Basic video card help

[SanjayBU]

Hey, I'm not big into gaming, but have lots of movies/videos on my computer that I want to watch on my TV instead of my 17" CRT. I was wondering if someone could suggest what card would be best to fit my basic needs. I was looking at the ATI Radeon 7000... would that be ok? Thanks in advance!

 

[John]

Let us know your budget so we can better assist you. In all honesty the Radeon 7000 is pretty low end material. If anything spend a few bucks more and get a 7500.

 

[Schadenfroh]

for your needs it would be, but would probably go for a geforce4 mx or a 7500

 

[SanjayBU]

I'm a cheapo - again just lookin for something that'd hook my 400mhz 192 mb ram machine up to my TV ... budget's running about $50 or less... but will spend more if you think it's really worth it...

Thanks for the quick response

 

[charlie21]

I saw some used Matrox cards with TV-out in FS/FT earlier today for 40-50 bucks. They have a good reputation for image quality. Stay away from nVidia. My GeForce4 Ti4200, while it rocks for 3D, sucks for 2D and TV.

 

[Schadenfroh]

clost to the cheapest i can find

2d quality on nvidia cards vary, for example my asus has just as good 2d as the atis at school.

 

[SanjayBU]

Thanks Schadenfroh, charlie21...

Is the radeon 7000 better quality than that chaintech u linked me to? Cuz it's like mid 30's at newegg, i don't mind spending an extra $10 for quality...

And is the matrox better or worse than radeon for just basic TV out? do you guys know?

 

[Chobits]

my msi geforce4mx420 has great tvout quality....just from what I know avoid the newest ones as the tvouts on them suck ass considering the cards are like 29.99 new...

 

[TronX]

What is wrong with these people here...shhsh.. lol nevermind.. j/k

I think what your looking for is an ATI 9000 All-In-wonder.
http://www.ati.com/products/pc/aiw9000pro/index.html


You may need to register to the 3GM forum to read this link.
However, I feel it's worth it because of the video review and
the pictures of everything that comes in the box.
http://3dgameman.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11653


Here is the VR of this card, no need to register to see this one.<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/ati/aiw_radeon_9000_pro/video_review.html">
http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/ati/aiw_radeon_9000_pro/video_review.html</a>

 

[EglsFly]

I wouldn't worry about video quality when your displaying video on a crappy TV (unless you have a HDTV that is!).
Go with the cheapest you can find.

 

[TronX]

I've heard from more than one person that the WinFast VC100 XP TV LEADTEK WINFAST is only 30$
at www.newegg.com and does the TV job just fine. You would need a TV with S-video or line-in ports
otherwise the All-in-wonder cards have the coax cables needed for older TV's sets.