eBay ATI AIW 7500 buying, thoughts/opinions?

[Formula350]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RADEON-7500...ry!78224!US!-1

I found this on ebay earlier today. I'd like to know thoughts/opinions from members more knowledgeable than I about this hardware. As well as opinions on the asking price and what hardware/software is missing.

Thanks,

[lordsmurf]

The main glaring issue is the purple dongle/box is missing, so value is reduced. It's not worth $75 for just the card, and a box full of useless/worthless crap.

- remote = useless (then and now, PVR for MMC)
- remote eye = useless
- books = useless (though interesting)
- CDs = useless; there is NO DRIVER DISC in that pile, just other discs

You get a bare card, no drivers, no input cable.

... and composite cable, and s-video cable. Yippee!

Do not buy that auction.

And this, ladies and gents, is why eBay is often a terrible place to buy video gear. You must be very careful. Claims of "complete" and "only missing XYZ" are total nonsense. The seller knows nothing about the item being sold, and was likely a garage/estate sale find. The card could be fried, and they'd never know -- even if claiming to be "tested". ATI AIW cards can look fine, but chips on the board can be fried and in a bad state.

More than once, I've come across "complete" ATI AIW "in original box" that were full of random PC parts, manuals, etc. And this may be the same, as I'm not 100% sure that exact remote is original to this card.

At this exact moment, there's a much better 8500DV card for under $69, and seems to include everything. That is undervalued (worth more), a much better buy.

[Formula350]

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/liMAA...nI/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/JmUAA...ma/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/dtgAA...mX/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/jpYAA...mV/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/4bcAA...nD/s-l1600.jpg

Also this one. Not sure how complete it is compared to the other 8500DV. But two of the images appear to be the same as the images used in another ad for an 8500DV.

[lordsmurf]

<sigh> F%$&#ing eBay.

This happens a lot with video hardware. The problem is that eBay itself suggests images when listing items. So the item pictures may not be (and often is not) the same item you think you're buying. I've bought items from eBay that looked perfect in the listing, but arrived looking like a car ran over it on the road.

You must ask if the photo is of the exact item.
Tip: No response = stock/swiped image.

BTW, you must also tell them how to properly package the item. Assume all eBay sellers are morons, less intelligent that caveman. Unga-bunga! Because most are truly stupid. In toy groups, you'll see where a vintage MIB figure was shipped ... in the original box. Shipping labels now stuck to it.

[BW37]

Getting the right parts for the right AIW is a challenge. Most of the original "kits" are long since broken up. As LS says, for both of those 8500DV listings you need to get pictures of the all of the actual items included in the auction.

Here's a list of all the AIW's with what appear to be mostly correct photos of the card itself, including the critical view of the back plate where all the special cables attach. Scroll down the page to select the card you want to look at.
(Just now I realize that one of the 8500DV pictures is incorrect - the one with the cable attached is not an 8500DV)

Besides a video connection (VGA or DVI), the majority of the cards only require the "purple cable" like this. Note the part number. They are readily available on eBay. The cable attaches to the 8 pin connector on the back plate and provides the connections to the input device.

So for any of the cards that have a VGA or DVI output AND the 8 pin connector on the back plate, that cable is the only "special ATI" cable you need to make a (functional) card work for capture.

The 8500DV is an oddball in that it requires a very different input cable (which also does other things). They are less common but usually out there if you get creative in your eBay searches.

All of the 9600 cards and all of the PCIe cards need special connectors to work. These are much harder to find. The special 9600 cable is almost impossible to find but auctions including it do come up once in a while. The PCIe cables are a bit more common, but the ones that do not have the RF (cable/antenna) connectors on the back plane are nearly impossible to find. Again, complete kits do come up once in a while...

Bottom line: make sure you know what you want a need to make it work.

BW

[lordsmurf]

Also remember DVI-D vs. VGA.

The VGA can be exceptionally clean, you'll be hard-pressed to see a difference A/B testing. But it really depends on external factors. Quality of cable, external power line noise, monitor quality. The DVI just works (or doesn't). I have more VGAs than DVI, but my monitors are also expensive IPS displays (at least in the 2000s, these were costly, $300-500 each).

I had 1 system when VGA was too noisy, DVI required.
I also had an AIW card where the VGA was bad, other copies fine.

IMPORTANT: DVI<VGA adapters don't make VGA into DVI! Those just pass VGA to DVI analog input. Not all DVI or monitors have the analog pins. Those adapters are mostly worthless, aside from connecting an old junker CRT monitor to an ATI AIW card that only has DVI output.

I forgot about the 8500DV oddball cable.
Yes, that must be in the photo. Never trust an eBay selling just tossing out the word "complete".