DVD Software

esuhl

Hi everyone,

I'm just about to upgrade my PC, and thought I might as well get a DVD player for it too so I can back up data easily, and perhaps watch the occasional film and play with the DVDs that come on the front of magazines.

I then occurred to me that, although I consider myself fairly techie, I've never so much as held a DVD in my hands (oh, the shame!)

So... I'm planning to get the cheap and cheerful Pioneer DV-110 as it supports DVD-RAM and double-layer DVDs, but does anyone know if it supports all the mainstream double-layer formats (are there more than one)?

Also, will I need some kind of software to play DVDs? Is there anything free available :-) What about recording? Will Nero 6 Reloaded do?

<edit> Oh, yeah - and how do region codes work on DVD drives for PCs? Will I need to hack the Windows XP registry or the drive's firmware? Is this even possible?

If anyone can offer any advice or point me to a site where I can find out more I'd be eternally grateful!

Cheers,

Tim (esuhl)

scotty

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?s=11#11 for a list of video players.

I would definitely recommend drive which supports DVD-RAM especially for data back-up. LG are another manufacturer whose drives support DVD-RAM. Check out ebuyer.com for prices from ~£30.

WWW.videohelp.com also have information about how to deal with regions

-TangleFoot-

esuhl wrote:

I'm planning to get the cheap and cheerful Pioneer DV-110 as it supports DVD-RAM and double-layer DVDs, but does anyone know if it supports all the mainstream double-layer formats (are there more than one)?

Also, will I need some kind of software to play DVDs? Is there anything free available :-) What about recording? Will Nero 6 Reloaded do?

Are you referring to the Pioneer DVR-110? As far as I can tell, it supports every DVD format under the sun, so you've got nothing to worry about there.

As for watching DVD-Video, you're already covered with Nero 6 Reloaded; it includes a software decoder by the name of Nero Showtime.

If you want to learn about region encoding, you'll find a basic description of the system here, and information on various ways of coping with it here.