Keith Wallace
New member
Did you try the other ones they linked? It says that the one in the main page isn't likely to work for many Blu-Ray discs, because of the copyright protection. They link you to solutions for those in there.
Ok I picked up that drive you recommended. I got the white one since it was nearly ?10 cheaper. At firrst I couldn't play bu-rays, that PowerDVD app kept crashing. It worked fine playing DVDs though. Turns out it may have been a Windows update since it is the only thing that changed. When I rolled back it was ok again.
The drive itself is sleek and seems solid enough. It is also somewhat audible, particularly noticeable in quiter scenes, but it isn't noisy per se. You were also right about load times, but once it gets going, playback is smooth. The only "complaint" is the CyberLink OEM suite. It installs quite a lot of things I probably won't use and I had to disable quite a lot of the start up things.
Nice! I have the white one too :-D
Strange....what version of Windows do you use? Worked fine with Windows 8.1 and all updates for me.
Yeah, it installs quite a lot and I had to disable some programs too (completely forgot about it....I guess I suppress such things that annoy me). But it's the best way to go when it comes to Bluray playback software, since there is no satisfying free solution and other programs you have to pay for also don't seem to be much better. So I'd say it's a welcome drop of bitterness, considering that it works just fine.
I was quite busy ripping and formatting Blurays and was really disappointed when I tested the files with VLC player and only a few worked and those who worked had non-removeable English subtitles :-( Haven't found a common thread yet so I can determine which Blurays will work and which won't (ripping and formatting; just playing them with PowerDVD worked with all I've tested yet). Have to tinker around with the settings of the programs a bit more.
Awesome man. I still haven't taken the plastic film off the top of it. Gives it a textured glass look. Also don't want it to get dirty lol. I might have to take it off eventually though since some it is coming loose already.
I'm also using Windows 8.1. The reason I thought it was a Windows update was because some games were also crashing on start up. It is strange because it was only a few of them. After I uninstalled the updates, everything seems to be working again. I was going to try Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre first since it seemed to get good feeback and didn't come with all the bloat that PowerDVD comes with. But that also crashed on start up. As a bundled free solution, PowerDVD is pretty feature rich and the interface is good.
Sounds like a let down that your Bluray rips didn't all work. Must have taken a while to rip them.
I know I kinda pushed this thread slightly off topic, so sorry..but last question about PowerDVD. Have you tried using that setting to try and enhance the image quality of DVD playback? I forgot what it is called. And if you have, do you have some graphic artifacts initially?
Mine came loose too on the sides, so I took it off. That's why I got the white one instead of the black (not a racist thing^^) because it's quite dusty here (dusting/vacuuming every second day -_-) and that would be much more visible on the black one.
That sucks :-/
Haven't heard about TotalMedia Theatre at all (Arcsoft rings a bell but I can't relate it right now). Is it for free?
Yeah but that happend with some DVDs too (Underworld 2, Knights of the Coconut,...). Seems like they have a different protection.
Hey, that's okay ;-) Look what the AMD vs Intel thread turned into^^
I actually haven't tried any DVDs yet since I already have all my movies on the HDD. (Also I have to read up on 'graphic artifacts"^^)
Yeah my room gets quite dusty too, no matter how hard I try and clean. I place it on top of my PC case and the white contrasts really well with the black.
When I was looking around for possible software solutions, I saw threads recommending TotalMedia Theatre. Unfortunately it is paid software, but it comes with a (2 week) trial I think. I just wanted to give it a try before commiting to PowerDVD.
Oh and the thing with the artifacts..it was like when I switched on that enhancement setting for DVDs it would introduce coloured boxes as it tried to do its enhancements. After a while they would go away and the final video is indeed a bit sharper. I was just wondering if it was normal for the coloured boxes to appear.
Just a quick update about that artifacting issue in PowerDVD. Turns out it is most likely due to using the external drive. I'm guessing the USB interface isn't sufficient for that feature, maybe USB 3.0 might work but I only have USB 2.0 on my desktop. When I used my internal drive it worked smoothly when I turned on the enhancement feature. So I guess that issue is solved
No, but just to ask, you ARE sure that the lines are from the monitor, and not a failing graphics card, right?
I have a Dell U2412M and it has been one of the best investments on my PC for me. Colours and viewing angles are great, the build quality is very sturdy and robust as well as having tilt, pivot and height adjust. Gaming performance is very good IMO. I don't notice much ghosting. The only downside for me, is the anti glare coating makes the screen seem less vivid compared to my Vaio Pro screen. Otherwise it's a very good monitor. I would think a Dell IPS monitor is a worthy consideration. Asus is also a brand I hear great things about.