Date: March 8th, 2004
Article by: Roger (Owner, Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner, Head Editor)
Product was donated by: ATI Technologies
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CORPORATE PROFILE

Founded in 1985, ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative visual processor solutions. A pioneer, an innovator and a market leader in the graphics industry, ATI provides cutting-edge visual processor technologies for the PC, Macintosh, workstation and notebook markets plus consumer markets including hand-held, set-top box and digital TVs.

ATI's revenues for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2002 were in excess of US $1 billion. ATI has over 1,900 full-time employees supporting customers from its headquarters in Markham, Ontario, Canada, as well as from offices in Barbados, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, The United Kingdom and The United States.

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

With the growing popularity of HTPCs (Home Theater Personal Computer), many people are straying away from traditional VCRs and DVD players, choosing instead to base their entertainment center around their PC. You honestly do not need a state of the art system to accomplish this either, although there are some particulars which you do have to choose carefully.

For me, one of the most important has always been the remote. I know this may seem silly to some, but it certainly is not to me. There is nothing more frustrating than having to get up to change the channel or even to pause a DVD. Especially if your PC isn't in the same room as your TV (perhaps separated by a wall, as mine is).

Intro the Remote Wonder II (RWII) from ATI. I have had the pleasure of using the Remote Wonder I (RWI) which came with my ATI All-IN-Wonder 9700Pro for some time, and I have fallen in love with it. When the chance came to review the RWII, I jumped on it. The original RWI was introduced with the All-In-Wonder 8500DV, several years ago. It served its purpose well, and I've no doubt the RWII will also. The remote operates on radio frequency instead of an infrared signal, which means that you do not need a line of sight to use it. The RWII has a new range as well, which means you can actually use it up to 60 feet away from the base (as opposed to the RWI's range of 25 feet).

The remote isn't just for couch potatoes, however. PowerPoint users will find it quite useful when they are presenting their slideshows.