DVD movies on DVDROM question

[wein]

I'm planning to buy Toshiba SD-M1402 DVD-ROM for around $80.
When I took a look at the spec, it says "Use MI161for hardware DVD decoding", which I later found that it is "REALMAGIC HOLLYWOOD PLUS DVD DECODER" and it costs $65.
Do I need dvd hardware decoder with the dvd rom to play dvd movies?
I thought video card & dvd rom would play dvd movies.
I have Innovision Geforce 2 MX for video card.
Can someone help me on this?

[coleslaw]

You should be able to run DVDs adequately with your video card alone. However, the Real Hollywood DVD decoder card can be found for less than $40 and I feel that it is a good investment as my GeForce card had some problems with PowerDVD.

[sbp]

"Do I need dvd hardware decoder with the dvd rom to play dvd movies?" No you do not wein.

"I thought video card & dvd rom would play dvd movies." You can use a soft dvd program like cinemaster or win dvd.

[cheapo]

where can you get the real magic decoder card for less than $40?

[Goutham]

A good place to find decent prices are at http://www.pricewatch.com

[Bires]

You can disable or bypass Macrovision to tape DVDs with many software DVDs. Many (don't remember if the new Hollywoods do) hardware DVD decoder cards are hardwired for macrovision, much like the set-top DVD players.

I get great output with my AllinWonder Pro and a PII-450.

A ****disadvantage**** to software: No AC-3 (pure digital, 6-channel) output with software cards, unless you have a soundcard that will output 5.1 AC-3 dolby.

In my opinion:
1.pick up a (newer) hollywood card if you can spare the coinage
2.pick up a good Dolby AC3 reciever.
3.rent Top Gun, pop popcorn, enjoy.

[Startide]

An advantage of software players such as PowerDVD is that screen captures are easily obtainable.

[mrtomac]

Coleslaw, what was your problem when you ran powerdvd with a Geforce?

[coleslaw]

Because I am only running a K6-2 500, the frame rate was sub-par. Initially, running PowerDVD in hardware mode caused faint green lines to appear while playing. A patch fixed the problem for the most part, but the inadequate frame rate is why I decided to get a decoder card.

[mrtomac]

ah i see, hmmm perhaps I should look into a decoder card if i have a faint line on the botton of my screen?

[sbp]

Things I would do to resolve the problem: see if there are any patches or new versions of program out, try out another videocard driver, check out sites like the cdrom-guide forums for solutions.

http://www.cdrom-guide.com/cgi/Ultimate.cgi

I would also try out other soft-dvd programs mrtomac and see if the problem continues.