Comments

RBartlett wrote on 12/10/2003, 5:23 AM
I've used this in an emergency:
http://www.heroshare.com/products/DVDPlayer.php
It isn't free but it is downloadable and its previously released incarnations appeared to be free if you want to go hunting the legal freeware download respositories.

It is from China so it is better than most but a bit odd at times (lip sync wise)

If you are thinking of buying a PC DVD player, consider a TV capture card like the LeakTek WinTV2000XP, which although locked to the SVIDEO D1 capture card, gives a free DVD player and in the capture module a realtime DVD profile MPEG-2 encoder (Ligos codec) for about US$60. This is probably little more than many retail DVD players. OEM player packs might be available cheaper yet. Good value for money anyway.
statas wrote on 12/10/2003, 3:59 PM
isnt there just a simple free player available? i don't remember where i found the one i had or what it was called, but it worked fine.
Chienworks wrote on 12/10/2003, 4:19 PM
Doesn't Windows Media Player 9 play DVDs? It seems to on my computer. Maybe it only works under XP.
jmeredith wrote on 12/10/2003, 6:30 PM
Go to www.real.com and download the basic FREE version of the RealOne Player - if all you want is simple (AND FREE) this will do the trick
Jessariah67 wrote on 12/10/2003, 6:48 PM
Almost all DVDR drives & video cards these days come with some sort of player. As Kelly states, WMP will work (that's what I use). JMO, but I'd stay away from Real if you can. It has its fans, but they've gotten pretty intrusive.
donp wrote on 12/10/2003, 6:49 PM
I use PowerDVD 5, i't not fee either. You can download it and they will send you a CD in the mail is you pay an additional few bucks. If thins go poof again you will have the CD to reinstall it again.
RBartlett wrote on 12/11/2003, 2:07 AM
http://www.maximusdvd.com/ is a free one I have tried (as it was on a mangazine cover disc). You have to download the MPEG-2 and AC3 directshow filters from elsewhere, so it isn't that much more valuable than the DVDPlay.exe that M$ give you (without a directshow filter).

To play back MPEG-2, the elecard drivers are OK (except for the watermark).
The HeroSoft player is just convenient and if you google for it, you'll have a chance to try the older public releases, which weren't that much different from the latest.

If you are not web connected when the HeroSoft player runs, I think it is free to use forever. Not certain, but that is how it seemed to behave for me.
craftech wrote on 12/11/2003, 5:27 AM
I have a Sigma Designs Hollywood DVD PLus decoder card which I paid $40 for at a computer show 3 years ago. It plays flawlessly like a DVD set top player and will not cause problems with your system unless you don't have a free PCI slot to insert it into. Also shares interrupts nicely without a problem.
I also picked up a remote control for $10 which they make and it uses a serial port to connect. Also works flawlessly. Overall, I absolutely despise all forms of media players because of the problems associated with them. Most of the problems are a result of the company producing them (Microsoft, Real, Apple) trying to force proprietary files on your computer and generally take over system resources. Many are in direct conflict with one another. They force people into unnecessary system upgrades just so that you can use their not so wonderful players. There is no real incentive to stop this as evidenced by the slap on the wrist Microsoft recently got for it's blatantly monopolistic practices in the above respect (Much of their own software won't even work without Microsoft Outlook being installed on your computer).

Try a hardware decoder card and you won't be sorry.

John