I am thinking of buying an ATI TV wonder pro, but being the neophyte, have a few questions. I take it that the card comes with the requisite software, do I need anything else on my system to record TV shows onto my hard drive for viewing at a later date? Do I need a DVD rom drive? (I have one of these)Does the card act like a miniature VCR with the software instructing me on how to record? thanks out there.

You need a connection to an antannae or cable, and lots of disk space. You will need something around 3/4 GB space for each hour of recording time, depending on the format you use. The operation is actually easier than a VCR. Once you set the software up you just click on the Gemstar "Guide Plus" icon, the TV schedule opens, you click on the program you are interested in and you have the choice of watching or recording it. You need to refreh the schedule at least every seven days. That just requires an internet connection and is pretty automatic. After you have recorded programs you just nned to double click on the program file name and it plays it back. Get the remote control version if you want to watch on a TV. You may want to consider getting one of the Radeon AIW cards instead. If you already have a good graphics card then stay with the TV wonder. The DVD rom just allows you to play DVD movies on the TV, using the TV wonder. A stand alone DVD player is easier to use, if you already have one. I have a Radeon 7500 AIW in a machine with 2 60GB & 1 40GB drives that are all pretty full of TV stuff. The nicest thing about digital recording is not having to hunt thru VCR tapes nad rewind, etc. With digital, look, click, watch, delete, move on. The latest version of the remote control software is pretty neat.