Hauppauge Colossus - Record your high definition video gameplay and TV programs by H.264 for resolution up to 1080i, PCI-Express x1 Interface

Pros: Works well with Windows 7 Media Center. Records programs well.

Cons: Picture output could be sharper; no HDMI ports (component only); Changes channels too slowly via IR (2-4 secs)

Other Thoughts: You should read and follow the installation directions so you don't become frustrated. Make sure you hold on to the installation CD, for you will need it for future updates.

It's not necessary to install WinTv7 and Windows Media Player. I use WMC.

Pros: After reading alot of reviews about this card, i had to admit I was a somewhat sceptical about purchasing this card. I bought the card anyway and I must say it has truely lived to my expectations. After installing the drivers(correctly) the card was recognized by windows media center without a hitch. The showbiz software captures
shows from my directv hd dvdr with ease. The ability to choose what resolution and bitrate you can use on capturing video is a godsend :). Compared with my avermedia capture card which does not let you set your bitrate and resolution, this is a must have for anyone that wants to capture video. All in all, this card is a must have as it will not let you down.

Cons: You must be patient in reading the directions and installing the drivers for this card. This first time i installed the drivers the card was not being recognized by windows media center correctly and once it was recognized it stated that I had comcast as my service provider. I deleted the drivers, rebooted my pc and started from scratch. This time i installed the correct drivers and the windows media center drivers correctly. This time around everything went smoothly. Windows Media Center recognized the tuner card and was able to choose my tv service provider. Do not be perform these tasks on an empty stomach...lol.

Other Thoughts: I have the avermedia hd dvr mtvhddvrr capture card but it only lets you capture and in the process it uses your computer's resources...cpu. With the colossus you get a capture card and a tv tuner card. Its like getting the best of both worlds. I should of just gotten the colossus and saved myself some money in the process :)

Pros: very good resolution on capture (same as input resolution). one set high quality component cables. very low CPU usage on capture (10% on E2160 dual core). can stream live TV to other computers on network (needs CPU more powerful than my E2160). can control STB through IR Blaster (it knew codes and channels for my Dish setup out of the box). 5.1 audio capture on S/PDIF. S/PDIF passthru when card is powered is on (with no delay, I use it with STB HDMI out for watching TV)

Cons: weak color. full high card (not a problem with my case but be aware of it). no HDMI passthru. setting up favorite channels is a pain. audio can get out of sync on long records (over 1 hour). sometimes recording have video stutter (possibly the drives?)

Other Thoughts: computer:
HTPC - intel E2160 dual core CPU, 4 GB RAM, AMD HD6770 video card, intel X25M G2 80 GB SSD (system), 2 x 500 GB WD green drives (storage), antec trupower 550 watt PSU, antec fusion black HTPC case, soundblaster extreme music soundcard.

setup:
Dish ViP211 satellite tuner, component video cable out to Colossus component in (HDMI out on 6770 to TV for playback), S/PDIF out on satellite box to S/PDIF in on Colossus (with passthru to harman kardon receiver for watching TV).

Pros: Well it works. You can record your component video game consonle with this. And it has pass through. I split my components so i dont have to use both of the lil component plugs. So i have 1 for back up. Video is good quality.

Cons: Software and support are terrible. If youre looking to record your video game console id recomment the elgato. Just because their software is better. The software that comes with it is not very good. Ive been searching for other software to use but ive not really found any. Also sometimes it cuts the video short. And their tech support basically didnt repsond to my email asking about it. The vid would be full length in size but then would only play about 1 min then the video could continue after the slider bar reached the end of the time limit.

Other Thoughts: If youre looking to record ps3 or xbox spend the xtra 40 bucks for an elgato. The flashback feature in their software is totally worth the 40 bucks. With this is have to always record then go find the video. With flashback you can just go back when you do something good and record.

If this capture card had some support and software it would be AWESOME. But it seem smost people look for something that can plug in usb style. I obviously dont need that but in the lack of popularity now with all the usb plug in caputre devices, this one is not supported very well.

Pros: I wanted to build a Media Centre PC that would work with my Satellite receivers mainly because I was sick of the limited storage on the Satellite PVR itself. I did my research and decided to go with 4 of these. They installed easily, and after setting up DVBLink Media Centre detected all four cards as tuners. The setup in MC was a bit of work getting all the channels etc.. but after that was done all was well.

Overall I would say the quality of the video is 90%+ as good as what I was getting natively from the PVR's themselves. I'm using 720p @ 13mbps capture rate through the component inputs and have been quite happy with it. Having 4 tuners in one place is great, and being able to watch our recordings anywhere is great too.

Cons: Probably the biggest thing that I would like to see improved is the time it takes to change channels. It's roughly 4 - 5 seconds. This is way better than the close to 20 seconds that the Hauppauge HD-PVR was taking but still a bit slow.

It would be awesome if the HDMI port had HDCP support but obviously that'll never happen. So in that context I guess it's not really a con but it is unfortunate.

My only other con (although minor in my mind) would be that the 1080i isn't great, the interlacing is annoying but thankfully 720p works great.

Other Thoughts: Overall, I'm very happy with them. They have great capture quality and hardware encoding, hence you don't need a high-end CPU in your PC.

Pros: This one works. Component HD & 5.1 optical audio capture. Finally HD for the HDTV through my HTPC. Giving it 5 stars to balance out my last review...

Cons: Too many people receiving faulty cards, as I did with the first one. Software may be limited in functionality, but as long as it captures I can take it from there with the files generated.

Other Thoughts: I wrote my last review in anger as this was a b-day present and I spent a whole day trying to get a faulty card to work. Boo hoo, I am over it. Again this is the only card that does HD video w/ 5.1 audio so I had no choice but to give this card one more try. This card works so far, left it running for about an hour in showbiz. I apologize to hauppauge for the harshness of my previous review. Tech support did respond to my Email 1 day after I sent the faulty card back. The WMC integration is a 1 year 5 mo old beta not a 3 year old beta. Looking foward to finding the best integration for this card, still don't know if I will use the WMC integration as WMC tends to encrypt .WTV files from channels w/ the copy once flag leaving me no option to convert the file to save on disk space, and the loss of access to the file if I ever reinstall my O/S as I am sure I will forget to back up and reimport the liscense keys for my recordings if I do reinstall, which I really shouldn't have to fiddle w/ in the first place imho.

If you're wanting the whole package HD video and 5.1 audio this is the card. Be patient (note to self) and be prepared to try more than one card if yours is faulty.

Pros: Analog inputs for HD video letting you get around the HDCP big brother in your home * optical audio in for 5.1 SS capture. This is the only card that does both of those (that I have found). And the hunt continues ...

Cons: Many. I have been working on computers since I was 6, so going on 25+ years of tech knowledge. When I say this was a faulty card brand new out of the box, it was faulty. Kept freezing about ten seconds into activity. The card would completely lock up requiring a reboot to get those ten seconds back. I subjected my poor computer to about 40+ reboots yesterday. Tried the latest drivers, Tried winTV7 & their going on 3 years old BETA version of WMC integration. All had the same result. Uninstalled ( device manager & programs) completely reinstalled w/ fresh drivers etc etc. Also removed my 2nd GPU and plugged it into a PCIeX4 (physical x16)slot to get the same exact result. I did everything short of lowering the input from 1080i to 720p b/c at that point I am not getting what I paid for. It's going back today.

Other Thoughts: This card is not worth nearly 150$ It is worth about half that (if it works that is). I spent 112$ on mine for a brand new sealed everything box/items. For the price they are charging, a price I must assume is arrived at from the lack of options in the HD PC PVR market, there should be more quality assurance. The software needs work, a lot of it, but instead has been neglected for a really long time. I mean a beta version of WMC integration is the most current version that has been available since 2010 ? Lack of 24 hour customer support and what seems to me to be a 50/50 success rate from customer reviews. I have to advise others to stay away from Hauppauge as I do recall purchasing and returning one of their SD PCI capture cards about 4 years ago. Wish ATI/AMD was still in the PC TV tuner game =( Guess my 4 year old ATI SD capture device is going to have to hold off on retirement a while longer.

Pros: The bundled software is great. Can't speak for the IR features but the scheduler is really nice.

Captures regular TV (shows, ie Psych) with great quality and without issue.
When capturing sports, players in motion when the camera is not get very blurry, but that is normal for capping cards. Still great quality otherwise.

Great for the price.

Cons: Kills my hard drive.

Pros: Great card for the short period it worked

Cons: Randomly wouldn't work, reinstalled software multiple times, corrected issue, then 3 months later it stopped recognized the hardware was installed. Removed and reinstall w/drivers to no avail. Serious amount of time and money wasted with this card when there are such great alternatives out there. - Black magic intensity pro- same price on largest rainforest in the world's site.

Other Thoughts: I love newegg but with such crummy experience from the product, I may opt my way out to largest rainforest in the world's site for the better product. (black magic intensity pro in this case).
Not a possibility of the tower being bumped or played with - Hasn't been touched or moved since install. R & R twice just in case - hardware is apparently worse than their software(hauppage)

Pros: When it commes to recording in hd to a pc , you need a powerfull machine with internal good quality stuff or you will face desillusion in your works . You will also need a quality capture device and Colossus does the job . Using a I7 Intel quadcore processor , 8GB Ram memory and a fair Asus video card ( GTX 650 ) , Colossus happily records digital tv programs and movies with the help of ArcSoft capture module in HD264 format , 9mbs to 18mbs . Videos are smooth and sharp .That's all I use with ARcSoft . The rest , editing , cutting away ennoying commercials , converting to dvd format is done with TMPGEnc and burned with Nero . Two hours of excellent quality pictures are easily set on standard dvds , results being as good as avchd , no kidding .
That's all I need .

Cons: None