Blu-ray is cool! This even works in conjunction with a laptop!

I am always concerned when I add "anything" extra or special to my laptop. Will the software which I am considering ultimately be the final "coup de grace" which sends my whole system over the edge, figuratively? Then where will I be? Sitting helplessly as my laptop swears at me and leaves town once again? I hate that, and it makes me timid. My watchword concerning computers tends to be this: avoid adding anything to a computer you own which is actually in any sort of working order.

We go through laptops like other households go through cheesy poofs, and it's alwas a time consuming mess to get one fixed. And we are always, always doing that, because we have a lot of enthusiastic kids, and they LOVE computers. So...is it surprising when one breaks again? Never, to us.

We even have two laptops with the dreaded Vista. We are desolate when they are temporarily out of commission. Supposedly this program works with Vista. I did not attempt that however, because loading this and breaking everthing  more

Hardware dependent

For those of us who have a laptop that's a year old, we're screwed. That's the short version of the review for this not yet ready for primetime software package.

Oh yeahm, there isn't an upgrade to a Blu-Ray or HD DVD for my laptop, so I either have to buy a new laptop or use an external drive, which aren't available, so that means buying an internal, and popping it into an external case... ok I'm a high tech priestess so that isn't hard but why would I want to?

So, I have a choice, I can watch my blu ray discs on my PS3 on the monster flat panel in the livingroom, or I can buy an internal blu ray PLAYER (they don't burn yet) and watch a movie (after I upgrade my graphics card) on a 24" computer monitor on my desktop machine...

Bottom line is that the software I think has come out too soon, before there is ample hardware to support it, and you can't write blu ray yet, so we're just talking about playing them...

Better to spend the money on PS3, hook up the ethernet cable and watch  more

Nothing Special

With this product you receive exactly what is advertised. The program plays DVDs and BLU-RAYs flawlessly. It does have the ability to do screen-captures is nice as well if you are a film student or you just want some Jpegs of certain frames.

I can't really say anything overtly positive or negative about the program though. It didn't have any major bugs but it doesn't have anything to set it apart from the dozens of other similar programs on the market.

Smooth Interface, Enhanced Playback

Corel WinDVD 9 Plus (Blu-ray)

WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray has been highly anticipated as Corel's answer to Blu-ray technology for DVD and video playback. I was skeptical because some reviews state problems running the program on Windows Vista machines, even though the program is designed to be compatible. Others mention skipping and location of controls.

Notwithstanding, I decided to test the program for myself. (I run Windows XP, Service Pack 3 on my desktop where I often watch DVDs while working on craft projects.)

Installation was extremely easy and fast, but the performance is what's really exciting. With WinDVD 9 it's possible to make a standard DVD play like High Definition. WinDVD's All2HD upscaling increases frame size to HD resolution and sharpens each image while maintaining clean, crisp edges. Even better, there's an anti-blur technology to ensure smooth action images.

Hook up your stand-alone speakers for real surround sound or for movies on the go, take your laptop with  more

Needs some work

The program wouldn't run once installed. Click the app and no go. Click an associated file and nothing. No error message, no crash, just nothing. The install went smoothly, even followed the extra "read this before installing" instructions. So is it my PC with Windows XP Service Pack 2, I could try another PC to find out... but this is the PC I wanted it on. It seems from the numerous other complaints about the installs the program just isn't ready for prime time yet.

I wanted to give it a great review, I've used version 8 which is bundled with my copy of Video Studio 11.5 and it worked fine. I never paid much attention to software DVD (or Blu-ray) players before, they played or they didn't play the movie and some had better controls. But the sales pitch of this one indicated I would see better pictures and cleaner video even with older tech using some cutting edge software magic. I guess however, I'll never know (okay maybe I'll try again in the future, but not anytime soon).