AVerMedia - Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus - Black
Customers are saying
Customers admire the Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus for its user-friendly interface, 4K passthrough capability, and budget-friendly price point. Many users appreciate its portability and compatibility with various devices. However, some users have expressed concerns regarding the software's complexity, setup challenges, short cable lengths, the need for an SD card, and occasional audio issues.
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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
- Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Things You Need To Know Before You Buy This
I have a box opening video on YouTube https://youtu.be/To1w0eSZeHQ Using this Streaming Device on an HP Elite 800 G1 SFF (Small Form Factor) i7 (4700) 16 Gigs Ram and only the built-in video graphics for Minecraft 1.16.40 on two non-4K monitors. Records video and audio without any noticeable frame drops or FPS loss. No visible Lag. I am recording directly into a 128 Gig Mini SD Card (which is the largest size this unit can handle). I consider upgrading my graphics to a Geforce GTX 1650 LP card, but found I didn't need to. IMPORTANT NOTES: 1) I am not live streaming. If I was live streaming I would upgrade my video card because when live streaming the device uses the actual computer system to decode and compress the stream and you will want at least 16 Gigs of ram or higher. 2) When using the software provided by Avermedia, it consumes the maximum amount of ram. I have 16 Gigs and this Avermedia Devices software consumed 12 Gigs of Ram. 3.) The contents provided very poor directions. You will need to go to their website. But even their website is poorly designed and locating the software (That you have to download) and there are four different software. Finding the software is very frustrating, its spread out and isn't clearly labeled. Additionally, the instructions provided online are also very vague. 4.) I spent a whole day watching YouTube Videos and scouring the web trying to find information about how to get it to work. None of it worked. At least seven times, I was on the verge of returning this device, because getting it operating is a nightmare. The software doesn't recognize my computer, so I don't use their software, I stream directly to mini-sd card. I'd have returned it, if I planned to stream live. This may be, the lack of one of the recommended graphics card. During my last attempt before returning it, after following their directions multiple times, it suddenly began working. The problem is, There is a step that you have to plug it into a AC USB plug (which isn't mentioned or clearly described). Then you have to follow the steps. After that you plug it into your computer USB Port, and it should work, at least for streaming to the card. 5.) This device is only USB 2.0 and not USB 3.0, which means it depends on your computer processor, ram and graphics card since UBS 2.0 isn't fast enough to process the 60FPS directly on the device when streaming live. 6) Once you get it working, its a great device Ultimately, you'll need a ton of patience to get it working, and if you're successful, you'll have a great budget device that will save you $300 compared to Elgato's device which can record to Mini SD Card.
Posted by SellerThink
- Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Meets my needs perfectly.
I was looking for a capture card to stream from my Switch and Wii U. I've never owned one before, and I'll admit I was hesitant to go with a brand other than the well-known Corsair Elgato products, especially since it has lower reviews on average. However, the price was so good, and the 4K passthrough was useful in case I wanted to stream from for my desktop computer through it (the only Elgato Best Buy had in stock was the S, which doesn't have that passthrough), so I went ahead and took a chance. I really could not be happier with the product. I've been using it for nearly two weeks now and I have zero complaints, aside from one thing that was quickly fixed, which I will note here in case anyone else has the same problem. When I first streamed directly from the capture card, I noticed issues in certain games, particularly older ones, where colors would flicker, as well as other similar image issues. This is how it will look if you stream directly from the capture card; a realtime, uncompressed picture. What I ended up doing to get it to work was downloading AVerMedia's firmware for the capture card. This gave me an additional capture card option in OBS: along with the Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus option, there's also one titled "Live Gamer Portable 2 PLUS Stream_Engine - 1." This is what you want! It will delay the capture by about half a second, but it will compress the image so you see everything perfectly as you do on your TV. Please ensure that you do this if you want perfect image quality. Again, aside from that, no issues at all whatsoever. The capture card is even a permanent fixture of my setup now. I have it set up so my Switch, Wii U, and desktop PC are all connected through a switcher (which also has 4K passthrough), and it all works perfectly. I can use them normally any time I want to, and when it's time to stream, no additional setup is required because it's all hooked up already. The headphone jack in front is perfect, too, as it unifies the audio of any system you plug into the device through the capture card. The sound still comes through the TV as well, but it's as simple as muting it. And if the headphone volume is too low like it was for me at first, you can adjust that through AVerMedia's program as well. So it's really just a super, simple, straightforward capture card that streams your image perfectly once you download the firmware. Some things to keep in mind are that the two HDMI cables included are very short (see the cable from my Portable 2 Plus to my HDMI switcher), so make sure you have lengthier ones if they're needed for your setup, and it needs to be plugged into a USB port at all times or else you won't get any picture through the device (which is probably my only legitimate complaint in the end). Since there's some distance between my TV and my streaming device, what I do is keep the capture card by my TV, and use both a USB extender and headphone extender to have them reach me and my laptop. I guarantee, though, that once you have it all set up and updated, this capture card perfectly delivers for streaming and recording. One last thing to note, in case anyone is confused, is that this device does NOT capture in 4K. 4K passthrough only means that you can still see the image in 4K through your TV or monitor, but it only captures video up to 1080p. This is fine for me since I'm only streaming in 720p anyways (for the sake of my viewers' internet connections), and probably fine for most average users as well, but look elsewhere if you are looking to capture video in 4K.
Posted by Scotty
- Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Ease of access
Works well. Easy plug and play. Bought for capturing Nintendo switch. Does what its supposed to. Would recommend if you're just starting out with live streaming or screen capturing for videos as it is so easy to setup. Cant speak much for high intensity streaming as I haven't pushed it's limits.
Posted by Cococup
