Do I need a Decoder for my DVD Drive?

[NoreagaCNN]

I'm planning on ordering a DVD Drive today and I was wondering do I need a Decoder card? My Computer Specs are in my signature, if I do is the Rx3 that comes with the Creative any good or should I buy a Hollywood +. Will the decoder card add anything that i wont be able to achieve with my GeForce or is it for peeps that dont have fast 3D cards?

Thanx,
Nore

PS: What do you guys recommend the Toshiba 16/40 or the Creative 12/40???

 

[shawn_16]

well, decoder cards come w/tv out and have better quality than nvidia's tvout but you have to have some form of dvd software to play dvds on your system
your system has enough CPU power to play DVDs on it's own w/o the aid of a decoder card

 

[NoreagaCNN]

Hmmm, I see
I want to buy a Hollywood + also cause of the TV Out Feature, BTW is the Toshiba 16/40 Out yet? I think it is, but cant find much info on it. Should I just buy the 12x?

Thanx,
Nore

 

[Shockwave]

Ya, you have enough math power to use a software decoder. Try PowerDVD, newest version is 3.0, also 2.55 has a crack for it, if you like bein a pirate.

 

[AngelOfDeath]

It's a matter of opinion and taste. The spec you have doesn't justify a decoder card, and you would have no problems what so ever running in software mode. But IMHO I prefer the H+ decoder. To me it has far better quality and picture than software and tv-out on a vid-card.

AoD

 

[A2KLAU]

I am using just software DVD playback using WinDVD 2.1 "Cracked" and it is working magic. I have had no problems with it and I can watch ANY and yes ANY DVDs. Its because my DVD drive is an ASUS 8X and also chipped, figures when you buy it from Hong Kong, and it was pretty cheap too at the time I bought it. I have tried DVDs which are copied, genuine in different regions and it still plays. If you have a TV around and want to be able to watch it on a bigger screen then go for a hardware decoder card, but unless if you are the hardcore quality want type of person then you should go hardware but if you just want to be able to just watch it and see the film then software decoding is enough.

Good Luck,

SKY.

 

[Oyeve]

Your system is more than fast enough to watch dvds without a decoder. My sons system is a celeron 333mhz and has an elcheapo 8 meg pci ATI rage fury and a slower 5x dvd and its STILL fast enough to watch dvds! Software, IMO, look much better than any decoder card. I myself have tried several combos on my system (much better than my sons BTW) and still came to the conclusion that sw looks better than HW, but, hw does offer some nicities, like tv out, dolby digital 5.1 out and so on, Bottom line is, if you just want to watch dvds on your pc and dont really care about other things then sw is just fine.

 

[Yoshi]

If you are only going to watch on your monitor then use software. If you want to watch on your TV use a decoder card.

BTW, a Creative Dxr3 is a Hollywood Plus with Creative's name on it!

 

[mosdef]

Entirely offtopic, but you should be ashamed that you like C-N-N. Did you know that Noreaga once said: "I drink my hennesy straight with tomato juice." I would have a hard time being a fan of an idiot who says such inane, meaningless, pointless things. Now if you want good hiphop you should check stuff like the Binary Star I just picked up. You will definately like it.

-mosdef

 

[SaturnX]

Well I own an H+ and I prefer the image quality that I get from it. Also having TV out is great for watching movies on my TV. It also has SPDIF out, so you can hook it up to a Dolby Digital Receiver and then into a 5.1 DD Speaker set and get the true movie viewing environment.

--Mark

*EDIT* Oh yeah, as stated above the Creative DXR3 is a H+, but don't go thinking you can use the H+ drivers for it*EDIT*

 

[NoreagaCNN]

Thanks a lot guys

BTW MosDef yea that was stupid, hehe
But them kats is still ill, have you picked up the new CNN album now that's blazing.

Peace,
Nore