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PowerDVD XP 4.0 Deluxe

PowerDVD XP 4.0 Deluxe

List Price: $69.99
Your Price: $69.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Expensive...but good
Review: Downloaded other software....big mistake. Trial the software and you'll appreciate it. Good value...so far

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: worth th emoney
Review: Easy to use and understand. Well worth the money

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: PowerDVD - Great
Review: I downloaded alot of shareware programs looking for decent video screencapture. Nothing worked and it was a waste of time.
The basic version of PowerDVD came as the media player on my new computer so I looked into the full version. Should have done that first- the screencaptures I make now are crystal clear and the program is so easy to use, simple set up. The hardest part is deciding which captures to take. If you collect scenes from movies, as I do, this is definately worth looking into.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: PowerDVD - Great
Review: I downloaded alot of shareware programs looking for decent video screencapture. Nothing worked and it was a waste of time.
The basic version of PowerDVD came as the media player on my new computer so I looked into the full version. Should have done that first- the screencaptures I make now are crystal clear and the program is so easy to use, simple set up. The hardest part is deciding which captures to take. If you collect scenes from movies, as I do, this is definately worth looking into.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good product but paying for a download is a waste
Review: I purchased the downloadable version of this product. It works excellently, exactly as advertised. The only problem is this: If I purchase something as a download I most likely am looking for instant gratification. In this case it took over 24 hours before I received the link location. I could have easily driven down to Best Buy to purchase it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Superior feature set, hobbled by poor software quality.
Review: I'm a complete DVD-holic. So much so that I have tried just about every computer DVD solution out there, in the search for the Holy Grail of DVD Viewing. I currently run no less than 3 DVD viewing solutions on my machines: WinDVD 3, PowerDVD 4, and a Hollywood Plus (hardware-based). Despite the hype surrounding PowerDVD, and the impressive features touted for this latest version, it still has a way to go. Version 4.0 is easily the buggiest version of any DVD viewer I've ever tried (with the possible exception of some of the early H+ versions), and that is largely the reason why I have yet to get rid of my older solutions in favor of it. Here are just a few of its still-current problems that I've run into on my machine (P3-800, 512MB RAM, GeForce 2), off the top of my head:

- At random and for no apparent reason, will become extremely sluggish in responding to commands (e.g. a minute to respond to a single click). Closing and restarting it solves the problem.
- Loses sync between video/audio frequently, especially with frequent rewinds or FF's.
- On WinXP, it can't rewind faster than 1X or fast-forward higher than 2X, or it will stop responding. The rewinds/FFs are not at those actual speeds, either. Win9x also shows this problem, except that the user can regain control of the software eventually (though very slowly). This is probably the most annoying bug.
- Has some problems playing DVDs that other players handle fine (e.g. Tron Collector's Edition).
- With some titles, does not remember its previous "bookmark" when loading the DVD next time.
- Often causes problems with DirectX-using programs (e.g. games) being used concurrently or in the same boot-up session, sometimes serious enough to crash the machine.

So what's the bottom line? Feature-wise, this product has the potential to rule the market...it's unsurpassed in that aspect. However, that doesn't mean a whole lot if the software is buggy, and it is, very much so (at least still as of this writing). Buy if you like, but count on a good chunk of disappointment with it until Cyberlink patches it up (which they are generally slow to do). Until then, WinDVD 3 is a far more stable and solid choice, but comparatively lacking slightly in features.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Superior feature set, hobbled by poor software quality.
Review: I'm a complete DVD-holic. So much so that I have tried just about every computer DVD solution out there, in the search for the Holy Grail of DVD Viewing. I currently run no less than 3 DVD viewing solutions on my machines: WinDVD 3, PowerDVD 4, and a Hollywood Plus (hardware-based). Despite the hype surrounding PowerDVD, and the impressive features touted for this latest version, it still has a way to go. Version 4.0 is easily the buggiest version of any DVD viewer I've ever tried (with the possible exception of some of the early H+ versions), and that is largely the reason why I have yet to get rid of my older solutions in favor of it. Here are just a few of its still-current problems that I've run into on my machine (P3-800, 512MB RAM, GeForce 2), off the top of my head:

- At random and for no apparent reason, will become extremely sluggish in responding to commands (e.g. a minute to respond to a single click). Closing and restarting it solves the problem.
- Loses sync between video/audio frequently, especially with frequent rewinds or FF's.
- On WinXP, it can't rewind faster than 1X or fast-forward higher than 2X, or it will stop responding. The rewinds/FFs are not at those actual speeds, either. Win9x also shows this problem, except that the user can regain control of the software eventually (though very slowly). This is probably the most annoying bug.
- Has some problems playing DVDs that other players handle fine (e.g. Tron Collector's Edition).
- With some titles, does not remember its previous "bookmark" when loading the DVD next time.
- Often causes problems with DirectX-using programs (e.g. games) being used concurrently or in the same boot-up session, sometimes serious enough to crash the machine.

So what's the bottom line? Feature-wise, this product has the potential to rule the market...it's unsurpassed in that aspect. However, that doesn't mean a whole lot if the software is buggy, and it is, very much so (at least still as of this writing). Buy if you like, but count on a good chunk of disappointment with it until Cyberlink patches it up (which they are generally slow to do). Until then, WinDVD 3 is a far more stable and solid choice, but comparatively lacking slightly in features.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Feature Rich DVD Software
Review: It appears that you need the latest service packs, and related sound drivers/software to get this baby rolling. I took me a while, but after doing all the updates, and the big one, Win2k SP2, I got it working. I really like the video viewing options, I have a 36 inch HD/Monitor so I enjoy having the flexibility. If you want to have an expanded option on a 4.3 high end set up then I recommend PDVD, if not, some of the others will work fine. Great picture, and flexible settings. I use a Hercules XP game theater for sound and it works great. Gladiator in DTS mode ROCKS!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This came with my DVD drive and it is pretty cool. I had to get on-line to actually figure it out how to operate all of the buttons and I'm still learning the features but this is a great buy to view DVDs.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This came with my DVD drive and it is pretty cool. I had to get on-line to actually figure it out how to operate all of the buttons and I'm still learning the features but this is a great buy to view DVDs.


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