All-In-Wonder indeed!
Written: Sep 30 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: TV-IN, TV-OUT, and DVD card all in one.
Cons: Software installation and possible multi-monitor problems.
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| KGZotU's Full Review: ATI All-in-Wonder® 128, (32 MB) PCI Video Car... |
I bought this card because, as the title says, this card does everything. Cheaper and easier than an ensemble of less competent cards, this seemed to be the perfect choice for me. After reading a few reviews, I decided the 16MB PCI version was what I wanted. After a couple of weeks I had it in my hands, its huge eye staring up at me. Here’s what I thought:
Features: Coaxial TV-IN, composite/S-video TV-IN/OUT, 100% on board, hardware based, DVD decoding.
Installation: Standard expansion slot installation. Furthermore, the included documentation made it very easy to understand what cables went where. It would have been nice had they included a splitter to turn your stereo-out jack into two mono jacks that might be plugged into the back of your TV, but a visit to Radio Shack solved that. You might also want to be prepared with a coaxial cable splitter and a couple of patch cables for it as well.
On the software side, I was rather irked when the installation disk didn’t put a TV program onto my computer. After a trip to ATI’s website, I was finally able to uncover a fix in their web documentation.
Use: I love this card. Once everything is installed properly, it works…well…like a wonder! I was aware that it had 100% MPEG-2(DVD) hardware based decoding, but it seems to have taken some load off the CPU in playing DivXs as well. Watching TV and recording TV is easy as well, my only complaint is that I have yet to uncover an automated recording program, or digital VCR, is at were.
I do have one complaint. After installing this card, I was unable to configure my computer for multi-monitor support. I don’t know if this is the card’s fault, or my computer’s. I did, however, receive several warnings from my friends that ATI would not support this feature, so I suspect it was the former.
Conclusion: If you’re interested in having a TV-tuner, buy this card. If you’d like a TV-Out, buy this card. If you can find a good deal, it’s not too expensive, and it has the functionality of both.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
KGZotU
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Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Marine stationed in 29 Palms California.
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