login details it is a matter of starting to record. The Advanced screen shows all relevant information related to your stream and, through the use of custom profiles, allows more experienced users to tweak their streams further. The ArcSoft ShowBiz suite is where non-streaming users will likely spend most of their time. We feel Hauppauge has made a smart decision with this easy-to-use software suite as opposed to solutions such as Sony Vegas Pro. Selecting the Capture tab brings up a screen where you simply select your Video and Audio Input and the format you want to use in order to start recording. There is also the option to take snapshots, set a timer and change more detailed settings through the Format Settings Button. The Format Settings button brings up a more basic looking screen with a multitude of tabs. More experienced users and those wanting to experiment with different settings can configure every minor detail to their heart's content here. The Edit Screen offers quick and easy presets to edit recorded footage, including letter types, transitions and filters. All functions are shown as a preview, helping newcomers come to terms with the basics of editing software without hindering more experienced users. The Produce screen consists of three options: Create AVCHD, Create File and Upload to YouTube. We expect most users will want to directly upload their footage after editing but definitely appreciate the option to directly burn your footage onto a disc or to convert it to a different format. Selecting the Create File option brings up a summary of settings that will be used and allows these to be customized before committing to the final step. Selecting the Upload To YouTube option simply requires you to enter your login details, at which point the software will handle all further steps. Finally, for users who wish to protect the content they produce, Hauppauge includes their Personal Logo Inserter. This bit of software lets you apply a watermark fast and easy. To test performance we dusted off the Xbox 360 and played some Forza Horizon. After the recording was done we added some very basic effects and converted the final result to AVI. The final AVI file is 1.94 GB in size whereas the original MP4 recording comes in at a mere 623 MB. The videos below show the AVI version first, followed by the MP4 version. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izmSkVxHB_c'] [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fJiF8pmqR4'] The text in the AVI recording is slightly sharper but overall color reproduction and clarity are near identical. Setting up a stream was a simple and straight forward task. After entering my Twitch.tv account details I was up and running within minutes. The Hauppauge HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus is definitely a capable capture device. Even between different formats the quality of recordings is excellent and we did not experience any issues during the set-up process. Bundling the HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus with editing and streaming software is a smart move and ArcSoft's easy to use suite will help newcomers come to terms with recording, streaming and editing. At the same time, more experienced users can still use their preferred software suites as the HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus does not record in a proprietary format. The unit itself is well built and the Stop/Start button feels firm but does not require excessive force to press and its rubber surface and size help to make sure it is hard to miss. We would have no issue awarding the HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus our Must Have Award if the option to record directly onto an external hard drive had been included.. Here at KitGuru we are used to having wires and hardware draped over every possible surface but we imagine most users will want to keep their work areas nice and tidy. Having to keep the console, TV and PC all in relatively close distance to each other can prove challenging to some, especially those whose consoles or PC's sit in shared living areas. We also feel the inclusion of a remote would add to the premium feel of the package and make it more convenient to use. Recording short pieces of gameplay without a remote means either interrupting the recording regularly, by getting up and walking over to the console and back, or spending considerable time cutting up recorded footage. Available for £141.97 inc. vat, the Hauppauge HD PVR2 Gaming Edition Plus is amongst the more expensive capture devices. However, if you have the space and want to get serious about starting a gaming channel or streaming channel we feel it is a solid investment. Pros: Easy to use bundled software. Simple, sleek design. Excellent recording quality. Cons: No option to record onto an external storage device. Difficult to avoid clutter when stacking a console, TV, PC, the capture device and the cables for each device. Remote would make an excellent addition. KitGuru says: a more than capable capture device with a considerable price tag that deserves consideration if you want to get serious about sharing your gameplay.