CyberLink PowerDVD 22 Ultra | Award-Winning Blu-ray, DVD, & Media Player Software | Play Virtually Any File Format [Retail Box with Download Card]
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Eastongirl45
Greater than one weekI just received this so far it’s great I’m new at this so it will take me awhile to forgive it all out
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Griffin
> 3 dayThis beast is the one. Easy install and does a great job with features that you need.
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BS
Greater than one weekI have used Powerdvd for many years…recently purchased a new computer and had in to install. I even use this to stream movies from my computer to my TV through the HDMI connection on the computer and it is still a great quality. I have found very few formats that won’t play if you just add appropriate components. Highly recommend.
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theblackknight
> 3 dayTheres a reason I bought a Blu Ray player for my home theater instead of using a PC for it. And Cyberlink reminded me why today. I got this software installed without an issue. Tried playing a movie. No luck. Saw that there was an update. Had to register and give them my name and email. Had to log in which required setting a password (so dont give them a bogus email or youre out of luck for software updates). Updated the software. Had to hard reset my PC since the update blacked out the screen and I couldnt get it back. Tried to download and run the update again because it can only download in their special tool instead of as an executable that anyone can run. Got an error saying the download wasnt currently available. Figured Id try to play my blu ray again for fun. Got the same error saying my computer couldnt playback HDCP content. NVidias control panel disagrees. So does Cyberlinks own advisor tool. Oh, but Cyberlink says on the download page for their advisor tool that its a best guess and they dont guarantee the results. Googled. Saw that it might be because I had two monitors. Switched my settings to only display on one monitor. Still wont work. Cyberlink PowerDVD 22 is awful. Forcing me to register after I enter a license key is stupid. Either I have the license key and a valid copy of the software or I dont. If you want me to download the software directly from you dont give me a disc and license key in the box (btw, I was pretty happy to see a disc and license key - I much prefer that method of install since it works offline which is a huge benefit since I normally stream unless the internet is out). Hiding updates behind a registration and account wall and then only allowing those updates to run through your special software is horrible. This software is a waste of time not only right now but in the future when i have to unsubscribe from whatever marketing emails cyberlink sends my way. Dont bother
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Cat Martin
> 3 dayThis package gives me the full version so I couldnt be happier - I have a 3 TB external drive where I have stored all my CDs and DVDs (I still have their hard format, but having them on an external drive makes it easier to watch/listen to) This was easy enough to upgrade on my computer and now I have the full version so my music and videos are easier to find/load and sound/look better. I like this particular piece of software because I already knew it well enough and nowadays, for me to learn new software...thank you, but Id rather not!
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Stacey Adams
> 3 dayIve always used Cyberlink whenever I had a trial version pop up on my computers and always loved it, but could never afford the full program and was sad when my trial period ended. This is great video software, everything Ive watched so far has been crystal clear, the colors vibrant and overall, my viewing experience has improved a lot. Software was easy to install, I had it up and running in about a half an hour, I believe it would have been much faster had I not been answering emails and doing other things on my laptop at the same time. Im very happy with Cyberlink. Overall, a great experience, from install to viewing.
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jdeej777
Greater than one weekTheres a lot of features that this software offers. Im mainly focusing on it as a media player, media organizer and YouTube manager/player. This is an excellent media player for Windows and I made this my default player now. This player can play the highest quality available for the media. You can use PowerDVD to organize your video, photo, and music collection. The media is loaded according to the location of the actual folders which is a good thing so that you dont need to manage the file locations separately. This is a very good tool to access and manage YouTube contents. All you need is sign in to YouTube to link your account and PowerDVD and youre set. You can navigate through your videos, playlist, subscriptions etc. You can also download and access YouTube offline. Im only taking a star off for the price but the quality and host of features youre getting, this software can easily justify the price tag.
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youpickedawinner
> 3 dayReviewing: CyberLink PowerDVD 22 Ultra | Award-Winning Blu-ray, DVD, & Media Player Software | Play Virtually Any File Format [Retail Box] This software (one time purchase) allows you to play videos using a PC. I dont use a dedicated media server PC hooked up to a TV, but I do play DVDs and other video files using my desktop PC. My impression is that its very feature-rich, and I like it overall, but it has a very high learning curve, and I think the interface could benefit from some redesign to be more intuitive. It seems targeted to a very high-tech crowd, and not the every day user who just wants something simple for watching DVDs/Blu-Rays/Media Files. I find that the interface is *somewhat* similar to other players out there, such as VLAN or AnyDVD, both of which are freeware, but that this also has a host of advanced features not found with any other freeware Ive used. To get to those features, though, you really have to spend time learning it. That may not appeal to everyone. There are many different controls and menus for enhancing the video and audio quality. I happen to have a 1440p monitor for my PC, so I was really able to notice how much higher the resolution was using this player software. I played a DVD using VLAN and AnyDVD, then I played it with this software, and there is no question that the video enhancements in this software make a major difference in picture quality. Sound is also much better. I only have a 2-speaker system hooked up for audio, but even with that, the advanced sound controls really made for nice audio. One temporary issue I encountered was that when I switched on my wireless headphones, I was unable to hear the sound while playing a DVD. I had to really look through the settings for several minutes to troubleshoot why. It turns out theres a setting deep within the True Theater Audio Settings that needed to be unchecked (it was called Exclusive Output). Once I unchecked that, I was able to hear fine using my headphones. My biggest disappointment with this software is that there is no way to build a digitized library of your copy-protected DVDs. As far as I understand, you are allowed to make digital copies of your own purchased DVDs when they are strictly for your own use, so that you can watch the digitized file version and dont need to use the DVD player every time. This software unfortunately doesnt allow you to convert any protected DVDs to digital files, even when for your own use. I usually use Audacity, which is free, but it also takes a long time to convert DVDs to video files. I was hoping this would replace Audacity and convert my DVDs quickly and with enhancements built into the output files. Not so. However, you can convert DVDs you own the rights to, or that are not otherwise protected, but thats all. Im not opining whether that is good or bad, but you may want to keep this fact in mind if you are looking to convert your own purchased DVDs to digital files for viewing on multiple devices. When you launch the software, in addition to PC Mode, there is also a TV mode option. I have not played with that yet and have no idea exactly what all it does. But I can tell you that when watching DVDs on my PC, I will definitely be using this software from now on. The picture and sound quality are amazing. Even when playing mp4 files, you can make them look immensely better than with other players. Im rating it 4 stars but only because I thing the interface could be improved so that its a bit easier to use from the get go. If youre looking for something uber simple, yet reliable, then you might just want to stick with VLAN or AnyDVD, or the like. But if you have some tech savvy, and dont mind taking a chunk of time to experiment and figure out a new program, then this may be worth considering. Once you learn to use it, its great. Its just the learning part thats a bit of a shove uphill.
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nh
> 3 dayThis is just the same old, same old PowerDVD in a nice shiny box that includes an installation disc and the license key on a slip of paper. You can also download the software directly and use the key. It doesnt seem to have the annoying bug where the ui refuses to hide like some of my previous versions did. Basically, it plays blurays and is one of very few software that does. If you want to play them, you probably need this. There are a whole bunch of extra features that are probably useless to the vast majority of people. The software worked fine with Windows 11 and my hardware.
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Cary L. Brown
> 3 dayIve been using PowerDVD, in various versions, since v3, waaay back in the 90s. Were now up to v22, and things have changed over the years. The early versions were just software to play DVD movies on your computer. Todays versions are full-featured media centers, with vast arrays of internet-based features, streaming support, links to reviewing sites where you can link, share, read and write your own reviews and articles. Its capable of playing ALMOST every form of media out there, these days. I was very disappointed to learn that they REMOVED the 3D Blu Ray support code from the package, however. I have a 3D capable monitor and a large collection of 3D movies, and have been able to watch them consistently on my main workstation for a long time now. They give some lame excuse for why they removed this ALREADY EXISTING CODE from their package, but it really doesnt hold water, as far as Im concerned. Suffice it to say, v19 is the final version supporting 3D video playback, with it discontinued with v20, absent in v21, and now also absent in the newly released v22. So, if you want to play back 3D video, youll need to ignore this and go find an old copy of v19 or earlier (which you cant get from Cyberlink anymore, as dumb of a move as that seems to be!) I could understand not selling physical packages of the older version, but removing the digital version from sale for those who might want that feature? Thats just... weird. Its not like theres any real overhead that goes into allowing it to still be purchased digitally, is there? Thats a big knock a star off point as far as Im concerned. Apart from that, though, this is a good, user-friendly package that does pretty much whatever youd want it to do, and is pretty intuitive to use. Audio playback and video quality are, of course, dependent as much on your playback hardware as anything else... if you have a home-theater-PC setup, outputting best-quality audio over HDMI or DisplayPort to a compatible amplifier, and outputting that to a surround-sound speaker system and high-end video monitor panel, youll see about the best you can get from this. If youre playing it on your laptop display, using the built-in laptop speakers, well... youll no doubt be wondering what all the fuss is about. I use this as my main watching movies on my computer package. I AM keeping my older v19 version installed as well, however, explicitly so I can still watch 3D movies. The added features this brings to the table are not enough of a benefit, as far as Im concerned, to justify the removal of a feature I use. In fact, had I known that theyd removed this, I would not have chose to pick this up in the first place, I suspect, just out of frustration. That said... my v19 will continue to live on my main workstation (with 5.1 surround sound) in my office, and this will go on alongside the v17 version I have on my home theater PC (which is not 3D-capable at present, as my 3D TV has gone kaput and needs power supply repair). The frills and extras they provide? Especially the built-in movie social networking stuff, or the ability to use it to handle my local or local-network media? Those, I personally dont need... I use Plex to do local-network playback, and other software to handle on-machine media playback. However, if you dont have other software which does these things... say, you have Win11 and want to use something besides the soon-to-be-permanently-retired Windows Media Player (Windows Media Center was removed long ago, but WMP remains, for now)... this is a really good option. Note, also, that Win11 does not have the correct drivers to allow movies to be played back from a Blu-ray disk, but if you install this player, it will provide all the drivers and other support infrastructure you need to watch those movies on that PC. So, for those who are starting from zero, this is an excellent all in one package. Cyberlinks player software is the market leader for a reason, outlasting most of its competitors, and with the imminent demise of WMP, I can strongly suggest picking this up as a replacement/alternative.