Date: July 22nd, 2003
Article by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner, Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Product was donated by: ATI Technologies
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COMPANY PROFILE

ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions. An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI is the world's foremost visual processor unit (VPU) provider and is dedicated to deliver leading-edge performance solutions for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstation, set-top and digital television, game console and handheld markets. With 2001 revenues in excess of US $1 billion, ATI has more than 1,900 employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

ATI's All-in-Wonder series of cards have been nothing short of a success since their initial release a couple years ago. There is not a single card on the market that can match their performance, their features, and their uncanny ability to make a buyer never go back to a straight videocard ever again. With leading edge technology packed into every single possible feature, the all-in-wonder encompasses everything a computer enthusiest, a gamer, a multimedia professional or the average consumer user would ever want in a videocard.

Today I will be reviewing the undisputable king of videocards in the PC computing world today, the 128meg ATI All-in-Wonder 9800pro.

PRODUCT HISTORY (From ATI)

Since its introduction in 1996, ATI has sold over 3 Million ALL-IN-WONDER graphics cards. The original ALL-IN-WONDER was the first single-slot product in the industry to offer 2D, 3D, and multimedia video acceleration, TV output, an advanced TV tuner, and video capture. ATI was a technology leader with its first ALL-IN-WONDER video card (AIW) and over the years the ALL-IN-WONDER cards have been established as the ultimate multimedia cards.

The release of the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO in Fall of 2002 set a new standard for multimedia products. With over a dozen awards, the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO defined the ultimate in PC based home entertainment options. Powered by the world-leading RADEON 9800 VPU (video processing unit) with 128 MB DDR memory, the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO provides unsurpassed 3D graphics, top-quality DVD playback, intelligent TV on your PC with a stereo TV Tuner, TV-ON-DEMAND™ timeshifting, digital VCR with MPEG-2 compression, analog and digital video capture and editing and much more. In a few short months the ALL-IN_WONDER 9800 PRO garnered over a dozen industry awards, including PC Gamer - Editors' Choice Award, PC World - Products We Love Award, and Sharky Extreme - Extreme Hardware Award.

Building on this success, ATI is pleased to present the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO. Powered by the RADEON 9800, the best performing and most technologically advanced visual processing units in the world, offering second generation cinematic architecture, supporting Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 and capable of real-time feature-film quality graphics. With 128 MB of high performance DDR memory, industry leading DVD/video playback, TV Out, and digital flat panel monitor (DVI-I) support in addition to TV in with Theater 200 ™, ATI's stereo encode / decode chip, the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO is the ultimate gamer - home theater enthusiast product.

ATI's Theater 200 chip, a third generation video capture part offers unparalleled support for TV decode. Theater 200 is a single chip analog video and stereo audio processor and is supported world wide.

The ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO graphics card is accompanied by our acclaimed radio frequency (RF) REMOTE WONDER and HDTV Component Video Adapter. The REMOTE WONDER provides full control of the multimedia software and works without requiring line-of-site. The component output adapter delivers the highest quality PC output on a TV or HDTV screen.

The industry leading software suite, Catalyst will be included with the ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO, delivering easy-to-use software for accessing the multimedia and graphics features. Catalyst 3.3 brings easy to use control panels to help users manage their settings, helping them finding the right balance between performance and image-quality. New software for the REMOTE WONDER supports mouse speed control settings and EAZYLOOK™, ATI's latest skin. EAZYLOOK™ provides users on screen feedback for remote control selection when used on larger displays, like TVs. Lastly, it includes the Multimedia Center software, version 8.5, which provides the user with an industry leading suite of applications. Along with the software, CATALYST includes unified, Microsoft Windows Hardware Qualified (WHQL) certified drivers to ensure users have the best customer solution possible.

With the introduction of the new ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO, ATI continues to deliver the best-in-class TV, video, and 3D graphics card and raises the bar for transforming your PC into the ultimate home entertainment device.