Preview: ATI's All In Wonder 9700 PRO

Software, Continued

• Video Editing: Pinnacle System Studio 8 SE
  ATI chose to replace its previous software, Ulead Video Studio, with Studio 8 SE from Pinnacle Systems .

Conclusion

ATI's All In Wonder 9700 PRO is indeed a unique and very attractive bundle. With it, a PC's multimedia capabilities are greatly extended. 3D power users are sure to be relieved that ATI has left the Radeon 9700 PRO GPU's clock speeds untouched from the standard version. Therefore, All In Wonder no longer means compromising by choosing between speed and multimedia features. The AIW need fear no competition, as its combination of integrated hardware, abundant software and radio remote control is unique in the entire graphics card market. Buyers in the United States and Canada even get treated to a YPrPb output adapter.

The targeted price of just under $500 will doubtless be hard to swallow for some prospective buyers. After all, that makes the AIW a good $100 more expensive than the vanilla Radeon 9700 PRO. Buying an add-in TV card seems to be the cheaper solution. Once you take the software bundle and the high quality remote control into account, the higher price seems justified - if those are the features you were looking for.

The only drawback we see is the lack of the IEEE 1394/ iLink/ FireWire ports that the All In Wonder Radeon 8500 DV still featured. This is sure to make many video enthusiasts unhappy. The only way to remedy this is to buy an add-in IEEE 1394 card or a sound card with an integrated FireWire port. Another group of users left out in the cold are those wishing to use more than one monitor. There just wasn't any more room on the back panel for a second monitor output.

Undoubtedly, the unique and so far unrivaled All In Wonder 9700 PRO will find many fans. After all, this is the first All In Wonder with full 3D power.