ATI Tv Wonder 550 $29.99 a/GCO

[CatSmasher]

There is no remote with that unit and the "free remote offer" is expired.

 

[Reefa_Madness]

I wouldn't mind picking one up myself, Would love to record some TV on the pc, Question, Will this card work with XP home or is it necessary to have media edition for PVR use?

As shown under the "Tech Specs" tab (where the summary is displayed):

Device TypePersonal Video Recorder
Min Operating SystemWindows® XP Home/Pro (Service Pack 2)/Media Center Edition® 2005/Vista™
Min Processor TypeAMD Athlon®/Sempron®, Intel® Pentium® 4/Celeron®
Min RAM Size128 MB RAM (256 MB recommended)
Slot(s)PCI
Required System RequirementsCD-ROM drive (for installation software), Cable TV signal or amplified antenna, Sound card and speakers

I would take that to mean that XP Home Edition should be just fine.

 

[Dermen]

I have never tried playing consoles but I have always read there is a 1-2 second delay that makes hooking up consoles a bad idea.

 

[Wicked Klown]

Not fair. I just bought myself a Christmas present instead. ...grumble.....grumble.... Looks like I might have to get myself another gift as well. I'll tell the wife it's for the dog, yea thats it for the dog.

 

[g0dM@n]

g0dM@n,

Here are some links to help you get started...from simple overviews to more detailed...and in no particular order (sorry).

http://www.techlore.com/article/10268/

http://www.film-to-video.com/tutorial_page02.html

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=813

http://howtodothings.com/computers/a3487-how-to-transfer-vhs-to-dvd.html

http://www.virtualdub.org/

http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/cache/314608-0-0-225-121.html

Doing exactly this is why I got started messing with computers...I've had a blast playing and tweaking computers, but never got around to converting a single tape! How's that for irony???

i just gmailed these to myself... i do that all the time. i made a LABEL in gmail called "technical information" and i store information to myself like that and organize... then i use "search mail" option a few months from now to find it, when i have time.

i'll have it forever!!! heehee!! thx for the info, pal!

Not fair. I just bought myself a Christmas present instead. ...grumble.....grumble.... Looks like I might have to get myself another gift as well. I'll tell the wife it's for the dog, yea thats it for the dog.

lol... you're a genius!!

_________________________________________________

And... i try to add it to cart now, and it just keeps refreshing the page... cart still shows empty. i'm sad.

 

[Avg]

I have never tried playing consoles but I have always read there is a 1-2 second delay that makes hooking up consoles a bad idea.

I've done that with a ps2 and my vivo card and had no delay, I haven't tried with the tuner yet but my guess is that people are assuming that because there is a delay when changing channels their is one when gaming, if that is the situation then they are wrong because the delay happens when changing channel because the program needs to create a new file to store the recorded video, so that you can rewind, pause and fastforward live tv.

 

[BossBorot]

From my experiences with another ATI tuner when you had a box somewhere in the advanced settings checked you could experience delayes both in tv and composite inputs. The box was something like best image quality or use post processing heck I dont fully remember but it implied hey check this if you want the image to look better. Basically if you had this checked sometimes in tv the audio and visual would go out of sync, because I asume that they are doing post processing on the image, and over composite sometimes the games would lag. After I unchecked that box it tended to be fine. Also tuners tend to have bad settings for composite when you first hook them up and the colors of your games will look to dark and blue, at least this was the case with the tv wonder pro. Basically if you dont enable any extra processing of the image you should be fine and take the time to adjust other settings.

 

[Avg]

From my experiences with another ATI tuner when you had a box somewhere in the advanced settings checked you could experience delayes both in tv and composite inputs. The box was something like best image quality or use post processing heck I dont fully remember but it implied hey check this if you want the image to look better. Basically if you had this checked sometimes in tv the audio and visual would go out of sync, because I asume that they are doing post processing on the image, and over composite sometimes the games would lag. After I unchecked that box it tended to be fine. Also tuners tend to have bad settings for composite when you first hook them up and the colors of your games will look to dark and blue, at least this was the case with the tv wonder pro. Basically if you dont enable any extra processing of the image you should be fine and take the time to adjust other settings.

Let me ask you something, when you say you changed the settings did you have something like a "control panel" like the ones available for video cards or straight from the application, because I just wanted to know if I could make changes that would effect the whole system instead of just one app.

 

[BossBorot]

When I would install the apps and the drivers some launch bar would initialize when your started up windows, but I turned it off via msconfig and just put a tv shortcut on my desktop. Settings are brought up by right clicking on an active instance of the program. So basically, at least how I used it, the settings where only active for that tv program. However all of the inputs where handled through that program so the settings applied to whatever input you where using at the time. Im sure that the software that comes with this card is prob different, at least in looks as my card is over 2 years old, but the program ATi supplies prob works in a similar manner. Note this is when the card is used under non media center edition of windows xp I have no clue how these cards work under media center.

all of the changes where done though supplied ati software so changes prob only take effect in that one ati program. If you where to use another capture program I would suspect that you would need to change settings in that program as well.

 

[darkcow]

could you test for me please by pluggin up a xbox or ps2 or something. it would be very much appreciated.


i would love to play some halo2 on my lcd screen



(also does it have a yellow rca cable in or w/e its called, but if it doesn't its an easy fix with a VCR and a coax)

 

[Avg]

@BossBorot

I don't have that app, and I have an ATi tuner, let me check the cd again.

 

[heezer7]

Before I had a ATI TV Wonder PCI (different than this one) and I found that games over some software programs was ok, and laggy over others. I believe I used Power VCR to play games w/o lag, but it has been a while. I don't remember which app it was for sure. You just have to find one that does not include the pause feature so the video is not being buffered and in turn delayed.

 

[Avg]

Before I had a ATI TV Wonder PCI (different than this one) and I found that games over some software programs was ok, and laggy over others. I believe I used Power VCR to play games w/o lag, but it has been a while. I don't remember which app it was for sure. You just have to find one that does not include the pause feature so the video is not being buffered and in turn delayed.

I think VLC would work

 

[BossBorot]

@BossBorot

I don't have that app, and I have an ATi tuner, let me check the cd again.

just download ATi multimedia control center via this page just find your card from the tv tuner list and download the components.

I dont currently have access to my normal computer, I am away for christmas, so I cannot show pics of a ps2 ran off of my older ATi tuner. I have some files from some recorded ps1 and ps2 games but they are in the .vcr file format and I cant for the life of me get them to play on this computer.

 

[zexmarquies01]

you can connect your consoles via the composite inputs on the purple break out box thingy that connects to the card. Then you load whatever program it comes with to watch tv and change the displayed input to composite. Basically this card comes with everything you need to connect your consoles to your comuter. Also you can record any input so by extention you can record your games if you want to which is a very nice feature to have. Note this is also how it can be used to rip dvd's or vhs to your hdd so long as it is legal that is... so this is how you would use the card to back up old vhs tapes etc.

I personally got a deal on a tv wonder pro a long time ago but I lost that darn purple box so I think I might just have to pick this up as well.

Sweet! i didn't realize it came with that pruple box thingy! now this is REALLY making me want to get it now. Simply because my $75 27" TV doesn't exactly have the best quality.

and only 29 bucks when using google checkout....hmmmmm

i just wish i knew 100% that there would be no lag when playing a console using this. i'm not sure if someone has already said they used this with a console or not, cause i already forgot, after reading all the posts. But if someone has used this with a console, is there any lag what-so-ever at all?


EDIT: well crap, looks like buy.com is out of stock of thse, and only shows that other retailers have them in stock, and at what prices. damn, maybe i should have jumped on this when i had the chance.....

 

[Dermen]

There is no remote with that unit and the "free remote offer" is expired.

Fedex just dropped mine off and it says on the box to visit http://apps.ati.com/remoteoffer/index.asp for details on the free remote.

You get a choice to either get 50% off the MS MCE Remote or you get a free ATI Remote Wonder. You have to pay shipping either way. I will have to fine out which version of the Remote Wonder you get. I already have one of the original ones I got from geeks.com for $10 and it doesn't work that well.

It appears to be the original Remote Wonder, which is what I already have and do not like. I wish they offered the Remote Wonder II or Remote Wonder Plus.