Which capture card?
 

Hi,
My Son is after a capture card to make videos of him playing his Xbox. He's seen one for around £30 which he is convinced is a good one (easy cap?) but it seems a little too good to be true.
I don't mind paying a little more but theres no point him having a really expensive one as the idea is to get him to do odd jobs to earn the money to buy it himself.

A number of things to bear in mind with this one.

EasyCap stuff is ok, but make sure he's aware he won't be able to record HD (i.e. 720p / 1080p) video - which in turn means he'll have to play using a composite video out (horrible/blurry)

Plus, I'd recommend the EasyCap 60 - which is a bit better than the standard one (you may be unlucky and find one that's NTSC / US and therefore will have a B&W picture)

I'd recommend either the [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hauppauge-Gaming-Edition-Capture-Device/dp/B0092P47GW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402319976&sr=8-1&keywords=hauppage"] or the - .

They'll both run with HDMI feeds - although there may be some issues with HDCP (but I think they're PS4 related, and not so much Xbox)

Or if you have a set of component cables, try the
they may cost a bit more, but you're less likely to get a disappointed kid at the end, and you'll only end up buying them anyway when he decides the cheaper kit isn't good enough.

Here's a quick couple of videos I recorded with my (now an "older" version) (720p / component connection)

Gran Turismo 5


GTA V

You need to change gears - you'll go faster that way ;)

Not with my driving, mate :)

Will those examples work with capturing sky+ output ?

I think it depends on the age of the box, and more importantly it's connectivity - and if HDMI - whether the output is protected by HDCP.

HDCP is Hi-Def Copy Protection and basically encrypts the HDMI signal until it's decrypted at the other end - if it doesn't decrypt you end up with a green screen. You'd need to read up on your capture equipment to see if it's supported.

If your box has a single (yellow) RCA composite video output - you should be able to use an EasyCAP, but the picture will be ****e. Some boxes have component out, and therefore you would be able to record it.

You'd have to read up to see if Sky use HDCP - they like to protect their IP, so I suggest they probably do.

Yea they do, i've used composite connections before to an old PC capture PCI card, but as you say the quality sucks arse. The old Sky boxes pre HD use to have an s-video out, this was acceptable.

Thanks Burr, I think we'll more than likely go for the roxio as you're right he will only want that in the end.

All I ask is that you read the reviews and make an informed decision before you buy. Make sure it's the right one for you.

Otherwise - good luck! :-)