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DVD Drives - a ?


Guest $iLk
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Frankly are they worth a damn or would my money be better spent buying a DVD player for my TV?

Pros and Cons - for gaming, movies, etc.

How would I control the interfaces on the computer?

Thanks in advance.

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Hi $ilk,

I haven't had one for too long, but maybe I can give you a good idea how they work.

Basically you pop a DVD movie in there and load up your DVD viewing software - the most common, and one that ships with almost all DVD drives, is Cyberlink's PowerDVD. It's great software, let's you choose a ton of output options (for Dolby Digital surround and all that crap) and also has all the options you'd have on a traditional DVD remote control - Zoom, angle, pause, play etc. Also, do you have a fast computer? Cyberlink PowerDVD is software based so you need a good processor to ensure your movie doesn't pause awkwardly, ruining disbelief

There are no pros or cons for gaming yet - PC games just don't come on DVDs yet, but I know special editions of MS Encarta do - five CDs on one disc means you don't have any disc swapping to do.

Regarding movies on your computer - it depends entirely on two things. Is your monitor 17" or larger? If so, the movie quality should be great, but I wouldn't bother watching a DVD on anything less - its just a waste of time.

Second, what sort of sound system is hooked up to your computer? I ask because if you are using $20 radio shack speakers with a $10 KOSS subwoofer, you're going to get turned off pretty fast, so you might as well buy a TV DVD player. If, however, you have a respectable sound system (respectable starts at 4.1 with Klipsch ProMedia's folks!) you WILL enjoy the movies

Hope I've answered your questions!

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Silk,

I wouldn't waste my money on a DVD for your computer YET!! Get a TV DVD player, later, when Games are too big to fit on CD, THEN you will want to get a computer DVD player.

I had a DVD player on my laptop, and it was fun to sit in a hotel and watch my own movies on the laptop, but if I had had a choice I would rather have a TV DVD player.

My .02 worth, probably worth less!!

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Just keep in mind price point, $ilk. DVD-ROM drives are fairly affordable, particularly if you buy a combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive and you don't already have a burner. TV DVD players start at $400 and, trust me, you don't want anything that costs less than that. All DVD players are NOT created equal

However, wait until the start of 2002 - I know for a fact companies are making a big move to DVD-R/RW drives. If you hang on till mid-end 2002 they'll be affordable, faster, still be able to burn CD-RW's and be able to of course watch DVD-Videos. Heck, maybe they'll be able to decode DVD-Audio

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My system specs:

1ghz PIII Processor

256 MB RAM

DFI Motherboard

19" Monitor

50X CD ROM Drive

10X CD RW Drive

My main concern is now, if I replace my CD drive with a DVD Drive, will I lose anything as far as playing games from the DVD Drive (CD Games not DVD)?

What are my options either way with the above specs?

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DVD on a PC with a 19" monitor is the bomb.

My only recommendation for you $ilk is, be sure to get a DVD player that has the hardware decoder.

The software decoders blow.

Most DVD players for the PC have no problem doubling as a a standard CD ROM drive. Mine works quite well.

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I will usually recommend against the combo drives for one reason. Look at the numbers. If you follow that link you can see the drive is a 12x10x32 with 8x DVD and sells for $170.

You can buy a TEAC 24x10x40 drive for about $110 and separate 16x Toshiba DVD for about $70. Roughly the same price, and twice as fast burning CDs and reading DVDs.

If you NEED to save the space, then by all means get a combo drive. We make this tiny micro PC that only has one 5 1/4 bay, and for that a combo is perfect.

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I got a DVD on my pc almost 2 years ago now(PIII 600mhz) had an OEM voodoo 3 3000 card (no tv out) but when we first got it we used to get the 19" monitor and stick on a table in the center of the room place my 4 satellite speakers( I have the FPS 1000 speaker system) and sat down and used to watch DVD's on the monitor before we bought a TV/DVD and now it only gets used because I have DVD version of Baldurs Gate.

So at the moment a TV/DVD is a better buy as games don't really use DVD's (YET) but they will eventually

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Guest Whitewing

Just a thought $ilk, dont replace the regular CD with the DVD. ADD a DVD drive if it will suit ya. If your machine is anything like mine, you have an open drive bay to install it in. You will be using the CD-ROM much more often than the DVD, or most likely even one of the burner drives. A CD is usually under $40 to replace when it takes a dump. That DVD drive wont be replaced as cheaply. If you've been using the DVD 90% of the time for non-DVD purposes, yer gonna be pissed when it quits on ya halfway thru the 4th movie you've ever watched on it I personaly prefer to kick back in my comfy leather recliner in front of the 36" TV surronded by Cerwin-Vega! speakers. I spend too much time behind a desk as it is to be able to enjoy a movie there. lol, besides.. there's less danger of dumping my drink on the keyboard if I'm in the living room!

there's my .02 for ya

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