[Huey]

It's time to put your vote where your mouth is My vote is Cinemaster based engine.

 

[dschmelzer]

This poll is premature--you should have given it a month. TT hasn't hit the streets yet and not enough people have used PowerDVD XP to know for sure.


It appears that the grand competition is ahead of us. This is good.

 

[JeffY]

The best player isn't even on the list, WinDVD 2.6.4


Jeff

 

[Phat Phreddy]

As stated above only a tiny subsection of the posters have got their hands on my two favorites and so it makes the poll a little obscure...


Also best at what ??


Best at Audio ??

Best at Video ??

Best for stability ??

Best for economy ??

Best for Ease of use ??

All of the above ??


If its all of the above my vote is TT but I need to spend some time with PowerDVD 4.0 and see how it is stability wise (suspect very good) and how its balance between audio and features appeals over time... I have a hunch that it will be my standby player but if present experience is anything to go by I have not found any disk that TT has choked on....

 

[William]

By far PC Friendly is the best. I'm sure most people or not qualified to vote. I have WinDVD 3 and PowerDVD 2.6 only. If you don't have all the players how can you judge? I thought PowerDVD 4 was not out yet.

 

[Brian Hampton]

Hey,


I agree with some of the above comments.


Namely, the best player WinDVD 2.6.4 isn't on the list.


Secondly, I'm not really qualified to make this choice having only used a couple of the players.


Good Luck,


Brian

 

[MKANET]

PC Friendly has my vote for economy, easy of use, and stability. Sorry, I couldn't resist

 

[Bob Sorel]

This is a riot! I think I will start a thread "What is the best selling A/V Christmas gift this year?" or "How much of your 2001 income tax refund did you spend on A/V gear?"

 

[genixia]

...


Yeah, this poll is premature. Worse, if even if all of the options were available for testing right now then the poll would still be lacking, and something that I'd expect to see at some of the less technical web forums.


I really think that with the sheer wealth of in-depth knowledge that is collaboratively held and shared within this forum, this poll is too generic, and I worry that new members will look at the results as being definitive and buy 'the best' DVD player without taking the time to investigate the options more thoroughly.


If we wanted to do a poll of this nature, I'd suggest splitting it into the 4 sections that most of us think about: GUI, video, audio, and functionality.

At least then each player would have the chance of standing on it's own merits. Even so, the polls would still only an indication of what is worth investigating.


For what it's worth, I voted for the Zoom player frontend even though it can't play a DVD on it's own...In conjunction with filters supplied with other 'free' (ie. bundled w/ HW) players, it does what I need it too. Video by ATI, audio by Intervideo, functionality by Blight, and GUI however I want it to look.

 

[Warren460]

I have 2.3


Could someone send me the patch to get to 2.6.4


Thanks


Warren

[email protected]

 

[Hugh Magoo]

Yes, I too really dig the Zoom Player. The useability is up to the user. So many settings to try. I really like the ultra-minimalist skin and set the window frame to small, and have almost no border around a windowed DVD.


If I can get Zoom Player to at least do AC3/DTS passthru under Windows XP, then it will be my choice for a long time. We'll see when I instal XP.


I agree though, this is a very bad poll. Power DVD XP has not been released and neither has the ITT player. Not fair to any of the players listed.

 

[xcel]

Hi Huey:


___With both PowerDVD XP 4.0 and the Immersive TheaterTek player unavailable to the public right now, this thread makes no sense as has already been stated. In other words, this poll would be complete speculation at best for what is and is not the player of choice currently. We all have our favorites to date and mine has not changed in the ~ 4 weeks I have had to play with one in particular but lets let the HTPC enthusiasts amongst us have their turn behind all the players listed above before a poll with all the players listed is posted. In other words, I won’t lock the thread but I am removing the unavailable poll participants as their inclusion offers no useful information for any of us to date ...


___Good Luck


___Wayne R. Gerdes

___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.

___ [email protected]