Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!pasteur!ames!lll-winken!uunet!tektronix!tekcrl!tekgvs!keithe
From: keithe@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Keith Ericson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: VGA Card query: Video 7's V-RAM card
Keywords: VGA V-RAM
Message-ID: <5032@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM>
Date: 1 May 89 17:36:21 GMT
References: <12361@hodge.UUCP>
Reply-To: keithe@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Keith Ericson)
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton,  OR.
Lines: 43

In article <12361@hodge.UUCP> jdm@hodge.UUCP (jdm) writes:
>
>	I need your basic "completely IBM compatable, do everything
>	for under $500" VGA card.  So far I've found the best so far 
>	(I believe) are the ATI VGAWONDER card and Video 7 V-RAM
>	VGA card.
>
>	Am I right or wrong?  Anybody own either of these cards?
>	Praises? Problems?  Anybody heard any poop at all?  Got 
>	another card to recommend?
>

We've been evaluating VGA cards for internal use - in-house
developed EE CAD tools.  Based on our evaluation, biased quite
heavily by "how fast does it deaw to the screen?" and "how
compatible is it with high-density text modes (132 column,
Wordperfect preview and return, etc)  I find it difficult to believe
that the ATI WonderCard (the one with the buil-in mouse interface,
right?) and the Video7 VRAM are even mentioned in the same sentence.

We wouldn't have the ATI product (we have a nickname for it) on a bet!
It is slow (some 8-bit EGA cards are faster!) and simply incompatible
with our text->graphics->text programs. (See my earlier posting, "Why
I'm rejecting the ATI WOnder VGA Card.")

The Video7 VRAM card is the best one we've found.  Except it's too
expensive.  Can you get a VRAM for under $500?  Its little brother, the
FastWrite, is almost as good, not having quite the speed nor the
high-density graphics modes (800x600x256 or higher).

These are, of course, the opinions of myself and a couple of co-workers
and do not necessarily reflect the position of Tektronix, Inc., nor
their subsidiaries, assigns nor heirs. (Jeez I love that lawyer (liar)
talk! :-)

We're in the process of evaluating a couple of Tatung VGA cards.
One uses the Video7 VGA controller IC, the other uses a Paradise
(Western Digital) VGA controller IC.  I'll let you know what we find
out when we're done, but that might be a little bit of a while.  (We
have to get a replacement for the Video7 clone since it just isn't
working correctly and we can't figure out why...)

kEITHe