Plenty of people want to record their local tournaments, casuals, and would-be combo videos, but not many people want enough to lug around a video capture box and a laptop and all the required cables. AVerMedia’s Live Gamer Portable ($170) offers to make capturing your game sessions as easy as carrying around a few cables and a box roughly the size and shape of a smartphone, no capturing PC necessary — but buyers looking for an all-purpose video recording/streaming solution might run into a few rough edges.
How It Works
At first glance, the Live Gamer Portable looks like any other PC video capture device (such as the Roxio Game Capture HD Pro or Hauppauge HD PVR 2, for example), just, well, smaller. (Much smaller, actually — it weighs 117 grams, and it’s just a little bit longer and thicker than an iPhone 5.) Of course, you can use it just like you would any other capture device: Plug your game console into the LGP’s HDMI or AV-in ports, then plug your monitor into its HDMI-out port, and then plug the USB cable into your nearest powered USB port (like one on your game console or PC), and you’ll be able to start using it with your PC to capture video using the included software. However, that’s not what sets it apart from the pack.
You see, the Live Gamer Portable operates in two different modes: “PC Mode” is the conventional functionality described above, and “PC-Free Mode” is what makes the LGP actually portable. Just flip a switch on the LGP, and it goes into PC-Free Mode, where it can capture video straight to its SD card slot at one of four different quality presets. You’ll need to provide your own class 10 SD card, mind you; a 32GB class 10 SDHC card will run you about $40 shipped, and can hold anywhere from an estimated ~18 hours (30mb/min) at the lowest quality setting to about 3 hours (120mb/min) at the highest quality setting. Just plug, play, and record.
Note that even if you don’t plan on using PC Mode much, you’ll still need a PC to set the LGP up (sorry, Mac users). The LGP requires Windows 7 or 8, an Intel 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo or AMD 3.0GHz Athlon 64X2 Dual Core CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a DirectX 10.0c-capable GPU (newer integrated graphics chipsets should be fine).
Small Box, Big Functionality
$170 gets you the Live Gamer Portable unit itself, plus the requisite set of cables (HDMI, Component A/V, Mini-USB, 3.5mm audio, and a special PS3 cable), and a neat little protective bag. It doesn’t come with any software on disc; instead, a little label inside the package instructs you to download the drivers and various recording software from AVerMedia’s website. PS3 owners take note: Since PS3s employ copy protection over the HDMI signal (HDCP), you’ll need to use the included special PS3 cable to connect the PS3′s component video port to the LGP. Also, the LGP comes with a code for three months of XSplit Premium, which comes in handy for people looking to build a more advanced streaming/recording setup — something which the included software isn’t really good for.
The LGP’s setup process is fairly straightforward: Install the drivers and software, plug everything into the correct port, and it should just work. There are a few extra steps necessary to get the PS3 working properly, but while you’re downloading the drivers the website will point you towards a YouTube video that walks you through the extra PS3 steps.
PC-Free Mode: Does Everything It Says On The Tin
In my testing, PC-Free Mode worked just fine. I didn’t notice any lag, and the fact that I can plug it into one of my console’s spare USB ports to power it is a bonus. Embedded below is a test clip recorded at 720p; personally, I found the quality to be more than acceptable for general match video recording.
I do wish that the LGP came with an SD card included in the package; adding a $40 SD card to the $170 purchase price puts the LGP about $75 higher than a standard HD video capture kit, so if you’re just looking for a general capture device and don’t care about PC-Free Mode, you might want to opt for something cheaper.
PC Mode: Could Be Better
PC-Free Mode is really cool — no question about that. But the LGP’s PC Mode has enough quirks that might give anyone interested in more heavy-duty video work pause.
AVerMedia’s RECentral software is just fine for getting newbies started recording or streaming, but it lacks a few key features for anyone looking to do more than just capture or stream raw gameplay footage. For example, it’s pretty good at giving you as much or as little access to your video capture/stream settings as you like; you can choose your target format, resolution, A/V bitrate, framerate, etc., or you can just click the “Newbie” setting to feed you a setting tailored to your source and configuration. But RECentral doesn’t include any features for editing your recordings, so you’ll need to find another software package that can handle that.
Likewise, RECentral works fine for streaming to your Twitch, niconico, UStream, or custom RTMP streaming service — but you’ll only get your source’s audio/video feed and your PC mic, with no support for additional video sources (webcams) or picture overlays. And if you want to use the LGP with a third-party video streaming package like Open Broadcaster Software or FFSplit, you’ll have to install the Live Gamer Portable Stream Engine to let those apps recognize the LGP as a viable video source. Stream Engine is very much still in beta, and while I did end up getting the LGP to work with OBS and FFSplit, it required a lot of tweaking and still doesn’t seem to be completely stable quite yet.
Also, it would have been nice if I could use the LGP as an SD card reader when it’s in PC mode, but most PCs have a built-in SD card reader, so it’s not a big deal.
Bottom Line: PC-Free or Bust
AVerMedia’s Live Gamer Portable is an innovative newcomer to the gameplay-recording market, and when it’s good, it’s really good. I fully plan on bringing the LGP along to all my console sessions so I can record all the matches and study them afterwards, and I really appreciate how easily I can use the included software to stream or record with my PC without having to spend hours troubleshooting video settings. For would-be power users, however, it’s kind of a tough sell; you’ll be shelling out $210 for the LGP and an SD card, and you’ll still need to bring your own editing software and spend some time getting it to work with your stream setup.
Pros:
Small and easy to store or carry around
Comes with all necessary cables
PC-Free recording is really neat
Cons:
Software is limited
Pricey compared to other capture kits
No Mac support