ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro: Multimedia Refresh

Conclusion

This isn't a bad time to be looking into a multimedia solution, particularly concerning the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro. Of the All-in-Wonders available, there is little doubt that this may be perhaps the most desirable one, even surpassing All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro and 9800 Pro. With an FM tuner, a new breakout design, and a good performance-to-cost ratio, the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro lives up to its hype, and it is in keeping with the “all in one” legacy. Some have even suggested that they would trade in their All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro or 9800 Pro for these new features.

The All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro isn't going to have the performance of the fastest offerings from ATI, but will provide good performance in 3D environments, which is why we have previously recommended a Radeon 9600 Pro for those more conscience of their budget.

If price is a large factor, you might just want to jump down to the All-in-Wonder 9000 Pro, but this will limit the ability to enjoy DX9 features. For those that own older All-in-Wonders, it isn't a bad time to consider upgrading (especially if you are eyeing the new features). But if you are waiting on DX9 titles, you may just want to hold off a bit till you need the support.

Then again, if 3D performance is top priority, you may want to go with an All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro or 9700 Pro (depending on how much extra distance you have to go). Just keep in mind that both are $150+ more than the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro. On top of that, there are several key features of which you won't be able to take advantage. If you want both, you should hold off until ATI refreshes their high-end segment of this product line.

As you may or may not know, Windows XP Media Center Edition is a version of Windows that includes TIVO-type applications for watching, recording, and time shifting television. We have had the pleasure of playing around with the XP Media Center Edition, around the time of the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro review and recently, at Computex 2003. Back in November, we heard that All-in-Wonders weren't compatible with Windows XP Media Center Edition because, according to Microsoft, one of the requirements for the new operating system is a fully hardware-based MPEG-2 encoder. The most recent All-in-Wonders, including the All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro and 9800 Pro, can do part of the encoding process in their hardware, but it isn't a fully hardware based MPEG-2 encoder. Therefore, it wouldn't be compatible with Windows XP Media Center Edition. When we learned this, we were very disappointed because All-in-Wonders would prove to be a “tried and true” product to couple perfectly with Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Previously, ATI was quick to point out that Windows XP Media Center Edition is being offered as an OEM-only operating system, and Microsoft had no plans to bring it to the consumer shelf in the near future. Back then, this was a true statement, and it still remains to be true. Though, this still meant that ATI was handicapped when trying to convince OEMs to use All-in-Wonder cards for the basis around which to build their Media Center Edition PC. This isn't small financial peas when you consider OEMs buy in large volumes.

This has recently changed for the better, as ATI and Microsoft have announced jointly the All-in-Wonder Encode, the first software MPEG-2 encoder for Windows Media Center Edition. Essentially, this should be a space saver because there is no need to use an add-in card for MPEG-2 encoding, which populates a PCI slot. The ability to use one card instead of two means that OEMs will be able to manufacturer PCs cheaper, faster, and lighter. Previously, software-based decoding was thought to be too slow, but now, that doesn't seem to be the case, as ATI promises the same or better performance. All-in-Wonder Encode is available with all of the All-in-Wonder product line, news that bodes well. This works in combination of VideoSoap to improve picture quality, and should make MPEG-2 compression work more efficiently. Intel is also part of this equation, as All-in-Wonder Encode is promoted to work very well with Hyper-Threading. We will have to wait and see if AMD's new 64-bit processors have the ability to keep up in this respect, but this is only if we are able to see an All-in-Wonder based Media Center Edition PCs built on an AMD system.

Even though All-in-Wonder is a consumer-oriented product, those who want it with Windows XP Media Center Edition will have to buy it from one of Microsoft's manufacturer partners. Right now, your best bet is Dell, which has all of their Media Center Edition PCs based on All-in-Wonders. Since it isn't an available product to the consumer market, Media Center Edition will only work with an All-in-Wonder if All-in-Wonder Encode is loaded. This requires a special driver stack; thus, buying a non-All-in-Wonder based Media Center Edition PC and putting in an All-in-Wonder will be unsuccessful.

The words of caution laid in our last All-in-Wonder review haven't been lifted completely, but things are going in the right direction. And while the support for the operating system is there, the upgrade options are a bit complicated, since the OS isn't available commercially. You can still be rest assured that if it does become available (we suspect it might in the future, but not for some time), your purchase of an All-in-Wonder will be ready. With that in mind, if you are looking for a great buy of multimedia functionality and 3D performance, we would strongly suggest that you take a look at the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro. At a $50 premium over Radeon 9600 XT and $150 less than its nearest big brother, things aren't looking too bad; in fact, they are quite tempting.

So as time ticks away towards the holiday season, ATI is basking in the fact that all is right in the universe (high sales tend to help this). With sugar plums dancing in their heads, it indeed looks like it will be a very red and white holiday season. Time will tell if we will yet need to add some shades of green and black...