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TechToday

E-MAIL THIS STORY   |   PRINTER-FRIENDLY FORMAT

Specialty programs boost DVDs' laptop performance

Movie info, changing speeds among options

December 24, 2003

BY PHILLIP ROBINSON
KNIGHT RIDDER-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Today's portable computers can be great DVD-movie-watching machines. They offer movie viewing when and where you want, for several people at once or for your solitary staring.
What's required for movie mavens?
On the hardware side, just a DVD drive inside the computer. It doesn't have to be any particular speed.
Of course, the bigger the screen you have, the better. A 14-inch or 15-inch LCD screen is OK, but if you can get a 17-inch spread, that's definitely better viewing. Keep in mind, though, that a bigger screen normally means a heavier computer, and that's a negative if you're hoping to carry this computer to the airport or balance it on your belly in bed.
Good built-in speakers are a plus if you're going to share the viewing. But most people I've seen doing the computer-DVD thing are watching alone and generally that means using headphones, making the speaker quality moot.
You do need a movie-watching program that can recognize a DVD, understand all the bits on the DVD that represent a movie, and put those bits up on screen. Ideally the software will offer a lot more, such as easy ways to pause, restart, jump around in, set bookmarks for returning to a specific point in the movie after a snack or bathroom break, turn subtitles on or off, change the volume and otherwise control your movie.
Most Windows PCs now come with Microsoft's own Windows Media Player program, which can -- among other things -- play DVD movies. But WMP isn't very good. It has confusing menus and seems more interested in having a cool look than in being simple and powerful. It lets you turn alternate audio tracks and subtitles on or off, and, well, that's about it.
InterVideo's $69.95 WinDVD Platinum 5 is one alternative that makes WMP look weak. It starts with all the regulars: playing, pausing, volume, sizing the video window and so on, plus subtitle and alternate audio choices. Add screen captures and bookmarking -- with bookmark files you can share with friends so they can compare and contrast your favorite bits. Zoom even lets you choose a part of the movie screen for a closer look.
A built-in movie encyclopedia uses your Internet connection to give you info on actors, directors and other movies. Time stretching can slow or speed the movie so it lasts anywhere from twice as long to only half as long as normal. (Why? Maybe you want to speed it a little so you can watch an entire movie during a short plane flight or a TV show during a lunch break.)
There's a long list of audio features for driving your home theater system and speakers: Dolby Surround EX for 6.1 or 7.1 8-channel output, Dolby Virtual Speaker to make two speakers sound a little more like surround sound, plus equalization and other special effects. WinDVD also can provide some of these Dolby-style sounds through headphones.
Finally, there are the battery-memory options that try to extend your battery play time.
Quite a list -- but then, they're asking $70. You can download a free 14-megabyte trial version at http://www.intervideo.com/.
Zoom Player (http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_download.shtml) is an entirely free DVD player. And it is only 901K, a download that will take only a couple of minutes on a dial-up connection instead of the half hour or more that WinDVD requires.
Its options are similar to WinDVD -- skipping, jumping, bookmarking, skins, color control, languages, subtitles, zooming, audio output selections -- though not quite as advanced within each category. Zoom Player will even import those settings from other popular players such as WinDVD and PowerDVD.
Want more? You can download Zoom Player Professional, which has enough audio and video special settings to keep geeks busy for months tinkering and tweaking. And yet Professional, at 975K, is only slightly larger than standard Zoom Player and is yours to try as shareware, with a $19.95 registration fee if you intend to keep it.
My advice? Insist that any portable have a DVD drive. Then dig up some good headphones and watch a movie using WMP. Next, download and try the free Zoom Player. If you're enjoying the improved life, try the larger trial download of WinDVD too. If you're loving it all, consider paying for Zoom Player Pro or WinDVD (depending on which you liked better in trial version) and plugging your portable into any home speaker system you have.

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