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HDTV Wonder

REVIEW DATE:  07.20.04

Ratings

EditorVery Good

ReaderGood

Rate This Product

HDTV Wonder

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Company:
ATI Technologies Inc., www.ati.com
Price:
$199 list (includes indoor HDTV antenna and Remote Wonder)

Pros:
Very good image quality, both live and in time-shifted mode. Recorded content looks very good as well. Functions as both an SDTV and HDTV tuner. Nice price.
Cons:
Software has good features, but there are still some kinks to be worked out. Requires a Microsoft DirectX 9 compatible graphics card. Over-the-air HDTV reception varies depending on location—not ATI's fault.
Bottom line:
Solid hardware and good software come together to create a good first-generation over-the-air HDTV offering. The price includes both a remote and an antenna, not to mention ATI's suite of multimedia applications. Some rough edges still need to be sanded, but overall, HDTV Wonder is a great place to get your HD party started.

Review
If you're a TV junkie, HDTV is your ultimate fix. Though PCI HDTV cards have been on the market for a while, ATI's HDTV Wonder raises the bar and drops... click here for full review

 MEMBER RATINGS Rate it Yourself 

cpharada
Member rating: 
August 30, 2004
I also have an Nvidia card (5600), but I found the work around for installing issues on ATI's HDTV Wonder information page web site. After seeing the image quality this card allows, I'm more than pleased. The record feature was the selling point for me. Any HTPC owner that wants (and can get) OTA HD channels needs this card.


bradpatton
Member rating: 
August 10, 2004
I am very unhappy with the ATI HDTV Wonder that I bought. The analog tuner works fine, but the digital tuner is incompatible with nvidia video cards (including my Geforce FX 5900) and will not start. I talked to 2 ATI engineers (the second one was senior-level) who were unable to get it to work (drivers were installed correctly). The engineer admitted they were getting "a significant number of calls" form nvidia owners. Avsforum.com has a lot of other nvidia owners that the ATI card is not working for. Conclusion: check out only if you have an ATI Radeon 9500 or better video card. Avoid like the plague if you have an nvidia video card (even a directx 9.0 one).
 
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