Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

CyberDoc999 reviewed v15.0 Build 2003 on Aug 26, 2015

cost is way too much

betabettabest reviewed v11.0.2024 on Sep 2, 2011

The patch will not install in Win7/64 upgrade configurations. Check the Cyberlink forum.

Version 11 also disables Windows Aero when I play even regular DVDs and is flakey about using my Xonar Essence sound card. And the installer for the 'upgrade' version requires me to install every previous version I've ever bought first, along with leaving thousands of unused leftover values in the Windows Registry from early PowerDVD versions. Ludicrous.

I've basically had it with Cyberlink. Theoretically a good player, but overpriced and buggy. Media Player Classic plays DVDs just as well, or better, and comes in 64-bit. WMP and Windows Media Center also play DVDs satisfactorily. All of these are free. As for blu-rays, there are workarounds, such as AnyDVD in conjunction with other media players, that are cheaper than PowerDVD. Or, in my case, my 2nd monitor has an unused HDMI port, and for the price of PowerDVD ultra I can buy a standalone blu-ray player and plug it in there, without all these hassles.

My advice: save your money for something else, or wait until (or if) Cyberlink ever gets its act together.

smarterthanyou reviewed v11.0.1919.0 on Aug 3, 2011

This program is vastly superior to the Mac OS X Lion DVD player in every way. PowerDVD 11 never, ever crashes unlike Lion's DVD player. PowerDVD 11 also has superior video quality than Lion's player even when it's running in software only mode. For clarification, I'm comparing PowerDVD running under Windows compared to Lion's DVD software. Another bonus is the fact that PowerDVD 11 can play Blu-Ray discs. It's not possible to watch real HD movies under Mac OS X at all. Apple has publicly announced that it never will be too.

Fafner76 reviewed v11.0.1919.0 on Aug 3, 2011

Fine it may be, but 100+$ for the Ultra version?! They have to be kidding, with such an amount you can buy a standalone BluRay player these days. it may lack some of the features, but seriously, this can't be.
Upgrade pricing policy from this company is a joke too, the discount they offer is an insult...

lypxzm reviewed v11.0.1620.51 on May 4, 2011

Easy to crash while watching movies, but still a good player.

CyberDoc999 reviewed v11.0.1620.51 on Apr 24, 2011

it does cost
but it has a better picture esp for low grade movies like TS

jakartatech reviewed v11.0.1620.51 on Apr 22, 2011

Bloated and very easy to crash, far to expensive for what you get.

HeilNizar reviewed v11.0.1620.51 on Apr 22, 2011

Just use MPC and MPC-HC, lite, portable and does what its supposed to do perfectly.
The rest is garbage.

DudeBoyz reviewed v11.0.1620.51 on Apr 22, 2011

GOD this is expensive, and it is STILL buggy.

Could someone please help identify what some of the alternatives are for regular Blu-Ray playback under Windows XP and Windows 7?

I wish Win 7 came with the ability to play Blu-Ray back so that people did not get suckered into forking out tons of cash on a app like this.

Yes, it does work, but why isn't the $49 standard version able to play regular Blu-Ray even?

ARGH!

Uriel reviewed v11.0.1620.51 on Apr 22, 2011

I tried the trial for one day and uninstalled it. It is featureless and I agree with Prospero424 in that you are only supporting the mafia and their causes if you buy this restrictive featureless player. You might as well stick with Windows Media Player. They are about the same when it comes to codec support.

Zoom Player Max is the way to go if you want features along with a player that can support almost any kind of codec you throw at it.

Prospero424 reviewed v11.0.1620.51 on Apr 21, 2011

Use the money to buy a good BluRay ripper like AnyDVD or DVDFab, instead. Then you can use any player you like instead of supporting the content restriction mafia with crud like this.

gawd21 reviewed v11.0.1620.51 on Apr 21, 2011

Over priced bloatware, not worth a penny!

betabettabest reviewed v10.0.2325.51 on Dec 2, 2010

I agree with the concensus here: it's overpriced. But it's better video/audio than windows native for regular DVDs, and it's the most reliable (and one of the only) ways to watch Blu-Ray [the Ultra version only]. If you have a good monitor and video card, Avatar can look awesome with this program. Whether it's worth its price is debatable. (I have no other way of watching blu-ray, and it's certainly cheaper than buying a big-screen.)

Cyberlink puts its products on sale several times a year. I wish they would figure out that they could sell more licenses if they would lower the price. Performance-wise, it's worth 4 stars. Value-wise, only 2.

outofspace reviewed v10.0.1516 on Mar 17, 2010

$70
This is someking joke

bigsexy022870 reviewed v9.0.2227 on Nov 3, 2009

It's just a video player and to be honest mostly for dvd's. It shouldnt cost more then 15 bucks.

ailef reviewed v9.0.2115 on Sep 23, 2009

I don't know you but each time i try to launch powerdvd 9 on windows 7 64, it crashes. i stay with powerdvd 8 that works perfect on win7 64.

xsnred reviewed v9.0.2010.0 on Aug 18, 2009

$70??!! Way too many free apps that are better or just as good or maybe not as good. Bottom line is that they are free. VLC has many video and audio tweaks to satisfy most of us. Stick to an expensive home theater solution if you need more than VLC to experience DVD or BluRay movies.

mflip reviewed v9.1719 on Jun 4, 2009

This is the best ways to take advantage of hardware acceleration from AMD and Nvidia. It's too bad that certain graphics card manufacturers like Sapphire disable AMD's amazing video processing on their graphics cards. The crappy built in DVD player in Windows Vista and Windows 7 fails every single test on the Silicon Optix benchmark DVD.

JCookes reviewed v9.1530 on Apr 20, 2009

Bloated buggy crapware.

some guy reviewed v9.0 on Mar 3, 2009

over bloat and to expensive to many free wares out their that are better.

Banquo reviewed v9.0 on Mar 2, 2009

I remember when this program wasn't crap, but that was a long time ago. I still use PowerDVD 5 and it works just fine for playing DVDs. Plus Vista can play DVDs natively, and Windows 7 will play Blu-Ray as well so this bloated and intrusive junk is no longer needed.

malirene reviewed v8.2217aD on Feb 12, 2009

Great Player but that was long time ago. VLC is all I need for long time now.

mdmower reviewed v8.2217aD on Feb 11, 2009

Ok, madmike, please inform us of these other options which are capable of playing back Blu-ray and HD DVD content while passing most of the processing requirements to the GPU? WinDVD... but that also costs bundle of money. Nope, can't says MPC Home Cinema as its DXVA technology is limited to h264. If you're playing back Blu-ray and HD DVD content, this is still your best option. For all other video formats, there are alternatives: MPC HC, ZoomPlayer, GOM Player, Windows Media Player, just to name a few. It does what it is supposed to do, but yes the footprint is a bit large and the advanced customization options meager.

FYI, to re-enable HD DVD playback in PowerDVD 8, visit: http://pdvd8hddvd.googlepages.com

madmike reviewed v8.2217D on Nov 6, 2008

Only 1 Star, its time to retire this app, with so many other choices available and delivering a superior experiance, this is dead in the water.

A 76MB download doesnt help either, good whilst it lasted but now no where left to go.

shroom reviewed v8.2217D on Nov 5, 2008

Good for DVD playback.
For h264, I use the CoreAVC codec, which is far superior in quality and playback.

Fafner76 reviewed v8.0 on Apr 5, 2008

Got PowerDVD Ultra 7 less than 2 months ago. Asked them if there is a special upgrade policy for those who got the previous version recently 1 week ago; still any reply.
Anyways, that's not the reason I'm giving it 1. The reason is HD-DVD support drop. My BR writer does read HD-DVD ROMs too, and i have some films on this support. Now, I understand this is now a dead format (but this was announced few weeks ago, not 2 years ago), but then why not keep the previous version's implementation and just stop developing it instead of such an usual "make ppl change their hardware/media" move? I'll stick to the 7.0 version...

Tenoq reviewed v8.0 on Apr 3, 2008

But not ALL h264 files, right BB88? The problem with h264 is they haven't settled on a common standard for ripping yet - some people are still doing some AWESOME high quality rips that can't be video-accelerated by ANY software, let alone PDVD. Have they fixed the bug with mkv files yet?

BB88 reviewed v8.0 on Apr 3, 2008

True that it's a bit slow to startup, but it's probably the only player that truely support hardware HD decoding for many people out there with video cards that support AVIVO and PureVideo HD. 1-5% CPU usage playing 1080 H.264 files! Hope that it will be bundled with more video card for free, and full-featured.

DudeBoyz reviewed v8.0 on Apr 2, 2008

Too much money for what you get. $19.99 - maybe - but you can gree players without all the bloat.

I still use WinDVD 5, by golly. Came bundled with something and I haven't looked back since.

Besides, I'm not nearly as much into watching DVD movies on my computer since I switched to LCD. I prefer watching them on my regular 32" 4:3 television (with a tube and all).

Yeah, it works, but it is simply not a good value anymore, imo.

Skyfrog reviewed v8.0.222 Beta on Mar 5, 2008

They just keep bloating it to justify continuing to sell a useless program to people. In 1998 this was a great program to have but there's really no need for a special program just for playing DVDs today, and paying $50 for one is ludicrous.

Artem S. Tashkinov reviewed v8.0.222 Beta on Mar 4, 2008

PowerDVD 6 was excellent, everything that came after it became a bloatware.

eek-1 reviewed v7.0.2911 on Dec 25, 2007

DVD video playback was terribly choppy on my Thinkpad whilst MPC could play it just fine on overlay/VMR7/9.

bodean reviewed v7.0.2911 on May 16, 2007

Gave up using this program after i found MPC.
No need to use this bloat.

akh154 reviewed v7.0.1813 on Nov 5, 2006

I rate it 1 since there was no ZERO because you have to pay for it to put that ugly stuff on your desktop. Older versions (5) were better and there is no groundbreaking tech in it I use my Windows media player I hope the version 11 worth a free upgrade.
Any worthy and pretty media player there?

bigsexy022870 reviewed v7.0.1813 on Aug 2, 2006

Best I've seen so far for what I use it for. Which is ripped .vob file of music video's. Plus as of late tons of .ts(transport streams, which is pure hi-def). I've seen nothing that plays hi-def so well.

Skyfrog reviewed v7.0.1813 on Aug 2, 2006

PowerDVD 5.0 was the last good version, and the only version anyone needs. It plays movies, what more is there. The company is just milking it now.

improvelence reviewed v7.0 on May 3, 2006

Mplayer, VLC, MPC...all free. I have no problems paying for software but the 3 I listed are great pieces of software that can play DVD's and other video files all in one player without the need to have more than one player to deal with when switching from DVD to mpeg4..etc. I used to be a powerdvd fan but I have to say WinDVD is now the best of the pay players.

photonboy reviewed v7.0 on May 3, 2006

I can find free video and audio decoders that look just as good as this.
You can also purchase many solutions for less money that provide much more than DVD support.
This is a waste of money in my opinion.
Try VLC, WMPClassic or find a free dvd decoder to use with other programs.

Banquo reviewed v7.0 on May 3, 2006

While I love PowerDVD 5 and use it as my player of choice, I was very disappointed with 6 and it's rude behavior of taking over file associations without permission. While that seems to have been done away with in 7, I see no reason to upgrade and plenty of reasons not to. How much more can they really add to a DVD player that's worthwhile? PowerDVD 5 does it all and without the ugly interface and bloated size. They've also added product activation, how lovely. I already paid for 5. A new (ugly) skin and activation is not something to pay another fifty bucks for.

UTAKER reviewed v7.0 on May 3, 2006

It's the only DVD Player I use and it's perfect.

themafia_69 reviewed v6.0 Build 1417 Patch on Mar 13, 2005

Best dvd player i have seen. been using it for about 5 years now

anti00Zero reviewed v6.0 Build 1417 Patch on Mar 12, 2005

i had some problems with mateix dvd because of the intaeractive player. i didn't want to install this and the codecs didn't work.

so i changed to windvd. also the moble settins are great

Jeffsoft reviewed v6.0 Build 1417 Patch on Mar 12, 2005

always the best!!

Klusternisse reviewed v6.0 on Nov 9, 2004

the best player for playing DVD and SVCD :)

tereshchenko reviewed v6.0 on Nov 9, 2004

The best DVD player I've seen so far. I have more then 100 DVDs and every single of them works fine with PowerDVD 5 (in comparison about 10 titles fail to play in WinDVD 6!).

Maxiemum reviewed v5.00.1107 Patch on Jan 7, 2004

Well, the mystery is at an end, well almost. I went to Cyberlink's official site this morning (7th January 2004) and downloaded the officially posted patch (still at very slow 6KB/sec (via ADSL) but at least it didn't keep timing out like it did last night when all the Americans were still awake!). Guess what, it did exactly as a patch should do and installed without asking for a CD-Key. When I looked at the two different patches they were both 9.35MB and both from GoCyberlink but they did have slightly different names. The one which has just appeared on Cyberlink's site is PDVD_Patch.1107.exe whereas the one I downloaded before was called PDVD5_patch.exe. The only slight problem is that my version is now called DVD version 5.00.1031 instead of the expected DVD version 5.00.1107. Oh well, I suppose you can't have everything! I think all this minor hassle has been the fault of a tardy Cyberlink who didn't have the correct patch on their site at the proper time. In fact they claimed it was there on the 24th of December but it didn't actually appear until the 6th of January. Naughty eh!

atifsh reviewed v5.00.1107 Patch on Jan 3, 2004

this is not a patch its somekind of upgrade, patches dont need serials. also i dont like it cause installing over my powerdvd ver 5.0805 i found that it does not have some audio function as buy audio button was flashin though i dont use that feature , still i dont want that button tobe active and flashing.

Jeffsoft reviewed v5.00.1107 Patch on Jan 1, 2004

Nice! but where is the changelog?

meulie reviewed v5.00.1107 Patch on Dec 31, 2003

and what's the problem with that...? All legal PowerDVD copies come with a CD key... 8-)

donpacman reviewed v5.00.1107 Patch on Dec 30, 2003

This patch was originally released on the gocyberlink.com site in November and pulled for reasons unknown...also, a CD Key is required on this patch.

pburch reviewed v5.00.1107 Patch on Dec 30, 2003

It installed on my system 1031 Patch instead of the 1107 Patch.

oudoulj reviewed v5.00.1107 Patch on Dec 30, 2003

what does 1107 in 5.00.1107 mean?
is it for November the 7th?...

slampton reviewed v5.0 on Jun 24, 2003

Version 5 is an excellent upgrade to my favorite DVD player. The new skin is nice and still a clean interface unlike WinDVD. The CLEV filter looks great but my computer is too slow to rely on software only decoding. And, the inclusion of a system-wide installation of the DivX decoder is a nice touch, no need to install it seperately.

OmAleY reviewed v5.0 on Jun 24, 2003

I have np with 5.0. But i prefer DirectDVD 5.0. It's has a kewl user interface and sounds a lot better.

shimanov reviewed vXP 4.0 Build 2417 on Feb 19, 2003

Does anyone else think CyberLink's release of build 2417 was misrepresented? For example, there is a statement that the patch will "enable dolby virtual speaker". CyberLink responds that the feature is not included in the patch, but it is available in a separate "audio pack" at an additional cost. Overall, the player is good, but CyberLink does not keep up with innovations and features offered by competitor's products (e.g., InterVideo WinDVD). That in and of itself would be acceptable (PowerDVD is a quality player); however, CyberLink does not even include minor updates with the original purchase price. I feel taken, and believe that CyberLink should reconsider their attitude towards paying customers.

visionaire reviewed vXP 4.0 Build 2417 on Feb 19, 2003

Woah! My goodness this is bad. This certainly does not in my opinion qualify as a 'shell' replacement. Granted I'm sure the author has only good intentions, but this is just not something I would even want to try running on my system. I'll stick to GeoShell, thank you, and also recommend LiteStep. MAN! Sorry but I need to excuse myself while I burst into laughter and link all of my friends. >=]

Banquo reviewed vXP 4.0 Build 2417 on Jan 23, 2003

Works fine, adds some nice new features.

By the way, should people really be posting serial numbers here? I think that is kind of like, illegal. Somebody needs to remove that.

ShellShock reviewed vXP 4.0 Build 2417 on Jan 23, 2003

Changes in this version:

Minor technical performance improvements
Enable Dolby Virtual Speaker audio feature
Updated support for the latest hardware
Support 24-bit/96KHz LPCM audio playback

monkeyrapist reviewed vXP 4.0 Build 2417 on Jan 23, 2003

Same here, installed w/ no problems and didn't ask for a serial.

billym90210 reviewed vXP 4.0 Build 2417 on Jan 23, 2003

The patch worked fine for me and did not ask for a serial number. The updated version probably just did not like your serial number.

edlivian reviewed vXP 4.0 Build 2417 on Jan 22, 2003

Always has been a great program, and with patch 2417 its even better, interface has been updated, and many audio features have been added in this patch. WARNING: After installing this patch, the program will ask for your serial number again.

animecabbit reviewed vXP 4.0 Patch 1811 on Jul 25, 2002

Power DVD is a _SOFTWARE_ decoder that uses whatever your video card and cpu can offer to bring in better performance and enhancements. The Hollywood+ card is very outdated and any recent video card in the past year or two can offer better performance than it. That said, PowerDVD's interface blows chunks.

Webtasoeur reviewed vXP 4.0 1329b Patch (3/19/02) on Mar 24, 2002

Power DVD 4.0 doesn't work any more with my Hollywood+ (v3.0 I use works perfectly).

TobWen reviewed vXP 4.0 Patch 1228 on Jan 10, 2002

FileForum says "This patch only applies to RETAIL versions".
Is there "download / standard / retail / deluxe"
or is there only "standard / deluxe" ?!

rseiler reviewed vXP 4.0 Patch 1228 on Jan 10, 2002

I have Deluxe, and both this patch and the last one worked fine.

adnans reviewed v3.0 Patch on Aug 10, 2001

whats this patch for (other then the generalized 'bigger, better' statement)? I'm running PowerDVD 3.0 off my Pioneer 105sz DVDrom, and no problems at all. Will this give me anything extra? (maybe something to replace those horrid skins? :)