Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder
by HAUPPAUGE
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List Price: Our Price: $179.99 You Save: $30.00 (14%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder
Customer Review: Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR
Summary: 5 Stars
Works great, you can record tv, convert your vhs tapes to dvd, or record game play off of your ps3, xbox 360, wii, any gaming system that has a composite or component a/v cables. it records at what ever the source is set to, for example if you have a 1080i dvd player it will record in 1080i. works with both mac and pc computers but the Arcsoft Total media Extreme software that it comes with is only for PC. Here are a few other programs you can look into.
Arcsoft Total Media Extreme: (this is the software that comes in the box)
Updates to the Acrsoft TME applications are distributed by Arcsoft directly. The latest version of Total Media Extreme adds direct record support for the Sony Playstation 3 and the XBox360.
SageTV for HD PVR:
Please contact SageTV at [...] for information on SageTV for HD PVR.
Windows Media Center support from DVB Link
Use the HD PVR as the video recorder for Windows Media Center with DVB Link.
Here's a link to a 30 day trial version
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MythTV for the HD PVR
For Linux users, there is a version of MythTV which supports HD PVR. Please click here to get more information:
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FOR MAC USERS
HDPVR Capture- created specifically for the Huappauge HD-PVR 1212 it cost about 29.99 you can purchase it at the link below. I have not personally used this software but I have heard good things about it.
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Elgato EyeTV 3.1 for Macs:
EyeTV 3.1, with support for HD PVR, is available from Elgato's Online Shop [...] . The update is free for existing users of EyeTV 3. or you can down load the full version right off the site, or a demo version if you would like to try it out before you purchase it.
[...] this is the direct link for the eyetv software....this is the software that i use personally, it costs [...] but is well worth it and very easy to use and set up.
Whats in the box...
HD PVR: H.264 high definition personal video recorder, USB
REMOTE CONTROL: including batteries (does not work with arcsoft total media extreme software)
IR BLASTER TRANSMITTER CABLE: to control the channel changing on your cable tv or satellite set top box
COMPONENT VIDEO: cable set, 1 meter long
AUDIO CABLE: set
USB CABLE
POWER SUPPLY
HD PVR INSTALLATION CD, with hd pvr drivers for windows and arcsoft total media extreme.
Recommended assessories
1a component cable (better up to 1080i resolution high definition recording) red (video) blue (video) green (video) you can also find these cables with the red and white left and right audio in the same cable but it may be hard to find so you may need to get a separate audio cable
1b or composite cable (ok option, can only record up to 480p resolution standard recording) yellow video, red audio, white audio
2 fiber optic cable (better choice for audio) or an red and white audio cable
for the best results i recommend using a component cable (video) with a fiber optic cable for the audio
or a a/v component cable like the one supplied in the box
Customer Review: HD PVR bliss
Summary: 5 Stars
What can I say, IT WORKS AS DESCRIBED. To get true HD you must use the composite inputs. My primary goal was to use it to capture directly from my Comcast supplied cable box. I used the composite out from the Comcast box to the HD PVR and the optical out from the Comcast box to my audio reciever, from the audio receiver optical out to the HD PVR. The USB interface from the HD PVR to my PC. The included arcsoft software provided the basic functions needed to capture the shows in .ts format (this is NOT a lossy format so the files are measured in Gigabytes). There was no lag between sound and image in the captured files and I could not see any difference between the original broadcast, playback thru the comcast pvr box or the file created by the HD PVR. This device captures "as is" and does nothing to upgrade the sound or video. I was able to play the .ts files thru my OPPO BDP-83 Blu_Ray player, which did wonderful things to upconvert 720 images to 1080 and improved the sound (but that was hard to notice, without meters). I used the arcsoft software to edit the commercials out with little trouble or leaning curve on the software. There were two supprises. The biggest, most ugly and expensive one was that my computer was in another room from the TV setup. I had to use a USB EXTENDER device to connect my PC and the HD PVR. USB extenders are big buck items $300+ retail, I found a used one on eBay and was able to get it for under $100 (GEFEN Ex-tendit), and had to run an ethernet cable from my pc to the HD PVR location.
Since my HD TV is old (but plasma, lol) it had only one DVI input. I connected an auto switching five port HDMI (ViewHD) switch between the TV, OPPO, and Comcast-PVR, I already had an HDMI to DVI converting cable (was used between the Comcast box and the TV). To sum it up you get all the cable and software you need to connect directly to your PC as long as everything is close enough. I chose to use my optical and monster cables instead. If your PC is remote then you have more goodies to buy before you will be happy.
I also setup an old vcr next to my pc, hooked it to the HD PVR, etc and then was able to capture all my old VCR tapes to my HD. Remeber because you are going from the output of the playing device all copy protection has already been applied and you are copying the signal which would have gone to your TV in their original format 720, 1080, 5.1 sound etc.
The second surprise is that you MUST use software via the USB link to control the HD-PVR, but it can only be turned on and off via the switch on the box. The included remote is NOT for the HD-PVR or the arcsoft software. See the enclosed instructions for "possible" software alternatives to the included arcsoft software (but you will pay a separate license for them). I ended up spending a lot more then expected for the setup but it works great and I am a very happy camper now.
One last item: I run Windows 7 Pro and I had to download a beta driver from Hauppauge, it is working great. I am also using the built in capabilities of Windows 7 Pro to stream files from my HD to the OPPO player.
Customer Review: Love it!!! Records straight to avchd (.TS or m2ts)
Summary: 5 Stars
This device finally does what I have been wanting since my purchase of a Sony CX7 avchd camcorder. I always wished I could just hook my cam internals to my hd pvr and record a show in HD.
Well this is almost like that , the box has hd component inputs (and outpus for passthru) with an internal processor to convert the video straight to avchd out the usb port.
Now , for the cool part... since my computer was no where near my hd sat receiver I decided to try using 2 usb active extension cables to bring my usb port to the box. Worked great!
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The software included will make a .TS file (avchd) now you can play this file directly on a PS3 by just renaming it with a .m2ts extension ! just rename it and your done... no further transcodes needed!
But the best part is to make a hi def blu ray dvd using a cheap blank dvd-r . You can put 1 hour of HD avchd video on a standard 4.7gb dvd-r - your blu ray player / PS3 will see this disc as a valid hd blu ray disc and play it! No blu ray burner needed to actually make blu ray discs.
Creating the disc does not take very long since its putting your file in the proper blu ray structure... its just copying it not transcoding it.... so quick and painless.
Now if you want to make a standard SD dvd this will take longer because it will have to transcode it..
I found the included software pretty straight forward and easy to use. Making a avchd playable disc was totally painless.
If you want to record a show in HD and keep it for later playback on a ps3 or bluray player on cheap dvd-r media - this is it ! I love it... there is nothing else like it.
I used a intel dual core system with 2gb of ram and an 8500 video card with Vista and the software ran very smoothly. I do not use the pc to playback any of the video - thats the job of the ps3 or bluray player... so think of your pc as the recording and making dvd device not the playback device. playback of avchd file require too much pc muscle - so use a ps3 - its easier and you can load .m2ts files on it to your hearts content!
The other reviews I read about quicktime and stuff are kinda missing the point... its really to get the hd content off your dvr and get it into a dvd-r thats playable over and over again.... in HD
What I hope to see in the next rev:
Ethernet port rather as well as usb to send the data stream.. this way you can send the data to a computer that is not near your home entertainment system.
A hard drive or external hard drive hookup with a record button... eliminating the need for a pc all together for the recording of the show.
Customer Review: Thrilling Performance/Quality, Incredible Value
Summary: 5 Stars
This is probably one of the highest value electronic products I've ever purchased. I soooo love this product and strongly recommend it to all my friends. I've been searching for a way to record Component HD video off my DirecTV receiver box for years. The closest I've got to doing this was the R5000-HD by nextcomwireless.com (around $600 I think a few years ago, now $375--but next to worthless since DirecTV now uses MPEG4).
I have a video projector in my home theater. The screen diagonal is 10'. Image quality is EVERYTHING to me. And this device allows you to capture high definition up to 1080i via the red-green-blue component connectors on the DirecTV receiver I leased this year (think it is the model H20--the HD PVR blaster software has the DirecTV H10 setting which works for the H20 too). The high encoding rate (around 13.5 Mbps) and the input resolution of 720 p or 1080i make the captures magnificent.
The incredible hardware is topped-off with a fantastic software package: ArcSoft Total Media Extreme. It's also magnificent. Four key functions are Record Video, Create Disc, Play Video, Utilities (video converter). All excellent and the converter lets you choose settings for iPod Touch and IPAD (via Apple TV settings--I use 1280x720, 5120Kbps, 24.00 fps, AAC, 160Kbps, 48000Hz).
For editing of the capture though I use another software product I am equally fond of VideoReDo TVSuite H.264 you will need the H.264 version which may still be in beta to use on the MPEG4 video. Content about the H.264 version is sorta hidden on videoredo.net, visit their Forum and do a search on H.264. The upgrade and software is fairly priced (can't recall exactly what I paid, sorry). This software lets me edit out the commercials. At this point, the H.264 beta I use does not let you actually playback the edited version without the commercials like the MPEG2 version does--before you save. But they have always come out perfect after the waiting period.
I strongly recommend both the HD PVR and VideoReDo without any reservations--awesome products for home theater geeks willing to make some effort to capture and present beautiful HD content in their personal home theater.
If you have been as angry as I have with the Sony Blu-Ray contingent, and their not allowing the USA to have Blu-Ray set-top box recording capability . . . this is your revenge! Buy this American product, and record high quality HD video for presentation on your expensive big screen display ;-)
Customer Review: It is hard to set up in Windows Media Center; but there is no other choice
Summary: 5 Stars
I am trying to integrate it with Windows Media Center in Windows 7. It works. But this process is not straight forward. I need to download DVBLogic-for-HDPVR in order to integrate it with Windows Media Center (free trial for 30 days, and $30 after that).
And then I find that Windows Media Center in Windows 7 records TV video in a new file format called WTV. The combination of WTV file format and h.264 compression that HDDVR uses means that there is no easy way to convert from WTV (that is compressed in h.264) to MPG. I end up giving up on the idea of converting WTV to MPG. Instead I settle on only converting WTV to WMV that Windows Media Player in XP can play. Here, I am not trying to blame HDPVR. I am just trying to share my experience; then other people will know what to do if they want to integrate HDPVR with Windows Media Center. Actually I figure that HDPVR is probably the only device available for consumers like me who wants to use HDPVR to record HDTV from set-top box. Therefore, it is the only game in town. If you don't need to use a set-top box to watch HDTV (such as you are watching HDTV using an antenna), you have many cheaper and easier ways to go.
I use the free Microsoft Expression Encode 3 SDK and the free Microsoft Express version of Video Studio to write a small C# program to convert all the automatically recorded TV shows (in WTV) to WMV files. Now whenever a TV show is recorded in WTV, the computer will also automatically generate a WMV file. I am hoping that commonly available network media player such as WDTV-Live will be able to read WMV files (it cannot deal with WTV, but its specification says that it can handle WMV).
There is a program called Prius that we can use to convert from WMV to MPG and is quite fast. But we need to pay for it after X number of days. I figure I don't need to convert it to MPG afterall. Therefore, I stopped using Prius after the free trial was over.
I haven't tried the included softwares that come with HDPVR. My experience with the included softwares with other Hauppauge TV video capture hardware convicts me not to bother with them. That's why I go straight to use Windows Media Center.
Jay Chan