DVD software?

[AmRivlin]

What is best windvd2000r? or powerdvd 2.55? best playback and sound...

[Hoser]

I have a small PC about the size of a VCR (Soyo LI-7000, Celeron 500, 12X DVD, 20GB, 128MB) that I use for DVD viewing (Win2K) and MP3 listening (Red Hat Linux 7.0). Software decoding works fine with no stuttering. The PC has both VHS and SVHS outputs.

I have both WinDVD and PowerDVD installed. For my tastes, they both have excellent pictures and sound, but I like PowerDVD better. I'm using the motherboard's built in sound card because the one PCI slot is occupied by a WinTV card. This machine is meant to go in the bedroom with a wireless keyboard so it's not hooked up to a stereo system.

I set the resolution to 800X600 since widescreen is 720X480 for NTSC. If you use a higher or lower resolution, the picture has to be scaled and doesn't look as good. PowerDVD 3.0 is now out, so you may want to download the trial version and test it. According to the website (http://www.gocyberlink.com/english/index.asp) it works with Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, and Win2K.

[AmRivlin]

Thanks for the explination, I went ahead and bought a 16x pioneer, and a Utobia Magic decoder card... I believe it only allows 1 type of playback... I suppose it offers great output. When I get it I will let everyone know... Maybe if Leon or Darth wants I will do a review.

[hapoo]

what case do you have hoser???

[raimin]

Powerdvd will not work if you are using a hardware dvd decoder, like hollywood

[Hoser]

The small computer that I'm using is a Soyo LI-7000. It's using the Intel 810 chipset. I had no problem installing video drivers on the Windows side, but I had to wait for RedHat 7.0 Linux on the other end. I got the computer locally for about $120, I've seen it for $149 on the net. It has USB, sound, and infrared up front, and a built in 10/100 network card. The fastest chip it is supposed to handle is the Celeron 533, but I found a site saying that it can use a PIII 700. I may try that one day if I get bored, but it has enough power to do what I need it to do. It contains either one PCI card and a modem, or two PCI cards (depends which riser card you have). I don't use the modem, so I may get a riser card later for another slot. I've also got a DLink USB radio that I'm going to hook up later. I should have all entertainment bases covered at that time, TV, DVD, CD, MP3, FM radio, and of course, the internet.

Someone at my work decided that having a computer for this was a great idea, so he bought a BookPC from http://www.directron.com. It's even smaller than my computer. The main difference is that it doesn't have any com ports or PCI slots. So if you need these, it won't work for you. He uses it mainly for DVD and MP3 playing. It uses the same Intel 810 chipset. The video drivers allow for using a monitor or TV. If you have a TV with SVHS input, this is the best way to view the output. Windows isn't too bad with 640x480, and passable with 800x600. It won't be as crisp as a monitor, but a TV doesn't have the resolution of your monitor. But the DVD output is as good as my DVD player (gotapex with the special menus).

I've gotten PowerDVD (but not WinDVD) to work with the Hollywood Magic decoder card. It's been a while so I don't rememember what version it was, but everything worked. The best thing I liked about the software playback is capturing pictures. I was watching Wild Things and just clicking away with the mouse. Next thing I know, I've got about a hundred pictures saved. It works nice for making screen backgrounds of your favorite movies.

[Hoser]

I should make an addition to my above post. If you're using hardware to play a DVD, then the output to a TV would be through the installed card (Creative Labs, Hollywood Magic, etc.). If you use software, the output to a TV would have to be done through your computer. The computer I'm using can display to a monitor or TV (vhs or svhs), but only one at a time. I don't know if this is a feature of the Intel 810 chipset, but that's what this computer has.

[hapoo]

That bookpc is such a cool case, I only wish it had 1 PCI card for another eithernet card so i could use it as a router.

[hapoo]

Originally posted by chosenfool

you could use USB ethernet adapters, you know.

Theyre about $40 for a linksys 10/100 adapter at office depot B&M, and the 10MBit ones are around $20, maybe cheaper on the net, and works so well with computers with very few or no PCI card slots....


I dont think usb and linux mix well. God knows i had enough trouble trying to get it to work with a Linksys card. (i ended up using another card)

[Hoser]

The Soyo LI-7000 does have one PCI slot and you could get the riser that has two PCI slots if you needed it. Here's the cheapest place that I could find it on the net: http://www.onlinepcoutlet.com/product/barebone/barebone.htm Here's the specs for it: http://www.soyousa.com/sy7000.html The computer is only 14.3" X 12.4" X 3.3" (depth, width, height).
I was originally going to use mine as a gateway, but decided it was too overpowered for that use. I'm setting up an old Pentium 100 running off a floppy for the gateway. I did consider getting a BookPC, but I also needed a PCI slot and comm ports. If all you need the PC for is DVD and MP3 playing, then the BookPC works very well.

The new Linux kernal (2.4.x) is supposed to have USB support, but I haven't tested it yet. I have one machine with it installed that operates as my server. I'd like to test the new kernal out, but unfortunately I don't have the time. A week from this Monday I'm leaving the country and I won't be back until June. I'll have computer access, but not with my computers. The plus side is that the money that I make will buy a new computer when I get back. I'm thinking about a dual 1GHZ+ Thunderbird. The only problem is that it'll use DDR memory which is a lot more expensive than SDRAM.


[Edited by Hoser on 02-14-2001 at 08:54 PM]

[hapoo]

Thanks Hoser
Btw you might want to remove the period from the end of those links.