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  • thethirdman - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    Hint: it's never worth using cyberlink software. Buggy as hell, plain doesn't work for a good deal of the time, and riddled with adverts for their new software. Got rid of my HTPC and replaced with a chromecast and bluray player because it was so bad.
  • HomeworldFound - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    Hint, They update PowerDVD a lot. If you can't get updates for some reason ;) you'll have those problems, intentionally.
  • watzupken - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    I feel the software is too expensive and I am not sure how many copies of such software do they sell annually. I don't think they are doing that well since it mainly about streaming nowadays.
  • vladx - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    99$ for the full version is too much? You just need to upgrade every 4-5 years when new features appear.
  • Cygni - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    Yes, it is far too expensive considering you also have to drop $250 on the drive itself and are locked into certain motherboards (and using integrated graphics) ... all while a stand alone UHD player can be had for less than $250. Hell, you can get an Xbone S for that price and have a game console too, while you are at it.
  • HomeworldFound - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    You'll probably still need the drive to make legal copies of your content, unless you want to put up with the internet version of 4K which... is laughable.
  • Cygni - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    AACS 2.0 hasn't been cracked yet as far as I know, so no "legal copies" wink-wink-nudge-nudge or rips are possible yet.
  • wiyosaya - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    It is in the UHD BR spec that a singular legal copy can be made; however, I don't know of any implementations of that feature.
  • watzupken - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link

    How much does an Xbox One S cost? It is a full package that comes with both the hardware and software to playback UHD Blu-ray. With that in mind, 99 bucks for just the software is still quite a big ask from my opinion.
  • HomeworldFound - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    Nice, I use it. I like it. I never understood peoples complaints. It always works for me. The only complaint I have is how every time you update it takes over your autoplay for discs.

    I subscribe to PowerDVD Live so for $45 a year I always get the latest version, and a discount for already subscribing.
  • jmelan - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    This is going to be a tough sell. Most people with a HTPC are probably still on WMC and will never update to 10. And this works with basically no older hardware. Just buy an xbox one S for $200 and be done with it.
  • edzieba - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    "Consumers who appreciate the extra video and audio quality from local discs have to put up with these annoyances."

    Nah, we'll just keep using AnyDVD to strip DRM on-the-fly from discs, and play back the stream directly. Skips adverts and trailers too, and you don't have the deal with garbage like PowerDVD.
  • wiyosaya - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    AACS 2.0 has yet to be cracked. Until then, there is no other solution for UHD Blu-ray.
  • edzieba - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    This is the first time an AACS 2.0 implementation has been made publicly avaialble, so the clock starts here for breaking it. In the meantime, UHD-BD can be played via HDMI capture (as that was broken quite some time ago), though making a bit-for-bit copy to store on a media server that way has to be done in real-time.
  • hubick - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    Using this to run everything off a HTPC sounded like a good idea at first, but new discs would always malfunction, and they never patched the old software, so you'd always have to upgrade to get your new discs to work (which goes over very well with non-tech-nerd significant others who just want to watch the movie). I finally just bought a hardware player. I could have bought three, with the amount of cash I threw away on this crap over the years.
  • KonradK - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    Good thing: 30 days money back guarantee does work without problems.

    Over year ago I have bought PowerDVD 15 Ultra. I had hope to replace Java based DLNA server I was using, but I was unable to make PowerDVD's DLNA working.
    I was surprised by modest configuration options of the program. MPC-HC, for instance, beats it easily here.
    A nail to coffin was the inability of the program to disable a screen saver during playback.
  • nfriedly - Tuesday, April 11, 2017 - link

    A copy of PowerDVD came with my blu-ray burner and it was just painful to use. Ugly, slow, crash-happy, AND they tried to up sell me on a premium version or something like that.

    I switched to ripping with MakeMKV, and then playing with VLC. Kind of annoying when I buy a new movie and want to watch it right away, but nowhere as bad as putting up with PowerDVD.
  • damianrobertjones - Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - link

    Yet millions of people have little issue with the software?! Maybe it needed a critical patch.
  • yannigr2 - Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - link

    Millions of people? Maybe in 2000 there where millions of people suing PowerDVD. Not today.
  • pixelstuff - Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - link

    I don't have any problems with PowerDVD 16 Ultra.
  • ET - Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - link

    UHD Blu-ray supports a grand total of 3 motherboards, and only high end CPU's using integrated graphics. Zero users guaranteed?
  • damianrobertjones - Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - link

    I just mount a dvd rip, that I've created from the original purchased disk, then play the movie using Powerdvd. It causes me little hassle other than the constant nagging to upgrade.

    I do, however, wish that they'd offer a vanilla stripped to media playing only version without all of the other crap.
  • BrokenCrayons - Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - link

    Who even watches stuff on a disc anymore? I have a crappy 12 mbps DSL connection and anything I watch is streamed. I don't even waste my time with cable or satellite TV. Why bother when there's commercials and adverts? And even moreso, who buys software to watch videos? That stuff died a decade ago and only a few holdouts and dinosaurs even get discs, usually to rip content and store it *giggle* on a file server (well, they call them media servers to feel more modern, but we all know the truth).
  • pixelstuff - Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - link

    Netflix DVD is still the best source of watching a newly released movies in the U.S. I mean, basically I watch close to 80 movies a year that aren't available for streaming.

    Well I take that back. You can actually rent those movie streams, but for some reason they still cost twice as much or more than renting the disc from Netflix or Redbox.
  • doh!! - Sunday, May 28, 2017 - link

    guess u dun enjoy hd sound or 32 bit audio then.
  • Gadgety - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link

    So just like Microsoft and their Windows 10 "upgrade now or we pester you forever until you edit the register" consumer terror, Cyberlink in desperation will pester and nag you to upgrade incessantly. I understand it's because there's a small user base, and Cyberlink will milk the user base until the last drop of cash. That's enough for me not to want either product. Too bad. In addition Pioneer's UHD drives are big ass regular drives instead of slot loading prohibiting a nice HTPC/gaming design. Furthermore limited to Intel CPUs etc, etc. Any problems with quality and, if the companies cared for the customers, they would start pointing to the others, but as they don't, they'll just push you the next "upgrade." Nah, looks like regular 1080 with MadVR upsampling to 4k will be a better alternative. Amazingly the freeware developers seem to care more about feedback, continuous development and their user base, than the commercial organizations.
  • Chaon - Thursday, April 13, 2017 - link

    If you are thinking of purchasing PowerDVD 17, please contact me immediately. I have several high-quality bridges, as well as some prime real estate in Florida, for sale to people just like you.
  • Savatar - Monday, April 17, 2017 - link

    I just wanted to comment on here because I saw all the comments from people lamenting nagging ads to 'upgrade' to the latest version. Unfortunately, tons of companies do this... Corel products do this, AcdSee does it, CyberLink, and even Microsoft now with Windows 10 promoting Office 365 and stuff. It actually seems to be pretty rare to find good commercial software that doesn't do it.

    While I can't really defend the practice (it is annoying, and I think promoting updates to registered email addresses should be adequate), it doesn't seem fair to say that you won't use it solely because of that when so many other products do the same thing.
  • watzupken - Wednesday, April 19, 2017 - link

    I feel that many companies are putting adverts and reminders does not mean that it is something that we should accept. In the first place, we paid for the software (Windows 10 may be a "free" upgrade) and some don't come cheap.

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