Newbie questions: HELP NEEDED

[go4kj]

I'm what you can call somewhat technically challenged. I've been burning DVD's using DVD shrink+ANY DVD+Clone DVD2 about 2 months now . I'm thinking of taking the plunge into the HD DVD/blu ray world.

Are there any good websites or threads you can suggest where they have easy to follow step by step instructions on how to rip HD DVD's?

How much can I expect to spend for a decent system? Everything included.

I heard of many glitches with programs like cyberlinks Power DVD. Is it better to wait a little bit for these to get sorted out before I start exploring?

What kind of a setup do I need? I obviously will need a HD DVD player to watch the discs on once they are ripped. I won't be watching them on my computer, just the TV. Will need ANY DVD HD. Power DVD? Any suggestions regarding the drives? What media seems to work well? What else?

Thanks in advance for all your input.

[djh901]

In order to watch HD movies on your computer you will need a dual core processor, at least 2 gigs of ram a top line pci-e video card. With dvi connections for true digital HD.

With windows Vista you have a better chance of say a XBOX 360 hd dvd player working with out any problems...you can use windows xp but you will have to find the drivers for the XBOX...which is a Toshibia drive.

Then you will need to purchase or rent HD DVDS...

Is is worth all this...I think so...the quality is great...I have been shooting video for over 30 years and I really like what HD is doing for TV as well as for home use.

[mick2006]

In addition to what has been stated, "to my knowledge" at this point there are no HD Burners available, so you are stuck watching Hd DVD on the monitor hooked up to your computer. Secondly, in terms of Blu Ray, there are burners available, but no software to support burning a ripped Blu Ray movie. I am also excited about getting involved with HD DVD and Blu Ray backup, but at this point the technology is so new that there are many glitches and the costs can be enormous (around $500 for the cheapest Blu Ray drive/burner). I am actually waiting for the Dlink DSM-750 to be released (a media streamer which reportedly will be able to stream HD DVD content and Blu Ray content to your television). When these are available and if they work as advertised, then you won't need to burn any disks-you will simply use AnyDVD HD and rip the movie to your hard drive and play it via the DSM-750. That is all in theory of course.

[James]

Originally Posted by mick2006

In addition to what has been stated, "to my knowledge" at this point there are no HD Burners available, so you are stuck watching Hd DVD on the monitor hooked up to your computer. Secondly, in terms of Blu Ray, there are burners available, but no software to support burning a ripped Blu Ray movie. I am also excited about getting involved with HD DVD and Blu Ray backup, but at this point the technology is so new that there are many glitches and the costs can be enormous (around $500 for the cheapest Blu Ray drive/burner). I am actually waiting for the Dlink DSM-750 to be released (a media streamer which reportedly will be able to stream HD DVD content and Blu Ray content to your television). When these are available and if they work as advertised, then you won't need to burn any disks-you will simply use AnyDVD HD and rip the movie to your hard drive and play it via the DSM-750. That is all in theory of course.

Maybe you don't even need to rip it first? Sharing the drive in the Network? But a normal 100MBits/s is too slow for HD-DVD / Blu-ray content, so I wonder how this is supposed to work.

[wdgoldstein]

Originally Posted by James

Maybe you don't even need to rip it first? Sharing the drive in the Network? But a normal 100MBits/s is too slow for HD-DVD / Blu-ray content, so I wonder how this is supposed to work.

James, my experience differs. On my home network 100MBits/s works just fine as I can watch AnyDVD/HD ripped discs across the net from my office Vista System to my XP HTPC on our Big Screen. Your milage may vary but my experience says that your blanket statement is not a constant.