ATI HDTV Wonder

As part of a story I'm writing about Holiday Technology for Teens, a few companies have sent some products for me to check out. I've already mentioned the Tablet PC, which is pretty fantastic (too bad HP wanted it back), but today ATI sent me a couple of products to check out.

One of which is the HDTV Wonder, a PCI add-in card, antenna, and remote control. Seattle was a test market for HDTV, and thus, all the local stations are broadcasting in HD. I'm about 30 minutes or so from Seattle, and the bundled antenna does a decent job. That is, once I dug some longer coax out of the garage and moved the antenna across the room to the window. Even so, reception isn't great, occasionally causing hiccups. Probably the most impressive station in HD, KCTS (a local PBS station) was nearly impossible to lock in a signal on, which is a disappointment.

That said, I'm very impressed with the board so far, but it's only been a couple of hours. I'll have to give it another week or so before I pass judgement entirely, but so far, it's certainly living up to expectations. I really like the "ThruView" technology, that overlays a transparent video window over your current work, so you can continue to see the screen, even with a program running full-screen. Very slick. I'll have to see if I can dig up a cheap amplified antenna that might give me a stronger overall signal.

I can't wait to see how The West Wing looks on this thing! :)