Although we’ve run into our fair share of challenges with Blu-ray movie playback on the PC, the latest version of PowerDVD seems to have settled everything. With the majority of today’s GPUs and displays supporting HDCP, the promise of buying a Blu-ray drive and getting instant access to Blu-ray movies is very real. Blu-ray movies are routinely available for $20 or less, and buy-one-get-one-free promotions seem to happen every other week at Amazon.com. For movie enthusiasts who want to enjoy a movie with all of the detail that was intended to be present by the director, moving to a high definition world is a solid choice.
The real question is then: Do I get a Blu-ray reader and drop CD/DVD burning and save $50? Spend an extra $50 to get a combo drive that reads Blu-ray and HD DVD? Or just go with a PlayStation 3 for an extra $150 and get HDMI high-definition Dolby TrueHD support along with, you know, PS3 gaming support?
Going with a Blu-ray reader is the cheapest way to get into BD. Since CD and DVD burning are still important features to have, you can get by with a two-optical drive setup. With a new system, however, going with the combo drive makes more sense. You’re going to need CD/DVD burning anyway, and Blu-ray burners are still too expensive for casual use. That’s the easy comparison.
The HD-DVD combo drive is one that’s worth discussing. As it stands, Blu-ray continues to outsell HD DVD in the US by an almost 2:1 ratio. With the exception of Paramount and Universal, you can enjoy movies on Blu-ray, including the exclusive Disney, Sony Pictures, and Fox. The chances of Blu-ray going under are slim to none. HD DVD is still a technically strong format, and exclusive movies such as Transformers and the Bourne Ultimatum are just as fun to watch as the best Pixar or 007 movies. There’s a very real possibility that HD DVD and Blu-ray will continue to exist and thrive in the same way that the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii are all able to thrive. If anything, HD DVD is the format that is at greatest risk for dying out. Spending an extra $50 for the integrated HD DVD drive really makes sense as “insurance” against one format dying.
Admittedly, in my experience, PowerDVD and WinDVD are less reliable with some of the newer HD DVD titles. Likewise, if you’re already spending $50, the question is whether or not a stand-alone HD DVD add-on is an option. In the last holiday season, there were several promotions where it was possible to get a HD DVD player for about $100. While these standalone units only support 1080i, TVs with proper 3:2 pulldown will give you a complete reconstruction of the original 1080p image. Perhaps more importantly, these stand alone units are often eligible for the “5 free HD DVD” promotion...
Conclusion
Asus’s drive is one of the cheapest ways to enter the Blu-ray world on the PC. It offers good plug-and-play sensibility unlike the barebones Pioneer drive which lacks a Blu-ray software bundle. From that perspective, the ASUS BC-1205PT is an exceptional value. The only uncertainty is whether or not the HD DVD/Blu-Ray combo drive from LG for an extra $50 offers a better value. If you don’t already have a HD DVD player, it may.
Mass Effect 3 PC Demo Impressions Mass Effect 3, EA/BioWare's third iteration in their series of sci-fi action RPGs and one of the most anticipated titles of the year, is fast approaching its March 6th release. This week, though, they released a playable demo on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 that offers a glimpse into both the single-player and multi-player portions of the full game.
Whether you're waiting impatiently for your download to finish or don't have the time to check it out yourself, go ahead and read some impressions of the demo from resident FSers Synch and Vandy in today's article!
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E Performance Review
Today marks the launch date for Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E line of processors, a new family of high-end Core i7 products based on the LGA 2011 platform. This new socket is poised to replace the existing LGA 1366 specification used by the more powerful Nehalem and Westmere parts from the past couple years, specifically Bloomfield and Gulftown, the Core i7-9xx+ line of CPUs.
With 6 cores, 15MB of cache, and support for quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory, the Core i7-3960X sounds like quite a catch. Want to know more about it and how it performs? Read on!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
Stronghold 3 Review
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle and defending it against sieging enemies. Almost exactly one decade after the first game was released, this new title promises a return to the classic and well-received gameplay that has been strayed so far from in more recent iterations. Does it live up to those expectations? Will (AKA Synchronous Failure) tells us all about it in his first official FiringSquad review, so read on!
Battlefield 3 PC Review - Single-player Impressions
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally delivered a sequel to the core Battlefield franchise, a proper follow-up to BF2. Having played through the game's single-player campaign already, ahead of the multiplayer festivities kicking off around midnight, I figured I'd share my impressions ASAP. Is it really a worthy addition to the core Battlefield series, or just another bullet point on the back of the box? Read on and find out!
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited Supersonic Software Interview
Following up on our hands-on preview from earlier this month, here's an interview with Supersonic Software, creators of Wrecked: Revenge Revisited. The game's coming out on XBLA and PSN in a matter of weeks, but for now, Luke chats with the developer about its predecessors Mashed and Micro Machines, how difficult it can be to get an indie game published, the closure of Codemasters' Guildford branch, and more!
Benchmarks
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
SU
furl
