Camtasia has a free 30-day trial.
You can re-new it once, for 15 days.

For some reason, I got it for free, because it still works and I never paid for it.

Thanks Chael,

Is Camtasia the best option out there? Have you got any experience with any others?

Don't use that link to download. I was just reading some of the comments and it sounds like it may have some adware attached. Here is the camstudio website.

Camtasia is what everyone making videos uses here. Very good and the free 30 days will let you know if you like it.

Am I right in thinking you are referring to Camtasia Studio or do they do a simplified version as the Studio is listed at £200+?

All of the pros use Camtasia Studio to make our videos, but the price tag is definitely a little steep.

In the past I've used BB Flashback Express as a free (forever, not just a trial) screen recorder and it worked pretty well. They also have a Pro (paid) version but it just has a bunch of extras that probably aren't necessary for casual poker recording.

http://www.bbsoftware.co.uk/BBFlashBack_FreePlayer.aspx

I would recommend SnagIt. Made by the same company that makes camtasia. Its significantly cheaper and has all the features you would need to make a simple screen recording.

Is it not true that with SnagIt you can only make shorter (like 5 minutes) videos?

I recommend bandicam.

http://www.bandicam.com

what settings do the pros here use for camtasia camstudio ?  what codec and what other settings..

I have used microsoft expression encoder, it has a free version and a "full" version. I haven't had any issues using the free version other than if you want to play a video from it on a PS3 or PS4? you have to use another program to convert it to a PS compatible format (otherwise you just get video, and no audio). 

I tried installing Camtasia/CamStudio a while back but I couldn't get it to work, something about a missing .dll file or something. But it would almost assuredly be the best option for most people looking to make high quality vids! 

Quicktime does this for Mac really well..does PC quicktime have same function?

Camtasia today has a 30% discount with the code CYBERMON14. Was planning to buy it, couldn't find better time