I ran everything on a test machine awhile back with G400 and it was just fine.
You won’t be able to use the Aero theme but PS should be fine. But I would certainly find a new "expert."
Bob
Matrox has done a very poor job of keeping up with the times. With previous versions of Windows like XP it was ok. However, with Vista it is a very poor choice and Matrox doesn’t seem to be interested in fixing their lagging product line. If you want to to use the Vista Aero interface or any of the other nifty interface things you need a video card with more memory. I would recommend the ATI Radeon series and I personally wouldn’t go for one with less that 512MB of RAM.
Robert
I have a brand new PC with a Matrox G550 Dual Head because my handler told me that that was the best graphics card for 2D applications.
Unless you’re using a CRT then there’s no advantage to the Matrox product. With DVi signals to LCDs the 2D quality is excellent pretty well with all cards.
Needing a PCIe card for my new system I bought a Sapphire Radeon x1300 which has a heat sync instead of a fan so it’s quiet. It also runs the Vista Aero interface.
I was a longtime Matrox user (since the early Millennium days) and had a G550 before moving to ATI.
Russell
It is really a shame that Matrox has chosen not to keep up. In their day they had very good video cards. However, by today’s standards, what is required today for today’s modern OSes and applications (not talking games here) they have really let things go. Also, with the way things are moving with applications, OSes, etc. they are only going to fall father behind. Very much a shame really.
Robert
Thank you all for your very useful advise.
I have two CRTs but might of course change that in the future. I’ll run the Vista Upgrade Adviser. I did not think of that as I have no upgrade, but a new machine. But I’ll try it.
I am not very much interested in this Aero-stuff, but I do want to play DVDs and it would seem that that is not supported either by my card.
In fact, if I read well, it would be advisable to buy another card with lots of memory. Can I do that myself? I’d hate to go back to that handler! Can I install a second graphics card in my machine without great trouble? Or exchange the existing one for another one? Or should I really leave that to an expert? I did install a USB2-card in my old machine, so if it is not more difficult than that… But usually it is not the physical installation but the programming that gives trouble. Any comments on this?
Thank you all so much!
Does the Radeon X1300 support the use of two monitors at the same time?
wrote in message
Does the Radeon X1300 support the use of two monitors at the same time?
Yes.
You may want to look at different DVD playing programs. Some of them require DirectX, which is probably why your Matrox doesn’t work (DirectX uses the same advanced features of video cards that games use). I’m sure there are some that don’t use DirectX, though.
I did and power-dvd is OK, but I am very annoyed by this handler who sells me a card that is in fact obsolete and certainly not "future-resistent". He should have known it and told me. Even if I am no gamer, there are other functions I may want to use. DVD playing belongs in the 2D category for me and he should not have sold me a card that cannot play DVDs under Vista. And then later tell me Vista does not support DVD playing. AAAARRRGGHHHH!!!! But here I find support from nice and knowledgeable people. Thank you all!
Playing DVDs under Vista or XP is not a video card thing. It is a software thing. Windows Media Player will do this. Now of course if you want a decent screen resolution and color depth then a video card with a nice amount of RAM would allow you to do that. Otherwise even the Matrox with its very limited amount of RAM will allow you to play Video DVDs. What you need or need to understand whichever the case may be is that you need DVD playback software and Windows Media Player (while not the nicest bit of software) will do the job. Something like PowerDVD would be a better choice as it is designed for that.
The fact that your tech-ni-nerd is telling you that Windows Vista won’t play a video DVD suggests you really should run and hide from this guy. Apparently his isn’t working with both tech-ni-nerd paddles in the water. Windows XP is also capable of playing Video DVDs.
Also, Video playback bit it DVD (MPEG 2) or anything else has nothing to do with 3D. Video even if it has 3D elements in it has been rendered in 2D and so makes no use of any part of the 3D capabilities of your video card.
Robert
Well that is interesting on Windows XP I watched DVD videos all the time in Windows Media Player and I never downloaded or installed a thing. Though this doesn’t really matter since we are talking mostly about the hardware. The DVD playback and any problems there of is not due to the Matrox card. It maybe a poor or weak card by today’s standards but in this case it is not the source of the problem.
Robert
That is very interesting. I have a laptop (with NVidea7600 or something) with Vista Home Premium and the Media Centre will play DVDs, but not the Media Player. It simply does not recognize DVDs. My new PC with the Matrox card has Vista Ultimate and there the Centre will not play either. On my laptop, the Center gives the possibility "DVD" in the opening page; that possibility is lacking on my new PC.
This guy where I bought it, was so very obviously not interested in helping me after he receives my money! He also advised to to buy a new monitor because I had flimmering. A change to 75 or higher frequency helped, a tip I also got from this forum here! His co-worker, who had helped me get the PC in the taxi, even said he did not remember me!!! If ever you are going to buy a PC in Munich DE, ask me and I can tell where not to go.
But after all this, it still leaves me with the problem. My Vista check said to upgrade the Matrox. OK. Would it help if I installed the Player and the Centre again?
I love computers…. when they work!
I’ll have a look at the Roxio’s. Would there be a way to bus a license for two computers? Or do I have to pay twice, once for each?
also check powerdvd and nero. many dvd’s come with a free player called ‘interactual’ right on the disk…
if you have any dvds already that have the player you can install it from the disk… then upgrade for free from the site.
<
http://player.interactual.com/default.asp?code=ID>
see the link on identifying dvd’s that have interactual software on em.
dvd’s that include the sw have this logo on the back:
(no i have no affiliation with interactual)
I second Dave’s advice. I just picked up a dvd for a friend whose burner died and it came a disk with all that software on it. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a dvd burner/player that did NOT come with those utilities on a bundled disk.
