I’ve been toying around with my fair share of personal video recorders, and the latest one I came across as Roxio’s Game Capture HD Pro; which builds upon their older device, the standard Game Capture.

The HD Pro is about the same size as the standard version but notably comes with HDMI ports which allows for full 1080p video capture at 30 frames/sec, while also allowing for 1080i, 720p and 480p recording at 60 frames/sec.  The device encodes the video in H.264 format, and includes the VideoWave editing software that does a pretty good job, though I would say that the audio quality isn’t quite as good as what you hear while it’s recording, but still formidable.

Having recorded a handful of videos from an Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, I found the video quality to be solid, while I appreciated the ability to adjust the video quality, in order to control the file size of my videos, using an intuitive slider.  Users will also get to assign hot keys for capturing, which is a nice touch, since you can start/stop recording or activate full and normal window playback on the fly.

As with other PVRs, you’ll be required to use component cables on the PS3, due to the console’s restrictions, but with the Xbox 360 and even with a laptop (w/HDMI port), you can take advantage of HDMI.

What most users will likely dig is the ability to live stream via Twitch, which is straight forward to do.  Additionally, users can share their content via YouTube and Facebook right from within the software.

With support for Windows 7/Vista/XP, the Roxio Game Capture HD Pro also supports Windows 8, so no need to fear the lack of compatibility with this one.  In the box, users will get the device itself, a USB cable, the software and a startup guide.  As is the case with some PVRs, the Game Capture HD Pro will not require an AC plug, but will get its power via USB when connected to a PC or laptop.

The unit sells for $149.99, and is a fine piece of equipment, that’s lower than other comparable devices and easy to use.