porges@inmet.UUCP (03/30/89)
/* Written 12:35 pm Mar 27, 1989 by ramesh@cbnewsl.UUCP in comp.sys.ibm.pc */ >Does anyone out there have experience with the ATI VGA Wonder card and the >above minitor? Does it work reliably in all the VGA and high-res modes? >Any recommendation/comments welcome. Does the card come with a mouse? I have the VGA Wonder but only an RGB monitor, so I can't speak to the Multisync question, but yes it comes with a mouse which plugs into the board, making it a bus mouse. I got mine 1 week ago and it hasn't broken yet :-). Actually, it does really cool 16-color magic even on my RGB monitor. -- Don Porges porges@inmet.com {...mirror,ima}!inmet!porges
porges@inmet (04/05/89)
Well, I got a couple of requests for more info on the VGA Wonder, and both
my attempts at mailing replies bounced, so here we go...
Here's what I can tell you about the VGA Wonder:
1) I can't tell you first hand about its performance except for on RGB monitors.
I got it because it can give EGA graphics on RGB monitors, and is thus the
cheapest way to go to EGA from CGA, and allows a VGA upgrade with a multisync-type
monitor. The peformance seems to only flicker in hi-res mode (640 by 320) and then
only if adjacent scan lines have very different intensities...I think. Anyway,
many images in this mode are flicker-free.
2) Here's what the manual says about modes: all regular modes up to VGA (all 17
VGA modes, whatever they are), plus:
640X400 in 256 from 262,144 colors
640X480 in 256 from 262,144 colors
800X600 in 256 from 262,144 colors
1024X768 in 16 from 262,144 colors
These special modes requires drivers, either included or from the software vendor.
The included drivers are for ACAD, GEM, Lotus (123, maybe others), Ventura, and
MSWindows.
3) The included bus mouse is Microsoft-compatible. Setup is a bit confusing
because I don't know what primary address and secondary address is about, but
after some guesswork I got it to work OK. Also, the setup program that you use
to configure the mouse doesn't take effect until you repower-on the system;
rebooting alone doesn't do it.
My VGA Wonder is from PC Brand, which has big ads in PC Magazine and such. The
advertized price of 329 is wrong; they charge 349. The board works either with
or without a RAM-resident software driver, so I guess it must be doing its
magic in hardware.
-- Don Porges
porges@inmet.com
{...mirror,ima}!inmet!porgesvg55611@ihuxy.ATT.COM (Gopal) (04/12/89)
In article <149000031@inmet> porges@inmet writes: [stuff deleted] >only if adjacent scan lines have very different intensities...I think. Anyway, >many images in this mode are flicker-free. > >2) Here's what the manual says about modes: all regular modes up to VGA (all 17 >VGA modes, whatever they are), plus: > >640X400 in 256 from 262,144 colors >640X480 in 256 from 262,144 colors >800X600 in 256 from 262,144 colors >1024X768 in 16 from 262,144 colors I have tried all the modes using an NEC multisync I and all seem to perform well except for the 1024x768 mode where I had overlap and fuzziness of the image. This may not happen with other monitors (anyone else tried this ?) Note that you have to play around with the sync and vertical size controls to get the image right in many of the modes on this monitor. The 1024x768 mode seemed to allow only 16/64 colors, and not 262,144. ATI recently shipped a new ROM package for the board, haven't tried it, so don't know what difference it makes. Might improve many of the above. All in all, a good buy. (No association with ATI). Venu P. Gopal UUCP: att!ihuxy!vg55611 Internet: vg55611@ihuxy.att.com BITNET: com%"vg55611@ihuxy.att.com" or com%"vg55611%ihuxy@research.att.com" Save 500 million keystrokes a day; silence those silent letters forever.
jb@aablue.UUCP (John B Scalia) (04/13/89)
In article <2918@ihuxy.ATT.COM> vg55611@ihuxy.UUCP (55611-Gopal,V.P.) writes: >[stuff deleted] > >I have tried all the modes using an NEC multisync I and all seem to perform >well except for the 1024x768 mode where I had overlap and fuzziness of the >image. This may not happen with other monitors (anyone else tried this ?) > >Note that you have to play around with the sync and vertical size controls >to get the image right in many of the modes on this monitor. > >The 1024x768 mode seemed to allow only 16/64 colors, and not 262,144. If you want higher resolution displays here my $.02. The NEC multi I is not for 1024x768. You want the new NEC multisync 3D, which offers VGA compatibility and IBM 8514A emulation. This will give you 1024x768 INTERLACED ONLY. If your controller produces 1024x768 NON-INTERLACED, you need the Multisync Plus to do it properly. IMHO, a 14" display is too tiny to use effectively at this resolution. I'd recommend at least Mitsubishi's Diamond Scan 16 or a good 19" monitor. My glasses are already thick enough :-)! This is not an invitation to flames, but I use and sell this stuff every day. I personally like Mitsubishi monitors because they look sharper and cost the same. Net discounts apply :-). -- A A Blueprint Co., Inc. - Akron, Ohio +1 216 794-8803 voice UUCP: {uunet!}aablue!jb Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who FidoNet: 1:157/697 wants to spend their life in an institution. EchoNet: US:OH/AKR.0