DVD Driver (decoder?) recommendations
 

My fujitsu wontplay dvds without a decoder or driver or whatever. It appears there are lots of options in the $30-/50 range. Are there any that are superior?

I also understand that there are programs that allow you to copy dvds to hard drive to conserve power while viewing on airplanes. True?

Didn't it come with one? You might check your box of discs that came with it. Fujitsu is usually pretty good about including an InterVideo WinDVD disc that you can install, with all of their laptops.

I've always wondered why they don't just pre-install it.

If you can't find it, email me and maybe I can lend you my disc (if I can still find it).

If your laptop has a DVD drive, then Fujitsu definitely would have included a DVD playback software. It should be on your PC somewhere or included in one of the CDs that came with the laptop. Give Fujitsu tech support a call?

If you you want to get a DVD playing software RIGHT NOW, you could always buy/download either WinDVD or PowerDVD from places like Amazon for about $30. They are about the same. There are also freeware solutions too, like http://www.videolan.org/vlc/.

To rip DVDs to your HD, use SmartRipper (free). Be prepared to have about 5 gigs of free space per DVD.

Lastly, you could always 'steal' by downloading stuff off Kazaa or something like that. I don't recommend it though: 1) time consuming, 2) bad quality files, and 3) stealing = bad karma.

Wait a minute. Won't it even play with Windows Media Player?

When I insert a DVD into my Fujitsu, I get this window that pops up where I can select which program to play the DVD with, and Media Player works fine, probably using the laptop's basic DVD driver (Toshiba drive on mine...you can find it in the Device Manager).

Find Windows Media Player, insert a DVD and try to play it with that.

Yes, PremEx is right for once http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

Go to www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia or use the Windows Update tool to download Windows Media Player 9. It does DVD's "out of the box".

Ummm, it still needs a DVD encoder installed. This is due to the Dolby license required for DVD playback.

You guys getting WM9 working for DVD's , are you certain you don't have a DVD player installed (hence the codecs)

Windows Media Player, by default, does not come with DVD decoder (technical term is MPEG-2) built-in nor can you download for free. This is true with MP3 encoding as well; WMP cannot rip CDs to MP3 out-of-the-box. As Nick said, this has to do with the licensing and royalty issues.

However, most hardware manufactueres would bundle the MPEG-2 decoder in if their hardware includes a DVD drive. See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e.../02april15.asp and http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...p/dvdplay.aspx for reference.

I still say that Fijitsu bundled it and somehow kokonutz screwed it up. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

dupe post.

[This message has been edited by kyklin (edited 05-22-2003).]

Thanks, WMP is installed but wont play dvds and will only rip music to the .wmp format. I'll look for a cd in the fujitsu stack when i get to the office.

Koko, your Fujitsu comes with a "DVD and CD-R/RW Applications CD"

It contains among other things Intervideo WinDVD.

Nick was correct that WMP9 does not include DVD codecs, sorry...

Good call, Mistah Love. Buried in there with driver restore cds, micorsoft works and windows service packs was a cd that includes Drag'nDrop CD burner (with limited MP3 conversion capability) and my very own copy of WinDVD4 http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

Now off to get SmartRipper...and a good sized external hard drive..lessee, 5 gig per movie, 3-4 movies per transcon trip...that's a 25 gig external at least...guess I'll have to go bigger then thumb-sized.

I heard somewhere that ripping these dvds to external HDs will double the battery life over having the DVD spin relentlessly. But dont externals if this size require their own power source? Any firsthand experience with this?



[This message has been edited by kokonutz (edited 05-22-2003).]

Why external? If you compress it a little it will be 2-3Gb, that's still 10 movies on the sucker... Or 10 copies of Shrek.

Agree with ScottC...you gotta have at least 30 gig on that whatever your new Fujitsu model is. Maybe even 40. Should be room for several movies on there without the need of an external to drag around.

What model did you get, BTW?

It's a P2120 mini deal with all the bells and whitles. And yeah, I've got a bunch of gigs hanging out there, I suppose...plenty for even the special bloopers segment on the Shrek DVD http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif so long as I keep the files tidy.

But this ripping process is turning out to be a bit more complicated then I'd imagined. And lord knows the folks on afterdawn.com are not writing their manuals down to the third grade level that I require http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/redface.gif...

If your DVDs are saved as ISO images on your hard drive, you can use a DVD emulator like Daemon Tools to mount & play them. I think the program is free for non-commercial users.

I am a dvd RIPPING GOD!!!!!

Ok, ask Beckles, I am a computer MORON. But thanks to ABQJon and all you fine folks, here is what I did:

1) Downloaded DVD Decrypter from dvddecrypter.com This tool is freeware and comes with a one-click convert-to-ISO image option.

2) Downloaded Daemon Tools from the site ABQ recommends above.

3) Put a dvd in the slot thingy and ripped my copy of The Wall to an ISO file on my C drive. 22 minutes and 7.5 gigs after ONE click.

4) Opened Daemon which asked me what image I wanted to watch and with which DVD viewer.

5) Am able to watch the movie and all special features just as if a DVD was spinning, spinning, spinning in my dvd drive.

If I can do it, ANYONE can do it!!!!!!

Thanks, everyone!!!!

So ScottC/PremEx... (others)

Anyone found a compressor using WM9 or DIVX that DOESN'T have audio sync issues??

No problemo http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif. And if you ever decide you want to create backup copies of your DVDs, there's a nifty little utility called DVD Shrink that can compress your movies so that they will fit on a single DVD-R.

I've got a problem with DVD shrink. It won't capture the subtitles for my DVD when I shrink it, even when I try "movie only" mode or "whole movie" mode...

Any clues??

Thank you all. These suggestions worked extremely well. Any thoughts on how playing a movie from the HD increases battery life over using the DVD drive?

Daemon tools installation gives me an error about SCSI failing. Looking it up on the forums I don't find a satisfactory resolution. I don't know what to do.

Any other suggestions as to a good program?

Tinysofts Super DVD ripper.

Converts DVD's to anything you want, AVI, VCD, SVCD etc...


Intervideo DVD copy is also an excellent package.

how much compression and what compression strategy do you recommend for seeing movies on a laptop when traveling?

to be more specific, if my primary goal is storing movies to watch on my laptop when I travel, what should I use to rip and store movies, what will hold the most movies with good resolution and sound quality on a laptop?

Thanks!

I stick to using freeware like DVDx 2.2 plus the divx and lame MP3 codecs, which can bring a film down to any size you want - 750MB for a 1.5hr movie is a good compromise - although it's a bit fiddly and you'll tie up your computer for several hours as it rips and re-compresses. A good starting point for guides on how to do this is www.dvdrhelp.com

But, if you have the spare capacity and want to take lots of movies with you, it's a good technique.

I like to (illegally?) download TV programmes we can't yet see in the UK - 24, West Wing - using bittorrent and www.suprnova.tk - no need to worry about ripping your own DVDs and makes a difference if you've seen the in-flight movies before.