Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 9/21/2003, 6:22 PM
I have the ATI Radeon 8500 DV "All in Wonder". I have spent the last eight months upgrading drivers, etc. to try to get good performance. It still has numerous problems with both capture (doesn't capture reliably to DV AVI format, and its MPEG2 capture is average quality at best. Output to TV never fills the entire screen). I haven't used other capture cards so I can't really say whether it is that much worse than others. It just doesn't meet my expectations.

The real killer is ATI's tech support. It is the worst tech support I have ever encountered anywhere. Given the sad state of tech support throughout the tech community, you have to be REALLY bad to be at the bottom, and they are (bad).
kentwolf wrote on 9/21/2003, 6:43 PM
It would be better to just save up for the Canopus ADVC-100. It is worth the wait.

With regard to the ATI, I belive it captures sound through the sound card and the picture resulution is not nearly as good as a full Canopus capture.

I had an ATI All In Wonder, which is better than the TV Wonder, and took it back the next day.

Simply put, it did not produce very good results.

Save up and get the Canopus ADVC-100. It performs flawlessly.
Chienworks wrote on 9/21/2003, 8:24 PM
I've got both the ATI All in Wonder and the ATI Rage Fury Pro (pretty much identical for composite analog input). Both can capture more or less ok, but they are terribly buggy, often requiring removal of the drivers and physical removal of the card, then reinstall, before they'll condescend to capture. However, when they do work, they perform pretty well. They even work from Sony/SonicFondry's VidCap program, but only in uncompressed AVI format.

I've since switched to using the Sony DVMC-DA2 external converter (very similar to the Canopus ADVC-100) and it's much better and more reliable. If you don't already have the ATI card, please consider saving your money and use it towards getting the Canopus unit instead.
J_Mac wrote on 9/21/2003, 10:36 PM
Also the tech support for ATI is in Canada. Sitting on hold waiting your turn can get very expensive, unless you live up there. Save your money. Good Luck John
riredale wrote on 9/21/2003, 10:46 PM
Frankly, after watching some programs, I feel the need for a TV Wounder.
Salamander wrote on 9/22/2003, 5:53 PM
What about the ATI 9800 Pro?