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ATI AIW 8500DV vs seprate tv tuner

PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2003 2:42 pm
by oxymoron
i wanted to know which is better: ATI radeon AIW 8500DV w/ 64 MB of onboard ram, firewire ect. OR a $100 graphics card and seprate TV tuner? i want to build a new comp in march, and i was wondering, based on EXPERIENCE which is the better solution. i read all the reviews, and it seems like the 8500DV is a good card, but then i read the comment section, and its 50/50. i dont know much about the seprate TV tuner, and if any1 has good links, i wiould apricate it.

P.S.
i have lots of hardware questions coming... i am trying to build a sub $1000 system

PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2003 4:01 pm
by BuddhaTB
I've never had an ATI product so I can't comment on your first question.

As for the TV tuner, there are many models to be found on the net. The downside is that not very many reviews have been written on TV tuner cards themselves. Most of the reviews out there cover the ATI AIW series of video cards that have built in tv tuners. I would just look through Newegg.com and read the reviews written by people who have bought the cards. I find that to be somewhat helpful when trying to decide on which hardware to get. Here's the link to the tv tuner section on Newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.a ... n=tv+tuner


And if you haven't already figured it out, here's the Best place to buy computer hardware on the net.
www.Newegg.com

PostPosted: Sat Jan 18, 2003 5:54 pm
by Avatarew
I've had extensive experience with both stand alone as well as AIW tv tuner solutions.

The stand alone will always have greater performance. Expect to pay about $80-$100 for a decent tv tuner card. Anything cheaper involves serious compromises in quality.

It really depends on how you will use the tv tuner. For occasional viewing or using as another tv the AIW may suit you. For serious storing/editing features a stand alone tv tuner is your only choice.

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 1:15 am
by oxymoron
1st, thx 4 the info. i do want to record/edit shows, but now i have a new question. i dont want to spend more than $200 dollars for the graphic/tv tuner combo. what should i get? i dont want some cheapo graphic card (sis, matriox, ect). which has a better $100 or less solution: ATI or NVidia?
thx for your ans. 8) 8)

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 1:50 am
by cfitz
Hey oxymoron, fix your signature! :wink: :D Unless I am missing some counter-culture reference or have forgotten how to apply the transitive property of logical reasoning, shouldn't it read:

"Nothing is better than eternal happiness. Ham sandwiches are better than nothing. Therefore, ham sandwiches are better than eternal happiness."

instead of:

"nothing is better than eternal happiness. Ham sandwiches are better than nothing. There for, ham sandwiches are better than nothing."

cfitz

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 1:52 am
by dodecahedron
and at the same time fix the spelling error:
There for

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 1:53 am
by cfitz
dodecahedron wrote:and at the same time fix the spelling error:
There for

I already had that in the fix, but wasn't going to bother pointing it out. :wink: I didn't want to push too hard... :)

By the way, dodecahedron, I can't believe you replied to my post and thus caught me in my edit of "cultural reference" to "counter-culture" refrence. :x :wink: :) (Upon some reflection I figured the counter-culture types would be more likely to deliberately violate the transitive property than the normal cultural types...)

cfitz

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 1:56 am
by Avatarew
Not too bash you but you have to be realistic. If you used pricewatch or any other of price finder you would see the only possible AIW type that falls into your category of "quality" is a Radeon 8500DV.

Ask yourself: do you need another graphics card? Or do you need tv tuner? Because the answers will be different for each question.

For $100 or less it is neither ATI nor Nvidia. It is either a Pinnacle or Hauppauge tv tuner PCI card (never use USB version.)

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 2:26 am
by dodecahedron
cfitz wrote:
dodecahedron wrote:and at the same time fix the spelling error:
There for

I already had that in the fix, but wasn't going to bother pointing it out. :wink: I didn't want to push too hard... :)

By the way, dodecahedron, I can't believe you replied to my post and thus caught me in my edit of "cultural reference" to "counter-culture" refrence. :x :wink: :) (Upon some reflection I figured the counter-culture types would be more likely to deliberately violate the transitive property than the normal cultural types...)

cfitz

i like ham sandwiches... :D :P

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 2:30 am
by dodecahedron
anyway, oxymoron is correct:

oxymoron wrote:nothing is better than eternal happiness. Ham sandwiches are better than nothing. There for, ham sandwiches are better than nothing.


as far as logical reasoning goes, this is true; since
oxymoron wrote:Ham sandwiches are better than nothing. There for, ham sandwiches are better than nothing.
is a true statement.

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 2:32 am
by dodecahedron
besides, considering his hadle name, i would'nt be surprised if this is intentional.
counter culture!

oxymoron, whatddya say?

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 3:37 am
by dhc014
I am extremely happy with my 8500DV. The Remote Wonder is fun, and it's nice to have one less card in my case. I kind of get annoyed when watching a "regular" television since I am used to the tiny pause between channel changes because of the digital tuner. Waiting for the channel to change on a TV set annoys me :) I bought my 8500DV about 2 months after its release and I think that the software and drivers have been greatly improved over time. I really don't have any problems with this card. It is not a very fast card due to the 5.5ns RAM and the core/mem clock frequencies of 210/190 respectively :cry: I would recommend either the 128MB AIW 8500 over this card if you want more speed.

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 11:12 am
by cfitz
dodecahedron wrote:anyway, oxymoron is correct:

oxymoron wrote:nothing is better than eternal happiness. Ham sandwiches are better than nothing. There for, ham sandwiches are better than nothing.


as far as logical reasoning goes, this is true; since
oxymoron wrote:Ham sandwiches are better than nothing. There for, ham sandwiches are better than nothing.
is a true statement.

Ahh... going the tautology route, eh? :wink: :D Yes, I suppose that is a possibility, but then why lead off with "Nothing is better than eternal happiness?" Just to throw us off the trail? :P

cfitz

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 11:13 am
by cfitz
By the way, oxymoron, if you do decide to go the AIW route, Best Buy has the 64MByte AIW 8500DV on sale for $149.99 after MIR this week:

http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=488 ... e=11101499

(I thought I would add something constructive to make up for the ham sandwich debacle I started... :D )

cfitz

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 11:59 am
by oxymoron
thx for the responces (and fixing my quote) 8) 8)

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 12:23 pm
by cfitz
dodecahedron wrote:i like ham sandwiches... :D :P

Hmmm??? :o

cfitz

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2003 10:51 pm
by dodecahedron
yes.
especially ham and cheese sandwiches! :P