ATI TV Wonder

Pros: a useful card for the money.
Cons: Software installation is involved. Audio line out is noisy.

Update: May 12, 2003
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With the release of their new MMC 7.9 in April 2003, ATI has taken significant steps towards improving their software. I've bumped the rating from 2 to 4 stars for this reason.

Using this...

Pros: Ok for watching TV, preview panels good
Cons: bad for recording video

Had problems right out of the box. The video card configuration does not match the documentation - instead of the S-video connector on the card, it is now on a cable with the A/V jacks. CD was for Windows 95/98 only - not XP. Downloaded the lasted driver...

Pros: TV on PC, record video, video snapshots. New Drivers fixed incompatibility problems(April 10/03)
Cons: Finicky drivers (resolved), GeForce incompatibility (resolved), XP unfriendly (resolved), Soundblaster Audigy unfriendly (resolved).

Here I sit so broken hearted, paid a dime and only.. oh wait, this is a hardware review -

**ATI has since fixed all problems, if you want to skip my rants head to bottom**

Like many people I bought the ATI TV Wonder PCI due to the...

Pros: Works in Linux
Cons: comes with "windows" only software

I switched my workstation over to linux and have been looking for a TV card for some time. I was talking to a friend of mine who also uses Linux and he said he was using this card with no problems. So I bought it and have it installed and working.
...

Pros: Cheap price. Works good with other software.
Cons: ATI software and tech support.

Well I think you are aware of the problem that you are having with ATI TV wonder pci and Windows XP. The only thing that I got to say is that you (ATI) ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Ashamed that you make as many products you do and having the poor...

Pros: Decent picture, MPEG-2 capture, GuidePlus
Cons: Poor drivers, prone to crashing

Sigh...another disappointment by ATI. What looked like a very promising card turned out to be nothing but headaches for me. It's a great card when it works, but be ready for some serious hair pulling when things go wrong. I've been working with this card...

Pros: Easy to install, very simple software, LOADED with features.
Cons: Does not work with windows XP!

Being the computer gadget man that I am, my eyes began to fix upon these so-called "TV-IN" cards for your computer. The thought of watching TV on my computer sounded like the ultimate way to become lazy. If I got this card I wouldn't have to reach up...

Pros: Great video quality. VCR+ feature.
Cons: Requires internal installation

I originally bought the USB version of this card. But, being connected to the computer through the USB port, it did not have enough bandwidth for high quality video (plus the video and audio would get out of sync).
So I decided to trade it in for...

Pros: good quality picture (windowed), simple to use, affordable
Cons: poor full screen quality, ATI slow to release updates, diagonal lines?!!!

Recently I hit on the idea of adding a TV tuner/capture card to my PC with the goal of creating Video-CD (VCD and SCVD) disks to view on my family room DVD player. There are a number of TV programs that I enjoy watching and keep tapes of. So, I thought,...

Pros: I haven't had any pros yet
Cons: The software, the installation, the card, the quality, the directions??

First card had no sound but installed fine and picture was good although it only got basic channels (none of the premium channels that I get on my regular TV)????

After I had major problems with the installation I bought a new sound card...

Pros: The card comes at a very good price.
Cons: Well, the card didn't work.

I decided to buy a TV card for my daughter's PC to allow her to watch TV in her room while saving space by not buying a separate TV. Well, that's what I intended to do. I saw the ATI TV Wonder VE card in the store for 49.99$ with a 10$ mail-in rebate. So...

Pros: Product availibility, Cost
Cons: Poor Tech Support, Rude Customer Service, incompatabilities, Extremely Difficult Instructions, Outdated Software

Just like everyone else, I love Epinions. I really like the reviews from other people about certain products. I read pretty good reviews about the Dell Dimensions 8100 series computer, so I ended up buying one (and I love it!). Well I decided to buy a TV...

Pros: Good advertisement, everything in one card.
Cons: not for non branded pc

If you just want a capture tv card on your pc and your pc is not any famous brand. Don't try to attempt to install this ATI TV card.

Installation

I guess I can only start by saying. It is very hard to install. The...

Pros: Functions well as a TV and recorder, relatively cheap
Cons: TV at full screen must be viewed several feet away; Drivers can be tricky

As a college student who is trying to save space in the dorm, I thought that a TV tuner card would be a cheap and easy way to get TV in my room without having to buy a seperate unit. Although the TV-wonder doesn't match the quality of a regular TV, it...

Pros: none
Cons: Doesn't work

Quite simply, this card does not work well under Windows 2000, even with the latest drivers.

Most of the time, the TV player crashes while switching stations or while using the GUI. Hell, it crashes by itself after several minutes of watching...