Question re: Hardware

[Jrexi]

Quick question.

If I'm only interested in using my PC with a 360HD Drive to rip HD DVDs to my hard drive and view them on my plasma via a Dlink Medialounge 520 do I have to worry about meeting the specs of a PC needed to view HD or does it not matter since I'm just using it to backup my HD DVDs?

In summary, is a high end PC needed to just rip HD DVDs?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jrexi

[DetroitBaseball]

A high end PC is not needed JUST to rip HD-DVDs.

[Jrexi]

A high end PC is not needed JUST to rip HD-DVDs.
Thanks for the quick response Detroit :)

[DetroitBaseball]

Thanks for the quick response Detroit :)
No problem. Now playback is a different story.

[porsche930]

my computer has an internal dvd player....it is not a HD dvd player....will i need to change this to a HD dvd player in order to play--then rip--a HD dvd?...is there such a thing as a HD dvd player for a computer?....thanks

[DetroitBaseball]

my computer has an internal dvd player....it is not a HD dvd player....will i need to change this to a HD dvd player in order to play--then rip--a HD dvd?...is there such a thing as a HD dvd player for a computer?....thanks
A DVD player will not play a HD-DVD, you will need an HD-DVD player. Yes, there is such a thing as a HD-DVD player for your computer.

[Webslinger]

A DVD player will not play a HD-DVD, you will need an HD-DVD player. Yes, there is such a thing as a HD-DVD player for your computer.

Edit: What I posted was too confusing, originally.

http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2006/11/8303/

[Faye]

I guess it would be helpful to post a working configuration, software and hardware which I'm using to watch HDDVD.

Mac Mini CoreDuo 1.83Ghz.
Nasty onboard Intel Gfx.
1Gb RAM.
XBox360 HDDVD drive.

Windows XP
PowerDVD 6.5
AnyDVD HD beta

This combination works well. PowerDVD doesn't care about my terrible Gfx card and AnyDVD means it still doesn't care when I connect via HDMI.

Occasionally there is display tear but so rarely you can ignore it and it's perfectly silent (apart from the XBox drive).

Previously I was copying the discs with published VUK to Hard Drive and playing them from there which worked well, but used loads of disk space. I would edit the playlist file on the Hard drive so that it removed subtitles and iHD content because 6.5 is terrible for that. I love the feature of AnyDVD HD where it just replaces these files on the fly.

What I'd like to know is - is there a better player which will still work with an onboard graphics card when not reading an encrypted disc?

[porsche930]

OK.......still confused.......this is what i eventually want to do....play a rented Hd dvd on my computer.....using anydvd HD and clonedvd , i want to rip that HD dvd to possibly three Dual-Layered dvd-r discs....today i went to Best Buy and then to Circuit City and they tell me that are no such things as internal/external HD dvd players for any computer....my computer has a built-in dvd player but it is not a HD dvd player....so, is there yet such a thing as an internal or external HD dvd player for a computer?............thanks

[Charlie]

Yes there is an external HD-DVD Player it hooks up by USB but that's all I will tell you as you want to rent and rip for your use and is illegal in most countries.

[Androo79]

Although it is illegal in the US, it is a gray area. When you rent something the law grants you ownership during the rental period. And it is legal to make a copy of something you own. So if you make a copy while you are renting then technically that is legal :-)

Though I am sure that is not how they meant it to be.

[Webslinger]

So if you make a copy while you are renting then technically that is legal :-)


No. It's illegal in the U.S. Furthermore attempting to circumvent a digital copyprotection measure to attempt to backup anything is pretty much illegal in the U.S., currently--and also supersedes your fair use rights to backup stuff that you are legally licensed to use. Ever read Catch-22?

That's a rhetorical question. I doubt I'll be responding further on this specific topic.

[Androo79]

I will trust you, I heard my info from someone else.

[oldjoe]

What I'd like to know is - is there a better player which will still work with an onboard graphics card when not reading an encrypted disc?

No.....the media player is only capable of reproducing what it gets from the PC's graphics.

[Faye]

No.....the media player is only capable of reproducing what it gets from the PC's graphics.

You misunderstand. The movies play fine.. it's the menus and interactivity which don't play properly on PowerDVD 6.5.

Later versions of PowerDVD arbitrarily (since the playback is just fine on the card) require you to have expensive ATI/NVidia GFX cards.

Is it worth spending out on WinDVD 8 HD or does that only work on certain hardware too?

[Webslinger]

Is it worth spending out on WinDVD 8 HD or does that only work on certain hardware too?

Windvd 8 HD, at the moment, only outputs at a lower resolution. Until that limitation is addressed, I would stay away.