                        ķ
                         WinStorm Multimedia 
                           Display Adapter   
                        Ľ

                             by Tony Curro


    There is a TV commercial that shows, in some strange ways, how
    peanut butter and chocolate were merged to form Reeses Peanut Butter
    Cups. This is not a commercial. Sigma Designs has merged video,
    sound, and more into one simple plug in card. The results are
    excellent.

    WinStorm is a complete multimedia package. Everything to do with
    sound, and video can be found on this card. It has a standard 16-bit
    I/O bus connector, 15-pin analog VGA connector, VESA compliant
    26-pin feature connector. Included is a joystick port, full duplex
    MIDI port, SCSI CD-ROM interface (50-pin internal), internal MIDI
    connection, 690kB/sec SCSI specification. Line-in and
    headphone/speaker/line-out jacks, and microphone jack.

    Installation of this card is a breeze. It comes with drivers for DOS
    applications like: WordPerfect, MS Word, Lotus 1-2-3, and more.
    Drivers for Windows 3.1 and 3.0 (with Multimedia Extensions 1.0),
    and OS/2 are also included. It is fully compatible with Sound
    Blaster, AdLib, Thunder Board, and Pro Audio 16 sound standards. The
    card has 1MB DRAM and is VESA BIOS compatible.

    WinStorm has 24-bit true color. This means that you will not see
    flicker at higher resolutions. You can generate 16.9 million colors
    at 640x480 mode in Windows. Using the included Virtual Driver, you
    can use Sigma Designs MultiMode Control Panel. This allows you to
    switch back and forth in the various Windows modes of: 640x480,
    800x600, and 1024x768.

    Bundled with WinStorm are three software packages. Midisoft
    Multimedia Music Library, is a MIDI package that stores similarly
    related files into a library, which you can play back. Each library
    will contain a series of MIDI files. Asymetrix Multimedia Make Your
    Point, is a multimedia presentation program. Asymetrix has released
    several multimedia products including Media Blitz! and ToolBook.
    Animotion MCS Music Rack, as its name implies, is a rack system. You
    visually see up to 3 components on screen. One is for MIDI, one for
    .WAV, and one for CD. MCS is a slimmed down version of the
    commercial product. However, owners of WinStorm, can purchase MCS
    from Animotion at a reduced price.

    Overall, I was impressed with WinStorm. The graphics were sharp and
    crisp. The sound was impressive, and worked well in Sound Blaster
    emulation. I had a Sound Blaster Pro. The SB Pro software was still
    on my disk. I ran the SB Pro test program, and it had no problem
    giving me all the information. I did not have the SB Pro in the
    system, but the WinStorm. That is compatibility! From the three
    resolutions I selected in Windows, to the MIDI, WAV, CD, and other
    sounds I used with games in both DOS and Windows, I could not find a
    fault with this card. Actually, I did find one. For some reason it
    would freeze when I played MS Golf, and had to putt. This was the
    only hang-up I had.

    If you are in the market for a sound card, or need a video card, you
    should look at WinStorm. The list price is reasonable, when you
    consider what you are getting. The street price makes it almost
    impossible to pass up. Price video and sound cards separately, then
    look at the price of the all-in-one-slot card, WinStorm. The card
    comes with a 5-year warranty.


                        ķ
                         Product Information 
                        Ķ
                         WinStorm Multimedia 
                           Display Adapter   
                        Ķ
                           List Price $429   
                        Ķ
                            Sigma Designs    
                         47900 Bayside Pkway 
                          Fremont, CA 94538  
                             510-770-0100    
                          501-770-2640 (FAX) 
                        Ľ
