Floppyhead - Digital Media and Home Theater Computers

Update (7/1/2008): Slysoft has announced that until July 31, they are offering a 20% discount on all products, including AnyDVD HD. Check it out here.
So you want to rip your Blu-ray movies to a hard drive? Even with a ton of DRM, ripping Blu-ray movies is possible.
Here are three options for [...]

Over the last year, the clear leader in Blu-ray and HD-DVD playback on a computer has been Cyberlink’s PowerDVD Ultra. Finally, this month someone else has thrown their hat into the HD realm: Arcsoft with their release of TotalMedia Theatre. According to Arcsoft, TotalMedia Theatre supports Blu-ray discs, AVCHDs, CDs, VCDs, and a variety of [...]

Using Cyberlink’s PowerDVD Ultra, media center PCs are a perfect way to hedge your bet on the HD-DVD/ Blu-ray (high definition DVDs) format wars, especially if you have a projector or large screen HDTV.
Although Microsoft is a big supporter of the HD-DVD standard, they left out native support in Vista for high definition DVDs. [...]

SlySoft has just released the latest AnyDVD version which beats the latest 4th generation HD-DVD and Blu-ray copy protection MKBv4, which was lauded as being unbreakable.
From Slysoft’s press release:
All that AACS-LA has to offer now is BD+, but even that is on the verge of being circumvented and a release is expected by the end [...]

The format war for next generation DVDs has been going on for some time. Each major studio has picked a side, with many only releasing movies on one format. Take for instant Fox’s “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” This top selling movie is only available on Blu-ray causing HD-DVD owners to [...]

Slysoft has updated AnyDVD HD, with apparently some type of “artifical intelligence.” From the press release that has been sitting in my inbox for a couple of days:
With today’s release of AnyDVD 6.1.8.4, SlySoft has once again delighted its customers with the delivery of another masterpiece in the never-ending battle with manufacturers of DVD [...]

Maybe I missed this earlier, but I thought people might be interested in knowing that the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive is now available for $179 at Buy.com (with free shipping too). The drive also comes with 5 free HD-DVD movies from a limited selection.
The Xbox 360 HD-DVD is a cheap way to watch HD-DVD [...]

Missingremote.com has a great article on how to add a HD-DVD or Blu-ray drive to your media center computer. Computer drives for the next generation of DVDs have dropped and price and are actually somewhat reasonable. Based on the article this is what you need to watch the next generation of DVDs on [...]

Sony has just released their latest iMac competitor, called the VAIO LT Series. Like the iMac, the VAIO LT is an all-in-one solution, meaning the compter and the monitor are combined.
The VAIO LT trumps the featues of the iMac with its high definition options. The HD version of the VAIO LT, which costs [...]

So Dell has finally shipped the XPS 410 with Digital Cable Tuners. By my count, there are now three viable companies selling media centers with CableCard support: Dell, HP, and Velocity Micro PC.

Dell also has made an interesting choice with the XPS 410. Digital Cable Tuners (DCTs) are only available on the high-end [...]