Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!clyde.concordia.ca!ccu.umanitoba.ca!umcarls9
From: umcarls9@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Charles Carlson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: ATI VGA Wonder configurations
Message-ID: <1990Oct6.171133.21552@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Date: 6 Oct 90 17:11:33 GMT
References: <4359@husc6.harvard.edu>
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Lines: 38

In article <4359@husc6.harvard.edu> ddl@husc6.harvard.edu (Dan Lanciani) writes:
>
>	Does anyone know just what configurations of mouse port/digital
>monitor support are available (and current)?  ATI, on their BBS, has
>a statement that all *real* VGA Wonder cards include a mouse.  They
>point out that some vendors sell the ATI OEM product, "VGA1024" as
>a VGA Wonder in violation of their policy.  This appears to be true, and
>the VGA1024s they sell don't have either a mouse port or digital monitor
>support.  Ok, so that explains the low price...  However, when I ask

I have one of those VGA1024s that was advertised as a VGA Wonder.  But it
DOES have a mouse and port, and the connector for digital monitors.
The hardware design is much different than a 'REAL' VGA Wonder, it only has
1 crystal while the real Wonders I have seen have 3.
As far as the software is concerned though, it appears it can't tell the
difference between them.  I use that ATI Wonder drives from CSHOW and the
Wonder 800x600x16 drivers for Windows and all is fine.

>how much more a real VGA Wonder will cost the response is that only
>older versions of the card have digital monitor support and the included
>BIOS is several revisions behind.  (Oh, and they cost ~$45 more...)
>So, is it true that I would have to buy an out-of-date card to get
>the extra features?
>
Pity.  I had heard ATI had a new revision of the Wonder out, I didn't know
they had dropped digital monitor support.  This is a re occuring problem
with ATI.  Their first versions of a product usually have a few quirks, their
middle versions are excellent, then the last revisions they start cheapening
things up.

I heard rumor when I was shopping for my ATI that some companies were taking
the Small Wonder and putting VGA Wonder BIOSes in them, and calling them
VGA Wonders, which they definetly aren't!  I talked to ATI about it and they
said as long as I ordered one with a mouse port, I would be OK.  Well it
turned out I got the VGA1024 instead of the VGA Wonder but all the ATI drivers
seem to be working with it so its no real big deal I guess.

Charles