DVD-ROM Questions

[telstar1]

I've got a couple very basic questions about DVD-ROM drives.

1. What does a DVD Decoder card do?
2. Do I need one, or is just the DVD drive sufficient to playback DVDs?
3. My hard drive is an ATA-100 drive, but I've seen DVD drives as both ATA-33 and ATA-66. What should I choose or doesn't it matter much?
4. I'm considering buying the Lite-On LTD163. Any recommendations for or against this model?

Thanks,
Telstar

 

[Angrymarshmello]

1) It's a hardware DVD decoder that instead of having software "decode" the DVD (I guess translate it so you can watch it on your PC), the hardware does it. Totally unnecessary if you have a decent computer. (Say a P3-450+)

2) See #1

3) Um...never seen a DVD drive labeled as ATA33/66. Even so, watching DVDs has nothing to do with data transfer rate (well it does to a certain extent but you're not transferring data at a theoretical maximum of 100/66/33 mb/s.)

4) If that's a DVD decoder, go with the Hollywood Magic models if you're computer is slow.