Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I just got this card from the local Best Buy and I have to admit it is an absolute miracle once you get it to work. I have DirecTV and I wanted a TV tuner so I can watch basketball while I work on the computer or browse the net.
Words of Caution: The TV tuner has only 125 channels and works only with an antenna or you local cable. The TV tuner does NOT work with satellite TV (or digital TV). So I ended up having to buy an additional satellite receiver and then hook up the receiver to the card. The downside to this is that you can't use all of the video scheduling and recording capabilities of the card. The card does give you some very nice TIVO functionalities, but again you can only use them on your local cable or antenna. Once you go through a receiver, you have to select the channels via the receiver while the ATI-TV tuner stays in Channel 3.
Setup: Setup was a little dificult. I have a Vaio with 866 Pentium III, with Intel Graphics Card, running Windows 2000. First you have to upgrade your Windows 2000 to DirecX 8.0 (the one that comes with Windows 2000 is DirecX 7.1). You do that by visiting a special site provided by Microsoft. You download the new upgrade and then install it. I believe if you don't upgrade to DirecX 8.0, you might experience a ton of problems (by the way WinXP comes with DirecX 8.0 installed). Then you have to download the Windows 2000 drivers and TV tuner software from the ATI site, because the CD in the box provides you with drivers for the Win 98 operating system and prior. And then you have to go through the Plug-n-Play wizards and install 4 different ATI drivers. And then you are ready to go.
In Action: Once you get setup the card is fabulous. The picture is great. Especially in the smaller views. The running of the tv picture doesn't interfere with any of your other computer activities. Basically, the cable TV signal goes through the card and onto your monitor like a TV - it doesn't require any system resources at all which is key. You get to go about your business as if you don't have a little TV screen in the lower right hand corner. You can open up a ton of applications and there is no deterioriation in performance. The interface (ATI Media Center) has kind of outdated graphic look and I wish I could put a different skin and I am not sure ATI provides that. You can also expand to full screen view. Just remember to look from far away as you would with a TV. If you look from close up, the picture is grainy. But if you look from say 4 or 5 feet you won't notice a difference. In fact, the picture might be superior to that of your TV.
So right now, I am really loving this card. I can watch TV while I work or if my roomate has taken the TV in the living room, I can watch TV in my room and avoid any stupid little confilcts. It truly has made my life a notch easier. I definitely recommend it to anyone who will be able to overcome the initial setup hassles.
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ATI Technologies Inc. 100-703102 TV Wonder VEATI's TV Wonder VE allows you to watch TV on your PC. Simply install the TV Wonder VE, plug into an antenna or cable jack, and you can surf up to 125 television channels in a window or full screen while you work in other applications.
Included is the ATI Multimedia Center, which enables many advanced features like Channel Preview, which lets you scan through all available stations in seconds, see "what's on" at a glance, and Video Desktop, which lets you display a live TV signal as video wallpaper.
With an Internet connection, you'll have access to GUIDE Plus+ Interactive Program Guide (North America only). Scroll through TV listings while watching the current channel in a window. Search and schedule programs for viewing or recording by title, category (e.g., golf, comedies, drama), actor/performer, or date. You get all this for no monthly fee.
With the TV Wonder VE, you'll be able to digitally record any TV program. Set the time and channel of any program you want to watch and you will be notified when it comes on, or you can have the TV Wonder VE digital VCR record the program to your hard drive so you can watch it later.
The TV Wonder VE is compatible with all graphics sub-systems supporting DirectX overlay, including products from 3Dfx and nVidia.
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