I am having a big headache trying to figure out which ATI All-In-Wonder to buy?

ALL-IN-WONDER® RADEON™ 8500DV?

ALL-IN-WONDER 9000 PRO?

ALL-IN-WONDER 9700 PRO?

ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO?

I am leaning to getting either the 8500DV or 9000 Pro first and then upgrading to the 9800 PRO when the price comes down closer to US$200? Any idea when I can expect tha price to come down to that level?

Any suggestions? I am wanting to get into digital video editing (just got a MiniDV camcorder) and want to create video files from TV shows.

I'll present the advice malcore gave to me as I was cogitating a similar purchase. I've an All-in-Wonder Pro 128 on my main computer at home and was thinking going the AIW route on the build I was doing for the kids.

His suggestion was to go with the Radeon 9700 Pro and get a Winfast TV 2000 XP Deluxe. In doing so, I would save approximately $50.00 for the pair rather than the AIW. More features available on the Winfast. But the kicker was the dual head on the Radeon allowing multiple monitor setups.

I purchased the Radeon 9700 Pro for $270.00 and the Winfast for around $55.00 from NewEgg (free shipping right now). So, I was at @ $325.00 for the pair...with the AIW 9700 Pro hovering on sale for @ $390.00...

I'm pleased with the results! :cool: (Thanks malcore! ;) )

I've thought of that, but have a few questions for you as you have done it.

Can I

1) Capture Video from
a) TV?
b) VCR?
c) Camcorder?

2) Can I have dual display? (One CRT Monitor and one TV?)
(Does anyont know if all four of the AIW cards I mentioned allow for one CRT and one TV to be used simultaneously?)

The AIW 9700 PRO as of today (04/15/2003) is (US$358 - Bulk and US$368 - Retail Box).

Here's the specs:

http://www.leadtek.com.tw/www/Web_Leadtek/multimedia/TV2000_XP/TV2000-XP-deluxe.asp

NewEgg price on the AIW was $389.00 when I was looking...

I purchased the Radeon 9700 Pro on eBay through a reputable seller.

The Radeon allows for TV-out.

Originally posted by Cosmos75
I've thought of that, but have a few questions for you as you have done it.

Can I

1) Capture Video from
a) TV?
b) VCR?
c) Camcorder?

2) Can I have dual display? (One CRT Monitor and one TV?)
(Does anyont know if all four of the AIW cards I mentioned allow for one CRT and one TV to be used simultaneously?)

The AIW 9700 PRO as of today (04/15/2003) is (US$358 - Bulk and US$368 - Retail Box).

The answer is yes to all. And DVD too if you have a DVD drive or separate DVD player (plug it in like a VCR). the 8500DV has S-video and RCA connections for video and audio in and out and IEEE1394 (Firewire) on the dongle that plugs into the card. I have a Sanyo home theater system hooked up to mine (Hi-Fi stereo VCR DVD combo with AM FM stereo tuner and a Sanyo 27" flat screen TV) My computer rocks!

I have the 8500DV and it will do all that and more. I am sure the 9000 & 9700 A-I-W cards have the same capabilities but the cards that are not A-I-W (All-In-Wonder) cards may not.

One thing to consider is that the GPU and RAM on the A-I-W cards prior to the A-I-W 9700 Pro do not run at full speed and are slower than the non A-I-W cards. The reason for this was the TV tuner and GPU produced to much heat and was unstable at full speed but on the A-I-W 9700 Pro the TV tuner has been redesigned to produce less heat. The A-I-W 9700 Pro runs at the same speed as the 9700 Pro (not sure about the A-I-W 9000 Pro).
I am thinking of upgrading to the A-I-W 9700 Pro card when the price comes down and I get a motherboard that supports AGP 8X. Maybe in the meantime I will get an A-I-W 8500 128MB card. The 8500DV is a 64MB card.

For the specs on all of the ATI cards look here (http://mirror.ati.com/products/builtdesktoppc.html)

Whyzman,


His suggestion was to go with the Radeon 9700 Pro and get a Winfast TV 2000 XP Deluxe.


Does the Winfast TV 2000 XP Deluze capture TV in MPEG-2? What about video capture from VCR and camcorder?

Captures in mpeg 2, yes. mpeg 1, avi, wmv, vcd, dvd and if you download the Divx codecs it will capture in that format also.

Will capture from vcr, dvd, camcorder, etc.Has FM radio and will capture audio too.

A great card for $50. The tuner provides better reception than the AIW 9700 Pro also.

Ok, I am not well versed in the requirements for video capture. What exactly do I need?

I have a firewire card, what else do I need to capture video from my MiniDV camcorder? Do I need a special card? Special software?

What about recording TV shows or archiving VHS videos?

I've now learned that the Radeon 9000 GPU is not as good as the 8500 GPU but the AIW 9000 PRO has the new Rage 200 chip?

No no, the Rage128 chip has long since been retired. In fact, I think it's so old it can't even be called a GPU (just a chip). The 9000 & 9000 Pro use the RV250 VPU (visual processing unit), while the 8500 series use the R200 GPU. In terms of features, they're both pretty much on par, and they're both DX8 parts. They even both use a 0.15 micron process, but the 8500 is larger and runs hotter.

In terms of power, I'd have to say they're probably about the same. The RV250 was built for value but it's also a generation ahead of the R200, meaning it's been "cleaned up" a bit more (efficiency).

EDIT - unless by "Rage" you mean the Rage Theatre chip? That I would have to look up...

saphalline,

You're right! I meant the Theater 200 Chip not Rage 200, sorry about the confusion!
:eek:

RV250 vs R200
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1655

AIW 9000 Pro review
http://www.hexus.net/review.php?review=505