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dvd users what software do you use?

G

gplracer

Golden Member
I was thinking of buying an OEM toshiba dvd player. Will I need to purchase some software to run movies in it? thanks
 
You will need software for movies unless it comes with the drive. I've tried the two best, and I prefer Power DVD over WinDVD. I think some older reviews put WinDVD ahead, but PDVD just looks and sounds better (Using a V5 5500, and SBLive Value 2-not 5.1) to me.
 
I use WinDVD.

Your Voodoo did not come with any DVD software? Most newer vid cards come with one. At least each one I have gotten has... Yes, you will need some software.

 
WinDVD 2000 2.3 or PowerDVD 3.0 are the two best softwares to use.

There are lots though, Cinemaster is a popular one found in ATi's and Matrox's front ends...

Personally I prefer hardware DVD decoding...and it doesn't cost much more than software, unless you get it with the drive or in "other" methods.
 
digital-digest.com for reviews.

Windvd 2000 2.3 is still the best in both audio/vid quality. Powerdvd 3.0 is almost there, but not quite in terms of quality. The only thing powerdvd has over windvd at the momment is a slightly better interface.
 
I forgot to add, if you have a decent subwoofer you'll want windvd since it decodes the low freq channel. powerdvd does not.
 
I'm going to vote for WinDVD... After looking at the alternatives, I just liked it better. Starship Troopers rocks!

 
gplracer,
If you're gonna buy the software & not look for something that comes bundled with the drive, then I reccommend Power DVD 3.0.

 
PowerDVD 2.55, I also use the player that came with my matrox card, Raveasnet(or something like that) for a few DVDs that PowerDVD just don't read right for some odd reason.🙁
 
I like the player that came with my ASUS geforce. It says asusdvd but I think its actually cinemaster. The only problem it the sound level from that player is rather which is no problem on my main home PC because I just turn the speaker amp up but on the laptop its a problem because the sound system on the laptop cant really crank, so I use powerDVD for the laptop. Both are tops. The ATI, if you can get it working, is good also. A neat trick to get the ATI stuff for free is this:

go to this SITE fill out the questionaire and say you have a Rage Fury, you dont have to put in the part number. ATI will send you the cable for the ATI tuner and a cd of drivers and the ATI dvd player software!
 
PowerDVD has a nice interface....but I don't really use it much so I don't care.

I like WinDVDs right click menus better....Fast Forward/Rewind are options on the main menu....with PowerDVD they are submenus.
Also in WinDVD Title is one submenu and Chapter is a different one. So assuming you want the same Title you only have to go one layer in to change Chapter (the whole movie will be one Title, the other Titles are special features and the intro sequence and stuff like that). Whereas in PowerDVD the Chapter is a Submenu under the Title Submenu. So if you want to change Chapters you have to go through the Title first.

Well those are my two biggest peeves about the PowerDVD right click menu....and yes PowerDVD has a much nicer control panel than WinDVD, but I watch DVDs full screen with the control panel hidden and so I care more about the right click menu than the control panel.

Also as Zucchini mentioned, PowerDVD doesn't decode the LFE channel. If you are using AC-3 passthrough this doesn't matter much, but if you are using other sound modes then you can miss some bass. Alot of movies don't make heavy use of the LFE channel, but when they do it's usually very heavy bass. The other 5 channels are full range so you get bass in them two, and in multimedia speakers that's all directed at your subbie anyhow, but the LFE is louder relative to the bass in the other channels. The main reason I prefer DVD over VHS is sound quality, and PowerDVD just isn't up to snuff in that area.

I use WinDVD2000 2.3M and I also have a hardware deocder (this is pretty well exclusively for TV-output becuase my Video card doesn't have it). WinDVD2000 is the best DVD player on the market in my view.

It's possible that PowerDVD is better in Visual quality though I can't tell the difference between WinDVD 2.3, PowerDVD 3.0 and the Hollywood Plus with 1.82 drivers. But for sound quality there is no comparision in the favour of WinDVD 2.3 (the hollywood plus is sort of out of the running there...it has 2 channel output or AC-3/DTS passthrough and you need a decoder, so either it's sound quality is perfect if you have an external decoder or it's horrid with only 2 channel).
 
nope, powerdvd is not better in visual quality😛 I have both, and the reviews back me up🙂

As for cinemaster, its very very poorly rated. It was good in the early days of dvd software.. things have changed.
 
Ooops forgot to mention, I'm a poor person to judge visual quality, I'm clinically blind in my right eye. And bad enough in my left that I'm not allowed to drive. So I don't have an opinion on which is better, they all look pretty much the same to me. But if you've played a DVD that uses the LFE channel there is little doubt which is better on the Sound front.
 
I have used the "Big 3" software players and I find WinDVD 2.3 MC to be my personal favorite. 😛
 
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