Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket review

The second method is to use a computer as a capture device and record video to hard disk. You can use the free Hauppauge Capture program to capture video and change the Rocket’s settings. Although Capture also lets you edit videos, its editing tools terribly basic and amount to splits and cuts; there are no transitions. Capture lets you upload video to YouTube from within the program but even so, we’d prefer not to use it. Indeed, we much prefer to record to a USB flash drive and use other programs to edit and share our videos.

You can record video at resolutions up to 1,920×1,080. The video quality is good, and certainly adequate for the purposes of demonstrating gaming techniques or proving you’ve completed something. However, there are signs of compression and a slight softness to the footage. Recorded videos can be a little jerky on occasion, but mostly they’re smooth. We think very few people will complain about the video quality.

Video is recorded at a bit rate of around 17,500Mbit/s, which is typical for high quality videos recorded in the H.264 format.

Hauppauge Capture provides simple editing features and lets you upload videos to YouTube

Hauppauge refers to the HD PVR Rocket as portable, and although it’s smaller than the HD PVR 2 it isn’t that much more portable than the HD PVR 2. Yes, you can power the HD PVR Rocket using a USB port on your games console or computer, which is certainly advantageous, but the HD PVR 2 won’t take up that much room in your bag and isn’t a hassle to carry around.

We certainly prefer the Rocket, though. The Rocket’s more user-friendly design, built-in microphone input and audio peak meter make it a much more useful and desirable device than the HD PVR 2. If you want to record videos of your games or even if you want something to capture desktop footage to show in presentations or the classroom, you should buy the Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket.