ClonerAlliance Box Pro, 1080p@60fps Video Recorder, DVR with HDMI Capture, Playback on TV. RCA/YPbPr/VGA to Digital Converter. No PC Required. Supports PVR/OTA.

I have spent several days trying out a few different ways to get the best out of this clever little ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro recording device to suit my specific needs and now I feel that I am in the position to write an honest and detailed review of it to the best of my ability - something I think is really important as this device may be able to help many people looking to record video from sources they can find no other way of doing currently.The first thing to say is that the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro product is a fantastic bit of kit that has made something possible that I feared I would be unable to achieve - namely recording a video stream from NowTV.But it actually works better than I hoped it might and I have been really enjoying using it.This review will be mostly created by the notes I have been making about the various ways I have tried and prefer recording with it, and I know that anyone wanting to record streams will benefit from reading this and trying out such a great gadget as this.Firstly, I want to mention something that did put me off when I first used it - that annoying "Och, something wrong!" message that appears when you first try connecting the device to your tv and video source.It turns out that it really is a simpler fix than even the instructions lead you to believe - you just press and hold the "Source" button on the front for 10 seconds to really sync everything together and then they just work together again forever without any further effort from you.Until I knew that I kept on having to disconnect and reconnect everything to the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro every time they were powered down. Now, no such problems and everything just reconnects and works each time I switch all the devices back on.I will now explain my exact use of the device which may give you a better idea of whether it will be of use to you.I have been trying to get high quality versions of the episodes of 2Point4 Children as streamed via NowTV because I know that they will never be released by the BBC on DVD due to a licensing issue with Lady Penelope’s pink car from Thunderbirds (if you can believe such a thing.)In my tests I found the best way to record them was to first fast forward the episodes to the end of each clip, cancel that annoying "watch next episode now" message that would otherwise appear at the end, rewind to the beginning once again, then cancel the play positioning bar by using the rewind 10 second button and press record on the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro at the same time to enable me to get a perfect recording from start to finish without any more annoying pop up or display bars on it.The ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro enabled me to do exactly that and get the episodes I wanted recorded perfectly (I now need only hope that more episodes get shown on UK Gold to allow me to get the entire series recorded!)However, with the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro it goes without saying that you only get out of it what you put into it.By that I mean that you should have the following:1. A good stable internet connection and being prepared to record late night/early morning (if using the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro to record from a streaming service such as NowTV to prevent buffering/jumpy playback/audio issues.)2. A high quality stream or video input such as 1080p as the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro will not provide HDMI upscaling.3. A decent quality flash drive/external hard drive (unless using the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro to record straight to pc.)I tend to record with it earlier on the morning when my internet connection is at its best to ensure the optimum achievable rate of transfer, plus I have NowTV boost to receive all content in 1080p.That being the case my ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro is able to record in perfect clarity with the files looking great in playback once transferred to my pc (I usually don’t check the playback on the device itself, although it does have that ability.)When it comes to playback of recorded files, I have adopted the method of recording straight to a flash drive and then simply copying files across to the pc after I have finished, and so I cannot comment on connecting to PC via HDMI (even though I bought a long enough high-quality HDMI cable to do so) or really even using the software to edit/combine files - apart from one minor thing I will mention in a moment.The software that you have access to with a purchase of the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro does seem quite good, but I only tried editing a file recorded with it once as I changed my recording method after that.(I just know that something will likely always go wrong if using software on a pc due to the constant updates computers get - so even if the software provided with ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro works now, it won’t be long before Microsoft comes along and breaks something, hence my reason for not really trying it too much.)When I was first recording with the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro, I had my flash drive formatted in fat32 rather than NTFS which I now prefer - fat32 is apparently more stable for recording with it, but NTFS records files record in one piece rather than splitting anything over 2GB into multiple files.I decided I would prefer single files due to a slight "audio drop" issue at the point of split I noticed when using the provided MP4-Cloner software to merge split files back into one file.However, there is another important choice to be made regarding the formatting standard if using an external drive to record to, because the same quality and length of 30 minute episode recorded on a fat32 formatted drive which comes to around 2GB would be around 3.2GB on a NTFS formatted drive.This is all due to the size of the default allocation unit size used in the drive formatting, which is something you will have to search for yourself to get the best results for you - however it is of little concern to me really because I plan on storing my precious recorded files on my large 4TB external hard drive connected to my TV for later playback and for burning straight to Blu-ray discs for long term backup, but for those with limited space requirements you may wish to take care with your choice here.Apart from the slight audio drop out issue I mention above during the only time I tried file merging and possibly the slight moment of panic caused by that initial "Och, something wrong!" message that was solved after a quick online search, I cannot find anything I do not like about the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro. It performs better than I had hoped it might when ordering and right now I think it may well be greatest electronic gadget I have ever bought.(And yes, for those that are inevitably going to ask if the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro can be used to record from copyright protected DVD's and Blu-ray, I can say during my test it did so perfectly and made an excellent recording, as you might expect, because it simply records whatever video source it receives to a file. Just please only use it for whatever you might legally have the right to do so, okay?)In the added pictures you can see my current setup with all my various devices for watching content, my NowTV device for streaming and the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro itself (with the flash drive removed as it was connected to my pc at the time.) It is now just starting to look a little dusty, I really must do some cleaning - the other little marks on the rest of the devices are just emulsion paint from my roller when decorating I promise!I can happily rate the ClonerAlliance HDMI Pro 5 stars and recommend it to anyone wanting to find a way to record HD streams that other devices will not accept.

Amazing device was a little fiddly at first but once you know it’s great and the support is really good online chat. I have a laptop connected to a docking station and three screens, I duplicated 2 and connected this between my laptop and one screen, I then connected the cloner to my other laptop for recording to. It’s for work which means when I’m being shown a process with 50 steps I can record the entire process and watch the video back to document the steps. Most work places lockdown record functions but this works different if you have an hdmi out from a device then this little device will record it! Brilliant device I just leave it connected and use my recording laptop to record. Recommend it despite the cost as it does a great job.

On paper this is a great device ...easy to use and seems to produce good recordings. Unfortunately it only works at 60HZ.... even though it recognizes a 50HZ source it still only produces a 60HZ (or 30fps) file. The company have been very good in replying to email queries but have admitted this is normal for the box and they don't foresee this changing. It is with great reluctance I am returning it.once again great customer service and if was updated to enable frame rate changes then I would have no hesitation buying it in future.Update.....I have had amazing customer service form Cloner Alliance.... they have been very helpful and have now been able to use the device with a laptop to record at a frame rate of 50HZ. Currently though this is only 720. I’ve been told this may change in the future to enable 1080 at 50 (rather than just 60). If this does happen (and the ability to do from remote to memory stick rather than hav8ng to connect to laptop) then I will definitely update to a 5 star review.... watch this space.2nd Update.........The PC software has been updated again and now allows 1080P/25 to be selected as the record format.......

absolute rubbish and simply does not work. tried using 2 reputable usb sticks. seemed to record ok....but as soon as i tried to play back, i received video error on both sticks. complete waste of time. Avoid this like the plague!

Have used this product on and off for the best part of nearly a year - and it works well. You do need quality memory cards otherwise they fail to record. I use Sandisk normal 2 inch long USB sticks and they work WELL ... The very small micro USB memorys caused me issues. The one areaof concern is the Power Supply - it came with a 2 flat pin plug which plugged into an adapter to convert it to 2 round pins and then this plugs into a shaver .. all in all, it sticks out about 4 inches ... not something I would leave switched on when there are children around or if I am nort in the room. I have since replaced it with the following power supply:Outtag 36W Destktop Charger AC Power Supply Adapter 5V-15V 2.4A for Bluetooth BT Speakers Routers CCTV Cameras LCD TV Box USB HUB IP Camera Led LampsOther than the power supply issue, this is a fantastic product