What do you really need to play DVD?

[scourge]

I want to replace my 24x cdrom. I figure I might as well get a DVD drive since it'll do both.

First off, what's a good 2nd gen DVD drive (hitachi? toshiba?)? I'm not looking to spend much money here.

Do you have to have a hardware decoder card to play DVD?

I've seen this "softDVD" stuff, but what do you need for that? I have an AMD K6-2 350 that I run @400, but can run stable as high as 450. I have a C/L 4meg Graphics Blaster 3D (not a 3D Blaster) and a Diamond Monster1.

[AuraEdge]

You dont need a Hardware DVD decoder to play DVD's, although it is recommended. A softDVD player is just like a program u would buy or is bundled with something that plays the DVD (non optimal proformance here). My recommended IDE DVD player is the Pioneer 32x/6x Slotloading DVD player..found it for 67 bucks + S/h At www.pricewatch.com (http://www.pricewatch.com)
--EDIT
Sorry thats the trayloading version...the slotloading one starts at 74 bucks.

[This message has been edited by AuraEdge (edited 09-13-99).]

[scourge]

Does software decoding affect picture quality when compared to hardware? What exactly do you mean by non-optimal?

[BC]

I have a creative labs 2nd gen with a dxr2 decoder card (mpeg2) that i had running good on a p200mmx I would sell it to ya. (I got a laptop with a dvd drive) For a reasonable offer not asking much. inhere @ iname . com
Just remove the spaces and thats where I can be reached.
BC

I am using right now (to test the software) I think it is powerDVD on a celeron 300a @450 I the decoder card works so much better plus I has a way to go out to your TV. Think of it this way have you ever seen Mpegs on a mpeg decoder card? And then without? Same thing here but a SoftDVD player is a CPU hog. Really eats up your system. Plus a friend of mine has problems (the reason I am using software DVD player now) with the audio. Lips aren't syncingup right and audio in gerneral isn't right.

[This message has been edited by BC (edited 09-13-99).]