DVD-R or AIW

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

"Richard Saudargas" <rsaudarg@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:yf_2e.9279$wo1.7873@bignews6.bellsouth.net...
> I'm trying to decide between getting a DVD-R or an AIW. I want to record
> off my TV (digital cable with cable box) like on my current VCR. At the
> same time I have some VHS and 8mm videotapes I would like transferred to
> DVD. I currently have my cable TV running through my hi-fi VCR and then
> stereo for my surround sound system.

A DVD-R and AIW aren't mutually exclusive - let me explain. An AIW or TV
Tuner card such as the ATI TV Wonder range can record non-macrovision
protected content to hard disk drives (be aware though that some cable
companies protect their content from copying/recording). If you subsequently
choose to burn those captured TV shows to DVD-R that's fine but you could
also leave it on your HDD.
>
> It appears from the AIW 9800 or XT800 cards I should be able to both
> record TV programs and videocapture with one solution. But if I went with
> a DVD-R for recording TV programs I would still need a videocapture card.

Given that you already have a Radeon 9500 Pro and consider your current
system sufficient for your needs, replacing the 9500 Pro with an AIW 9800 or
XT800 would be massive overkill (and very expensive). A much cheaper
solution would be to buy an add-on ATI TV Wonder card and this would do what
you want (as long as the cable TV content isn't copy protected).
>
> Having no experience with AIW cards, is it possible to hook up the
> connectors and through my 5.1 surround sound system as I have currently
> done with my hifi VCR? Are the AIW cards fairly easy to use and program
> for recording and videocapture. I will also be getting a HDTV in the near,
> or not so near future, depending on if you ask me or my wife.

I've used a number of All In Wonder varieties on my machines and have found
them to work well. They are not the simplest things to setup though and many
novices encounter problems. If you (or a friend) have a good understanding
of PCs and configuring software and the OS, it shouldn't be a problem,
otherwise it may be best to get the retailer who sells the card to you to
install it and fully set it up. If you want HDTV ATI also produce a card for
sale in the US which provides this on the PC. its called the HDTV Wonder.
>
>
> appreciate any suggestions; or if I didn't make myself clear, which is
> certainly possible, help me clarify.

Perfectly clear! I think your next best bet would be to review the TV Wonder
range (and HDTV Wonder if you want that now) on ATIs website. They all use a
piece of software called ATI Multimedia Centre to control the cards. The
best way for you to see what that's like is to read the users manual for MMC
as well as the manuals for the particular cards you're interested in.
They're all downloadable from ATIs website in Adobe PDF format. Let us know
if you cant find them.
>
><snip>

Paul

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

In article <424c7f58$0$63435$ed2e19e4@ptn-nntp-reader04.plus.net>,
"Paul Murphy" <p_murphynothanks@tospamhotmail.com> wrote:

> Perfectly clear! I think your next best bet would be to review the TV Wonder
> range (and HDTV Wonder if you want that now) on ATIs website. They all use a
> piece of software called ATI Multimedia Centre to control the cards.
> ><snip>
>
> Paul

According to online reviews the TV Wonder Elite does not use MMC but
PowerCinema instead. I was really hot for this card because of the
Theater 550 chip but it looks like it may be less versatile because of
the software limitation. See:

http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=65...

Roland

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

"Joe Doe" <None@mail.utexas.edu> wrote in message
news:None-172746.18470531032005@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...
> In article <424c7f58$0$63435$ed2e19e4@ptn-nntp-reader04.plus.net>,
> "Paul Murphy" <p_murphynothanks@tospamhotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Perfectly clear! I think your next best bet would be to review the TV
>> Wonder
>> range (and HDTV Wonder if you want that now) on ATIs website. They all
>> use a
>> piece of software called ATI Multimedia Centre to control the cards.
>> ><snip>
>>
>> Paul
>
> According to online reviews the TV Wonder Elite does not use MMC but
> PowerCinema instead. I was really hot for this card because of the
> Theater 550 chip but it looks like it may be less versatile because of
> the software limitation. See:
>
> http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=65...
>
> Roland

Yes you're right - sorry, forgot about that. According to the reviews I've
read about it that app doesn't (currently) support displaying inputs from
other than the tuner either so playing back VCR tapes on it will be out of
the question. The TV Wonder Pro and below do use MMC though - promise....

Paul

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

Get a Hauppauge PVR-150 card, and a Pioneer A09 DVD burner, keeping your
existing 9500 Pro. You can probably get them for $150 or so, total for
both.

[unless you are running Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE), get the
"plain" PVR-150 and not the "MCE" version, which does not come with the
necessary player software, or the remote control.]


Richard Saudargas wrote:

> I'm trying to decide between getting a DVD-R or an AIW. I want to record off
> my TV (digital cable with cable box) like on my current VCR. At the same
> time I have some VHS and 8mm videotapes I would like transferred to DVD. I
> currently have my cable TV running through my hi-fi VCR and then stereo for
> my surround sound system.
>
> It appears from the AIW 9800 or XT800 cards I should be able to both record
> TV programs and videocapture with one solution. But if I went with a DVD-R
> for recording TV programs I would still need a videocapture card.
>
> Having no experience with AIW cards, is it possible to hook up the
> connectors and through my 5.1 surround sound system as I have currently done
> with my hifi VCR? Are the AIW cards fairly easy to use and program for
> recording and videocapture. I will also be getting a HDTV in the near, or
> not so near future, depending on if you ask me or my wife.
>
>
> appreciate any suggestions; or if I didn't make myself clear, which is
> certainly possible, help me clarify.
>
> Thanks
>
> Rich
>
> current system: I think my system is sufficient for my needs. I'm not a big
> gamer and am not interested in building a new system until all this dual
> processor business gets sorted out.
>
> Intel PEBT2 mb
> 1 gig RAM
> ATI 9500 Pro
> Maxtor SATA 150 HD (a second hard drive will be installed soon)
> SONY 720 DVD
> 3.06 processor with hyperthreading
>
>