Radeon 8500.....this is the best technology can offer????

[lm700]

I've installed the 8500 drivers six times still can't get control panel to initialize. My s video out to the tv gives me a picture that the vertical hold is nuts and it's in black and white. This is where technology is today? I've been into computers for 20 years. I started programming in DOS 2!!!! There was no windows. 3 years a go I had a computer with a nice graphics card that just let me run rca cables right to my tv and I had nice screen savers for Christmas and everything. No software settings, no d..n control panel crap. Now it's install the right version of this or the right driver for that. I'm running win 98SE because it's reliable and I gave up working on people's computers just because of XP. I feel sorry for what's coming in the future. Computers don't have to be this way but they are. My clientele has had 10% satisfaction rate with xp and that's very telling in today's times. You gotta be a guru nut to play around with all of this new stuff and not have a life. For you young pups out there, I can tell you it can be a LOT better if you will let these manufacturers know you won't buy their stuff if they keep this up. Sorry but I'm just plain fed up with this complexity of an otherwise simple task. I won't even get into the myriad of software spyware and other issues. I wish all of you the best of luck.

L.M.

 

[norty303]

Give XP a chance, it's a far superior OS to Win98. Al;so, are the drivers you're installing 98 compatible or do they have separate releases for 98?

 

[felixc]

The support for Win98 with the Radeon Drivers is not very good. I have a Radeon 9100 (roughly a repackaged 8500) and there are many bugs in the drivers. Also the control panel does not support all functions. never tried the TV out on it.
This is unfortunate, but it will be harder and harder to get new stuff working properly on Win98. Microsoft does not support it anymore so people developing Windows software with the latest tools can not fully verify it under Win98.
I use Win2K on another machine. It is rock solid.

 

[lm700]

Sigh. I know, felixc, that support is dwindling for win98. When XP first came out, several network security experts were appalled at the open sockets in the OS that usually had been reserved for administrators. I had to fix five network systems and the reinstalling process of XP absolutely made me look for another line of work. Not to mention that now you can buy a brand new system for half what I had to charge to build one years ago. Ah progress. I just found out that Aitech has a newer version (should've known) of a video adapter that just plugs into the video card and splits the signal going to the monitor and can handle the 1024 x 768 resolution for the presentations I will need. The older one I had wouldn't work with 98 and above 640 x 480. No software, just three hookups and you're there. Video card doesn't matter. $70.00. So that will solve any of my future piping to TV needs.
Thank you for your responses. It just gets so frustrating when I remember how easy it was in "the old days" to get a system up and running flawlessly. I actually had the "pleasure" of looking at a friend's computer the other day that is (are you ready?) still running Windows 3.11. THAT was interesting. Had to really think back on that one!!
My best to all of you.

L.M.

 

[felixc]

The big problem is that being an open architecture, the PC has numerous problems because of backward compatibility and the hundreds and hundreds of different components that can be mixed together to form a PC. Not that I like the Apple computers, but when I look at how people mix and match everything and then load everything from Internet (looks so easy does it?), the PCs can only be a source of problems for people, until they learn the hard way (paying $$$) to not fix or add things when you don't need it. Actually there's a lot of money to make just by servicing PCs that people fooled with. (even more with XP, but just think of what happened when Win95 arrived. The craze was similar. It took a little while to adap, but meanwhile the service people were making big bucks. XP sorts of make it a permament state of things. ) The corner PC stores are surely making big bucks out of customers that pretend that they can do it all themselves.
Aitech is not alone making these boxes, but it is a sure bet, as they are in this market since many years.