Home News Reviews Forums Shop


What DVD drives come with software for watching DVD video?

DVD-R/W, DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM

What DVD drives come with software for watching DVD video?

Postby afowler on Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:33 am

hello,

I need a DVD drive for an XP machine that came originally with a CD-RW drive.

In addition to burning basic data DVD's I need to be able to watch DVD-Video discs.

I seem to recall that Windows XP does not ship with the necessary codecs to play DVD-Video discs.

Can anyone recommend a (retail?) DVD drive that comes with DVD playback software?

Thank you
afowler
Buffer Underrun
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:22 am

Postby SithTracy on Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:18 am

Why not get a quality OEM drive (Samsung/Pioneer/LG) and save some bucks and use VLC Player or Media Player Classic?
User avatar
SithTracy
CD-RW Player
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:18 pm
Location: S.E. WI, U.S.A.

Postby Ian on Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:49 am

ASUS's 18x and 20x DVD writers don't come with any DVD playback software. I can't think of any others.
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt." - Steve Jobs
User avatar
Ian
Grand Poobah
 
Posts: 15130
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2001 2:34 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Postby Grain on Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:28 pm

Some OEM LG's came with PowerDVD, the 54 series did. I don't know about newer ones though. Some others come with Nero's free package, which has a player too I believe. SithTracy has a very good point, Media Player Classic is hard to beat. You can probably download PowerDVD's free version too (which is all you get with OEM's anyway), but I haven't looked into that.
Hi-Def Format Neutral
Samsung BD-1400, PS3 40GB
Toshiba HD-A2, HD-XA2 & XBox 360 HD DVD
Grain
CD-RW Player
 
Posts: 479
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2005 12:12 am
Location: Canada

Postby afowler on Sun Dec 09, 2007 1:34 am

SithTracy wrote:Why not get a quality OEM drive (Samsung/Pioneer/LG) and save some bucks and use VLC Player or Media Player Classic?



VLC and/or MPC will play DVD-Video even with out a commercial DVD codec installed?

Really? I had no idea. Are you sure?

If so, what is a good OEM PATA drive?


Thanks
afowler
Buffer Underrun
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:22 am

Postby TheWizard on Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:22 pm

I have never had a problem playing back any format, including DVD's, with the K-Lite Codec Pack. The Standard version is adequate for your needs. It comes with Media Player Classic, so you don't need to download a separate viewer.

As for good PATA drives, take a look at the DVD Writer Poll. Plenty of good choices in there, and you can view past months' polls for more results.
No, I like women.
TheWizard
CD-RW Player
 
Posts: 2074
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2002 6:56 pm

Postby afowler on Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:57 am

TheWizard wrote:As for good PATA drives, take a look at the DVD Writer Poll. Plenty of good choices in there, and you can view past months' polls for more results.


Am I missing ssomething, or are the top drives all SATA?

Are there PATA versions available, and are they equivalent?
afowler
Buffer Underrun
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:22 am


Return to DVD Writers

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests

All Content is Copyright (c) 2001-2024 CDRLabs Inc.