A good, budget-minded video card, with TV in/out ?

[Playitagainsam]

Hello, everyone

I'm thinking about upgrading my old ATI Rage Pro (4 MB) with a good, newer card. I'd like something with a full TV-out capabilities, meaning that I could use my TV set as a monitor (hmm, UT and VCD's...) I could also use audio/video inputs and I definitely need DVD support (my Creative DVD is connected to a CT7160 output card, which is also connected to the Rage Pro).

I'm thinking that 32 MB would be enough.

I'm also trying to stay within a small budget (as small as possible, actually) - keep in mind, I'm also in Canada, so I can't buy stuff from U.S. websites easily, because I pay custom taxes and a lot of shipping. So, while I would really enjoy an ATI Radeon 32, (I've seen the threads!) it's a bit too expensive still.

What would you advise, based on your market knowledge and product experience?

Thanks.


PS <edit> It seems people ask a lot about video cards (another thread just popped up as I was writing this) but they don't mention the details I'm interested in...

 

[Workin']

Hmmm, looks like the ATi Rage Fury Pro is one that fits your bill.

- 32MB AGP card
- the best TV-out of any video card (Rage Theater TV chip)
- OK TV-in/video capture (I use mine with my VCR to watch TV on my PC)
- the best DVD support of any video card (motion comp. and IDCT support)
- good 3D performance, esp. w/32-bit color (better than TNT2 almost Ultra)
- available for less than US$90

Works best with Windows 98, drivers for other OS's are dodgy. That's about the only negative. That and the typically poor support from ATi, but I haven't had any problems with mine using the latest Win 98/Me driver set.

 

[Playitagainsam]

Thank you VERY much. These are exactly the details I needed.

I saw this card for about $110 CDN in stores here, but didn't know if it would be what I need. You just made my day.

Cheers!

 

[Workin']

Glad I could help!

One thing, I wouldn't plan on using the TV as your only monitor, unless all you are going to do is watch movies and play games. That's because TV resolution is so low that text is very hard to read (that's the fault of the TV, not the video card). For example, surfing the web would be difficult using your TV as a monitor. Word processing or spreadsheets would be painful. But as long as you are aware of the limitations, you should be happy.

Another detail - with the Rage Fury Pro, your desktop resolution and refresh are &quot;slaved&quot; to the TV-out. The TV-out is limited to 800x600, 60 Hz. You can run your desktop at whatever resolution/refresh you want, but as soon as you enable TV-out your settings will change to 800x600, 60 Hz. And they don't automatically change back when you turn off the TV-out. That's a minor annoyance, since those settings are easily changed and don't require a reboot or anything like that.

If you get the card and have questions, I'd be happy to help you with any problems. Another good resource if you use an ATi video card is Rage Underground, a site dedicated to providing support when ATi lets you down.

Just thought I'd help you avoid any surprises.