The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
Entered CNET Catalog: 10/15/2002
SKU: POWERDVD
Manufacturer: CyberLink Corp.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 11/10/2002
Logical and feature packed
PowerDVD comes in two packages: Deluxe ($69.95) and Standard ($49.95). Deluxe offers DTS Digital Surround and SRS TruSurround XT audio support. Both share a range of audio- and video-related features that equal or exceed those offered by other software DVD players; you get Dolby Headphone, which enhances audio playback for headphone users, and Pro Logic II support, which makes dual speaker systems sound more like 5.1-speaker surround sound.
The program's interface is bright and compact. You'll find basic playback controls logically presented in a small wheel on the right of the player, with a pull-out panel just beyond that lets you change camera angles and create and jump to bookmarks. (These bookmarks themselves are handy, too: they let you jump back to random playback locations in the movie.) PowerDVD also lets you export bookmarks as a separate BMK file that you can e-mail to your friends and associates, allowing you to share your video highlights with other users or on multiple computers.
Confusing controls
The main body of the player contains most other playback and configuration controls; unfortunately, these tools are inconsistently presented and difficult to decipher. For example, if you click the Subtitle or Language icons, you can toggle between their available options. By contrast, the Current Audio Mode icon simply reports the mode that you're currently using--you can't click it to access any tools. Fortunately, you can ignore the majority of these icons and simply access most controls by right-clicking in the video playback window itself. Unfortunately, the color and brightness controls are buried two menus deep, so it's tough to display them without blocking some of the video window.
Maximum compatibility
PowerDVD counters its awkward tools with an advanced feature set. It offers near-universal support for most popular audio and video formats, including MP3, AC3, QuickTime, and audio CD tracks, plus it can build and replay playlists. You can also use PowerDVD to capture images from your DVDs--the app lets you grab either the current or aspect-ratio-corrected window and save it as wallpaper or to the clipboard or a file. However, you can save grabbed images in BMP format only.
As far as other features go, PowerDVD supports DVD-based zoom and pan so that you can also digitally zoom in to your videos, then scan around them manually. Oddly, these controls work only in full-screen video mode. You can configure your wheel-mouse--another big hit--to function as a shuttle or volume control or use it to jump between chapters. You can also toggle the display to a miniplayer and a configurable toolbar player when you're viewing in full-screen mode.
Sharp video
PowerDVD wins our video-quality trials, producing video that's slightly sharper than that of the other players, with more vivid color. In addition, the program ranks only slightly behind CinePlayer for playback efficiency honors in both CPU (52 percent compared to CinePlayer's 47 percent on our Pentium IV, 1GHz test bed) and memory consumption (87MB to 79MB).
CyberLink doesn't come with a warranty, but it does provide free updates and patches. The company offers free e-mail support for registered users, as well as free telephone and fax support. PowerDVD proved stable in our trials, though, so this shouldn't be much of a deterrent. Overall, considering quality, feature set, and playback efficiency, PowerDVD is a great choice for most users.
PowerDVD's playback controls are logical, but its screen icons are too small and a bit confusing.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19out of 19 user reviews
The player never works, the company never responds.
Pros: I'm thinking as fast as I can but can't even apply the word "pros" to this product.
Cons: no customer support, unless you pay for it and want to talk to someone in some foreign country you can't understand. Constantly pesters you about upgrading to a the next product that won't work.
out of 19 user reviews
it may play DVDs but...
Pros: Plays DVDs
Cons: Try to get Customer Service
out of 19 user reviews
good player
Pros: realtively stable. smooth video even when other programs are running. simple controls.
Cons: no support for svcd. problematic with dvd-rs or +rs.
out of 19 user reviews
Works Great on a P II Homebrew
Pros: My copy of Power DVD XP 4.0 came with my DVD player from Fry's for 39.95 after rebates. The System I have is cobbled together from cast off parts from work and runs a P II with 488 Megs of RAM with an Invidia card with 64 Mb built in. I actually went out
Cons: I'm still waiting for the Proverbial other shoe to drop...
out of 19 user reviews
Not for TV out users
Pros: Cant think of one.. looks nice
Cons: inbuilt copyright protection means that playback will not work if TV out is selected _ this sucks the big one , because the PC IS the entertainment cantre at my house (jukebox , movie centre etc), I'll stick with older releases without the so called "smar
out of 19 user reviews
AS GOOD AS IT GETS...
Pros: This is THE only DVD player software I use, i've tried others and to say that they pale in comparison would be an understatement. Fast, reliable, excellent quality and features, what else can you ask for?
Cons: I honestly have not found any yet.
out of 19 user reviews
Solid player but not perfect
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out of 19 user reviews
Very poor picture quality - otherwise good
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out of 19 user reviews
Best DVD software available!
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out of 19 user reviews
Pretty good program
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out of 19 user reviews
Experienced Users Have PowerDVD
Pros: DTS decoding that is passed through and recognized by any decent receiver, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Pro Logic support, works reliably every time for almost a year, not a resource hog when tested on computers less than 2 years old.
Cons: A little pricey for home theater use considering the cost of hardware DVD players with everything is typically in the same price range.
out of 19 user reviews
Crash!, Crash!, Crash! Heres why
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out of 19 user reviews
Best dvd program around
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out of 19 user reviews
only one to use 7.1 sound card
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Not as good as it used to be !
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out of 19 user reviews
Audio encoding doesn't work
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out of 19 user reviews
Great playback and captures
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out of 19 user reviews
Why won't it work properly?
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Beware Of Random Region Codes
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