DVD software decoders - What to get?

[Deftone]

Heya,
I have a DVD ROM in my computer at the moment and was wondering what software I should use. I usually watch movies on my Apex but I want to try it out on my box. Any suggestions?

 

[digitalman]

I have a dell laptop that came with cinemaster. i HATED it. plus it didn't work with Win2000. I eventually got PowerDVD and have been pretty happy with it so far. I sure that there are other that will be suggested, some may even be better, but compared to cinemaster this on is really good.
dm

 

[Deftone]

I'm using PowerDVD at the moment. It seems to do the job ok. I just want to see what other people might recommend. Keep them coming!

 

[Lalakai]

without knowing more of your system specs it's hard to make any recommendations. Anything less then a K-3 or P-2 should have a dedicated decoder card (elsewise the processor gets hammered too much and slows everything down). I have a K-3 400 w/128 megs 133 ram and tried using software to decode; the results weren't the best .

can't remember which card is the best but do a bit of searching and go from there.

 

[Gatsby]

If you have a fast enough system, then I would recommend Power DVD. I've been using it with WIn2k for a while and its never cause me problems

Gatsby

 

[Rigoletto]

Lots of video cards come with DVD software players. If you don't want the card then send it back and keep a copy of the player heh heh.

 

[narzy]

I belive MGI just relesed a DVD software decoder there was a review on it on www.freshgear.com not to long ago, check that out I hear it is pretty good.

 

[jaywallen]

Deftone,

I strongly suggest you try before you buy. I don't know about the others, but WinDVD and PowerDVD both have trial versions. They're not very satisfying because they only play for a few minutes at a time, but that's long enough to be able to judge playback quality and whether or not you like the user interface. DVD players are like lots of other software, one man's cup of tea is another man's poison. Kinda works that way with the systems, too.

Download PowerDVD trial at:

http://www.cyberlink.com.tw/english/products/powerdvd.asp

Download WinDVD trial at:

http://www.intervideo.com/

I wound up using WinDVD. Then I recommended it to a friend who decided I was a moron and went with PowerDVD. Face it, you're asking a bunch of people online. For all you know we're all legally blind, cross-eyed, and brain damaged. You'll be better off making your own decision.



Regards,
Jim

 

[Raincity]

I have tried them all and found Windvd 2.2 to be the best for picture quality and 5.1 to 4.1 speaker downmix provided with dvd genie unlocking feature. Power dvd is just as good but the 4.1 speaker output is not as good as windvd. Cinemaster has better picture quality if a Ati graphics card is used.

Rain

 

[NOSOUP4U]

I've tried them all and I really dont see a difference. I'm using the Matrox DVD that came with my G400.