LJGoose Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Well I just purchased the Hava unit the other day and I would like to post my review of it. For those who do not know what a Hava is it is basically a device that allows you to do two things. First is record anything that is passed through it and second is to stream tv to mobile phones, or anywhere else on the internet. If you have a smartphone you would be able to watch YOUR tv on your phone and change channels with it. For this review I will mostly talk about the recording aspect becouse that is what I got it for mostly. More precisily recording my Xbox 360 Gameplay. First here are some images of what I am talking about. The going price on the Hava website is $249 however you can pick it up either at Newegg or at Bestbuy stores for around $180. The good thing about this device is that unlike capture cards you can watch/play in HD while the Hava records in SD. There really is no need for true HD to be recorded if you are posting videos on the web. There might even be a way to record HD. I am sorry I can't show pics of my Hava right now but I will post them soon. Setup: The setup is pretty well laid out in the quick start manual if you are tech savy. It may be a bit confusing for those who are not so tech-savy. Basically you take whatever device you will be recording or streaming and connect it to the in on the Hava and then connect the Out portion to the TV. Pretty much just like any other DVD player it is pretty simple. After you have the source hooked up you plug the Hava into your router or you can use the Wi-Fi adapter that comes with it to connect to your router. You will need a router to use Hava. After everything is hooked up you simply put the installation cd in and follow the directions. After about 10 minutes your Hava will be up and running and you can stream/record. Score: 8/10 Features: Ability to record just about any source you want. You can also hook it up to your cablebox to watch TV anywhere on the internet. You get your own password to login and view on the internet. Wi-Fi is defintley a plus. Burn TV shows to DVD. Score: 9/10 Quality: So far so good. Here is a video of a montage I created using the HAVA and Pinnacle Studio 12. (COD 4 Montage ) Be sure to click on High Definition view. You can see the quality for yourself. Remeber this is also over Youtube so the quality considering is pretty awesome. Their is only one issue that I have with the Hava and that is that when I am playing the 360 their is minimal static through the screen but that could be caused by the connections I used becouse it does not show up in the recordings. The unit is small but seems pretty well built. Score: 8/10 Overall: For us tech geeks who like to have new gadgets to foam at this is a great little device. For those who are looking to record gameplay on either the 360 or PS3 this is the best choice you could make. Why? A similiar product the slingbox has nowhere near the quality and you have to pay extra to record from it. A friend of mine has it and once I bought the Hava he wished he would have known about Hava before. He uses his to record gameplay aswell. If you try to record your gameplay with a capture card most of them only allow you to record/play in SD. For those of us with HD tv's we feel left out. Also I am running Windows Vista 64bit and not have any issues with the software. Score: 8.5/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Thanks for the review. You're right, it would be handy for recording gaming sessions and the like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanManIt Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Good review. I don't really understand how this differs from a slingbox though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJGoose Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Good review. I don't really understand how this differs from a slingbox though Thanks for the comments guys. The Hava allows you to record straight out of the box while the Slingbox you have to pay like an extra 50 bucks for the at-large recorder. I also beleive that the quality on the Hava is better. However one thing that the slingbox does have Hava on is the quality of streaming your tv say through your cell phone or another location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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