Matrox Marvel G200

After the initial installation process of the Marvel G200-TV card in the open AGP slot of the AnandTech test system the highly shielded interface cable connects to the port on the back of the card which runs directly to the external audio/video connection box.  The only other port on the card is the VGA input which keeps the back of your computer less of a fire hazard than it needs to be (although it probably already violates a few fire codes ;)...).

The A/V connection box features RCA and S-Video Input and Output connectors as well as a Coaxial connector for TV-Input if you choose not to use the line in on the box.
The box does occupy a noticeable portion of your possibly scarce desktop area, however it is thin enough to squeeze between a printer and a fax machine or beneath/next-to a monitor depending on the layout of your workspace.

In any case, if you're wondering why Matrox failed to allow for these inputs/outputs to be present on 5.25" drive bay faceplate, it is most likely because not everyone has the free bays to allow for something like that, as well as the fact that many larger ATX cases come with drive bay doors which would interfere with the connection of any cables on the front of your case.  With the connectors on the front of your case it also removes from the clean cut look of most tower cases, and instead of ruining the demeanor of your system, Matrox deemed it ok for an external box to be used.  

All of the connections can be made quite easily with the external box, and Matrox had the foresight to include two 6' RCA cables however no S-Video or coaxial cables were present in the package.  Sound familiar?   It seems as if your $300 is being cut short once again, the little things begin to add up after a while.

Conclusion 

Whether you're a video enthusiast, or are looking for a card that can do it all, you should definitely give the Matrox Marvel G200-TV a good look.  The $300 price-tag may be a bit much for most home users, but overall, it is well worth it if you're going to use the incredible features of this absolutely marvelous board.  It isn't advisable to seek out the Marvel G200-TV if you don't have at least a Pentium MMX 233 with a fairly sizeable portion of your hard drive free for any video clips you may capture (100MB is a decent size to have free).   While the 32MB system memory recommendation from Matrox may be stretching it, 64MB should be just enough for most tasks with 128MB being the ideal level.  Keep in mind that you don't want to construct an entire system around a video card, if you find yourself wanting a more professional video editing system, drop the Marvel G200-TV and explore something in the more expensive realms of PC video editing.  However for the user that has it all (or wants it all), yet has the desire to play around with a bit more than a weekly Quake 2 frag-session, the Matrox Marvel G200-TV definitely cuts it...and then some.  

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