THE INTRO Hi there! I was looking for a video capture device recently, and this one popped up in my search. You’ll know yourself how slick it looks with that big screen and those easy to press buttons, but how does it function in the wild? I’ll give you the good, the bad, and the ugly about this unit as per my own experiences. THE GOOD The unit is HUGE, much bigger than it looked on the page when I bought it, but this is not a bad thing at all. Its size makes the screen bigger and the buttons more visible and less likely to meet with a fat finger mash that accidentally hits a neighbouring button.You can hold it in one hand easily, and it feels comfortable. Screen quality is great for the size and definition. Don’t expect pin-sharp OLED, this is just a preview screen, but it’s a really good preview screen. Buttons are satisfyingly clicky and responsive, and the remote is also comfortable to use. The fact that there even is a remote included feels like the unit should be more expensive than it actually is. The output - and I say this on the highest quality setting - is *great*. I faffed around with YouTube and navigating Roku channels and the quality of the file was fantastic. Sharp, clear, colourful and did not once lose sound sync or drop out in my half hour test. The unit can be connected to the computer to retrieve files in much the same way as a portable drive works, or the MicroSD can be easily removed to get to the files through a card reader. Unit boots fast and is ready to use in seconds. The video recorded played very well in VLC and loaded right up in Vegas with no issues. THE BAD Unit feels lighter than it should be. I handled it gingerly and stored it in the original box and foam, just to make sure, because it feels *very* light. I doubt it would survive an accidental short drop onto a hard surface. Options are pitifully slim in the main menu. There’s not much room for personalisation, that's for sure.. I get that the unit is sold as a 1080p/60fps capture device, and the quality of the output is very good, but maybe sometimes i’d like to capture in SD for a smaller file (more about this in a minute), maybe I only need 30fps. There’s no way to change the output, which begs the question of why it’s displayed on the screen when you’re capturing at all. I KNOW it’s 1080p/60fps. That’s literally the only option you gave me!! It seems like that is a software issue that could be changed very easily in an update. This is a very minor objection, but the place where the IR receiver sits is on the bottom of the unit.. If it’s lying on its back and you’re looking down on it and can see the little IR receiver window on the bottom, you’re good to go - if you have the unit sitting upright so the screen is facing out, and the receiver window is flat against the shelf, you can’t use the remote. As I say, a minor objection. THE UGLY If your only use for this unit is capturing gameplay from your PS5, or recording sporting events from your Roku, you’re going to love it. It does both very well. But take this as a serious warning: if your plans are to backup your Auntie Madge’s old Hi-8 tapes of her trip to Myrtle Beach in 2002, or make a digital copy of Mystery Science Theatre’s “Mitchell” episode that you recorded off the Sci-Fi Channel on VHS in 1996, this is not the unit for you….. Unless you actually want the 4:3 source to be stre-e-e-e-etched into a 16:9 file. The unit will accept the analogue video input no problem (assuming you have the device to convert S-Video or yellow RCA to HDMI - I bought one for about $20), and the picture is great, but it doesn’t recognise a 4:3 signal and does not adjust accordingly. In other words. if you don’t care that the picture is smooshed and stretched - and some people genuinely don’t - then buy this unit for sure. But if you want to preserve your memories as they were filmed, before the tapes grow garage mould or your camcorder goes the way of the dinosaurs, maybe look elsewhere. When the unit is recording something long, it breaks the recording into 25 minute individual files, meaning that a two-hour wedding video will be cut into four files. I’m sure this doesn’t bother some people but there are some who would expect one file per recording, so I think it’s important to mention it. THE OUTRO Look, this is a great unit, A great, flawed unit. As I said before, if you’re a gamer and you want to start your talking-over-yourself-playing games career on YouTube, or you have a need to archive widescreen content (some camcorders have been recording in 16:9 for more than two decades), grab this unit right now. But if you want to archive older video in 4:3 and the correct aspect ratio is important to you, keep looking. The unit looks slick, but it will break your heart when Auntie Madge’s face looks like an American football instead of a soccer ball. Good luck to you! I think I’ll reluctantly send mine back,