Pros: Great for gaming with all details on. VCR-like function for FM radio.
Cons: TV-image quality bites. Very poor analog video capture quality (from VCR tapes).
The Bottom Line: Buy separate components (video capture, TV, gaming card) if you're looking for high quality overall. However, the card is a decent value for what it is.
vikingdave's Full Review: ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 9700 PRO, (128 MB) AGP Video Car...
3-D performance is outstanding. However, quite a few bugs with the card/software suite that I haven't been able to resolve. (Please note that I have as much electronics/computer education and experience as anyone you'll meet. Just a fact so you'll know where I come from on this :-)
1) analog source video capture is shaky with a LOT of artifacts, suggesting EMI issues. Tried newest drivers, different cables, shielding, different input devices. Problem remains. However, digital capture is clean.
2) opening Outlook Express causes TV sound to suddenly start coming out of my speakers, even though TV function is entirely OFF. Happens every time. Nothing in Help files, nothing on ATI or MS site about this. Reloaded software, problem remains. Corrupt common DLL causing problem?
3) TV is jittery and choppy on many channels. Changing channels often causes new channel to lock into place split screen - top half on bottom and vice versa.
4) intermittent problem with "internal" feedback (i.e. microphone is not involved) when first turning on TV or FM functions. Causes echo effect in sound output. Have to go into my Audigy 2 mixer control panel to mute Wave/MP3 slider (then I don't have sound in games next time I go to play). Updated drivers helped issue a lot, but problem still appears randomly.
5) retail box said "Free Half-Life 2!" However, ATI has unquestionably made the instructions for getting the software as vague and contorted as possible on their website. My opinion is that they wanted to be able to push sales by advertising free Half-Life2, but actually want as few customers as possible to actually order it. To wit: To order the Half-life 2, you get the "Valve Expansion pack" through download, or you can order the CD for "shipping and handling charges" (which was $10 to send a single CD!). This gives you the old Half-Life now and notifies you when Half-Life2 is out, so you can DOWNLOAD IT (!) through STEAM contained on the Valve Expansion pack. Got it? Oh, yeah, STEAM is an online SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE that you have to set up an account with and pay monthly dues (never was sure how much it would be). BOTTOM LINE: Marketing Department at ATI is using the free Half-Life 2 offer as a ruse to sell product in a slimy manner and get you to subscribe to some sort of online gaming network for monthly revenues to them or Valve. Of course, they would argue that it's all spelled out on the website. It took me a half-lifetime of reading on their site to figure out what the heck was going on. Beware.
On the plus side, automatic FM recording function is awesome; it lets me catch news, interviews, etc. that I would have missed. Also, ATI finally seems to have gotten their longstanding issues with crappy drivers worked out. (My first ATI card was a hi-speed but buggy MACH32 with 2MB RAM back in 1993.That was the first time I ever had to flash a video BIOS to resolve a bunch of problems.)
After my experience with this integrated card, I'm going back to a much-higher-quality standalone capture card for my video editing needs. AIW concept is great on paper, but I am disappointed after all the good reviews I read before puchasing this card.
Redefine the word Ultimate. The ALL-IN-WONDER 9700 PRO is the ultimate visual and home entertainment experience for your PC. It combines the fastest 3...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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