Customer Reviews

NEW+ATI Radeon 8500 All In Wonder Graphics+TV Tuner card

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Well this product is serious about it too! I have been into computer video creating and editing for many years, have tried many different products over the years. Until now video editing hardware has been either too expensive for the average Joe to afford or too junky to do the job properly. But the ATI ALL IN WONDER RADON 8500 does the job so good I still can't believe it. Excellent and fast rendering of edited video, no dropped frames anymore, does MPEG1 & MPEG2 beautifully and works great on Windows XP.

Bottom line on this card is "Its Fantastic"! This is the first user review I've posted but I thought I should given how incredible this product is. Installation under XP Pro was a piece of cake. Everything functioned as advertised and the TV function is exceptional. The RF Remote is a dream to use as well. Well worth the money if you want a "Do Everything" card. DVD, Games, TV, Video etc...
I Overclocked this card up to 320Mhz GPU and 620MHZ DDR, great OC card!
Runs very stable at Max setting!

This is much better deal from ATI All in wonder 64 MB.
Because the 128 MB not only has more memory but also runs faster from 64 MB, The 128Mb runs at 275Mhz and 550Mhz memory.
The 64Mb runs at 230Mhz and 460Mhz memory.
So 128Mb is much better deal.
I did not had any problems with this card it worked as soon as I got off the box.
After 2 minutes the card was Installed and played the way it should.
With Athlon XP 2200+ in 3dmark 2001 score I had amazing 1104 points Score! Can get even higher if overclocked!
Very high score it is really fast card, highly recomand this card for hardcore gamers and multimedia people.
Best of this card I love the remonte control, remonte has same feautures as your mouse, very neat toy and high perfomance speed!
((((((5 stars))))))

I bought this product and im amazed...if your into gaming and video editing this card is for you. Im 14 and i do graphics. With a 16mb video card it was so hard to do anything. Also i do a good deal of gaming,so imagine how hard it was for me.When i got this i set it up in a matter of 5 min or so. The Tv out feature works great because now i have a second moniter to do whatever i want.If your an all around gamer,praphic artist,and you just want a great card,i suggest you get this.

The idea of this card is terrific - get great video, watch TV on your computer, record TV shows just like Tivo. But despite the fact that I generally know my way around computers, I have not been able to get this card working after spending weeks trying various combinations of settings, driver updates, reinstallations, and BIOS updates. Every time I watch video on the PC, the system suddenly reboots, usually within a few minutes. Unfortunately, I am past the time period where I can return this card - for the money I paid, I should have bought a regular TV instead. I may try another TV tuner, but it will not be one made by ATI.

questionable customer service. I have nothing negative to say about the performance and capabilities of this card, as you can find out with numerous in-depth reviews on the web. However, the ATI customer service only offers a "complimentary" 3-month service support, after that, you get to call a 900 number for tech support, or you can file an on-line inquiry, which just gets you a standard response of pointing to the FAQ on their web site. So, after 3 months, if you have anything urgent, better be ready to jack up that phone bill of yours.

questionable customer service. I have nothing negative to say about the performance and capabilities of this card, as you can find out with numerous in-depth reviews on the web. However, the ATI customer service only offers a "complimentary" 3-month service support, after that, you get to call a 900 number for tech support, or you can file an on-line inquiry, which just gets you a standard response of pointing to the FAQ on their web site. So, after 3 months, if you have anything urgent, better be ready to jack up that phone bill of yours.

Bought the 8500 as quite an upgrade from my old TNT2. The performance was as-expected for just over a week, when I began to experience very strange video effects in all Direct3D games. I suffered through ATI's mock-customer assistance for almost two weeks. I had done most of the leg-work before even getting in touch with them (replaced my old board, which worked fine, upgraded drivers, DirectX, uninstall-reinstall). ATI customer support was as useless as a third shoe.

As of last night I hauled my board back to Circuit City and exchanged it for a GeForceTi4200 (considerably cheaper). I'm getting better frame rates from the GeForce 64MB than I did with the 128MB 8500.

Overall performance was ok when it worked ... 3 stars, but ATI's horrific response to customer service requests is shameful. Buyer beware. If you have good luck, I'm sure you'll be satisfied (although there are cheaper boards with better performance out there), and if you have bad luck, good luck!

ATI graphic cards are the best... Sure, only when they work! I encourage all future buyers to read and read reviews about ATI cards, especially in between the lines where you'll find all the details and future pain.

My 8500 ATI failed already twice and my remote control just stopped working after installing the replacement card. The real problem is with software. ATI is just uncapable to write drivers correctly. Therefore each time you install the last pack, something goes wrong, either the TV stop working, or the sound disapears, etc. And you have to reinstall the entire pack every update, i.e. every 2 months you have to go through the most painfull software installation ever, which is going to take in between 2 and 3 hours and that you'll have to redo in between 1 and 2 times to get things working. You'll have to manage yourself dealing with the registry, make you one back-up, etc. By the way, on the last update - 09-2003, I was asked to pay 10 dollars to have the DVD player working!

Of course each time you have to dug in your computer to remove and reinstall the card manually. Invariably, one day you go wrong and your computer does not reboot. I saved mine with an air pulser because there was dust on the board.

My best experience with gaming was when my ATI card was in repair! I put the replacement one. Zanzhara does not work anymore. Try Matrix? Don't work more than 2 second before scratching.

SO, waht shoud I do? Probably waiting for the next driver update, sometime in November or December.

Merry Christmas.

Plain and simple. If you want a great card for a reasonable price, this card is for you. I was pleasantly suprised at the quality, even on an LCD monitor. The bundled software is great, and you will never experience better gaming! Keep in mind, that the ATI TV will only work if you have a TV Tuner. (Many other high end graphics cards have a tuner built in). In my case, I just liked the idea of finally getting a "128MB" card in my system. Certainly an upgrade from my TNT Model 64 (32 MB) Great card, excellent price!