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    Windows 8 Tips: How To Play Back Movies & Music Discussion

    Discussion in 'Notebook News and Reviews' started by Ted Needleman, Oct 31, 2012.

  1. Ted Needleman

    Ted Needleman Notebook Enthusiast NBR Reviewer

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    Are you stepping to Windows 8? If so, Microsoft's now released Windows 8 Media Center will let you play back DVDs, but it won't necessarily support all of the multimedia files in your collection. There are alternatives out there though, that should let you play back a wider range of digital videos and tunes.



    Read the full content of this Article: Windows 8 Tips: How To Play Back Movies & Music

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    Last edited by a moderator: May 7, 2015
  2. ragametal

    ragametal Newbie

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    In you r article, you state the following:
    "After installing the $10 Media Center, I confirmed first-hand that it does indeed enable playback of both DVD and Blu-ray discs".

    That being said, Did you personally tried to play a bluray disc? or did you limit your testing to a DVD disc and assumed that bluray is also supported?

    The reason why i asked, admittedly in a very skeptical way, is because everybody out there states that you will need a third party software to play bluray discs even if you upgrade to the media center pack.

    This is the one feature that will make me upgrade my HTPC from winfows 7 to 8. Specially since the it seems like microsoft didn't even bother updating this software a little bit, not even after charging people for it.
     
  3. lockdown571

    lockdown571 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Seconded. This would actually be HUGE if it supported blu-rays. Did you actually test a blu-ray disc? Did it support menus?
     
  4. lockdown571

    lockdown571 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Windows 8 does NOT play blu-rays according to several people at AVS forums who have tried it. I even tested it myself. No dice. I have no idea why several news sites including Notebook Review are claiming it does.

    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center pack supposedly supports blu-ray playback - BUSTED
     
  5. ragametal

    ragametal Newbie

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    I really appreciate your input. It is a shame that the authors of these websites are not responsible enough to investigate certain facts before posting their articles just to increase their website's traffic.

    But the worse part is that the readers are the ones who have to confirm or deny what was mentioned in the article because the authors are not man enough to respond to the reader's questions.

    So disapointed
     
  6. be77solo

    be77solo pc's and planes

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    yep, this one was annoying... I planned on Media Center being my BluRay player based on this article, but as all others have said, it does not work, and says I need third party software. That makes Media Center worthless for my needs, bad article that needs updating.
     
  7. Benchmade 42

    Benchmade 42 Titanium

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    Windows Media Player on windows 8 for some strange reason does not play my dvds but luckily i have Cyberpower dvd player software that was included.
     
  8. jessica99

    jessica99 Newbie

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    My choices are:

    –> Free:
    KMPlayer 3.3.0.33
    MPC-Home Cinema 1.6.2.4902 x86
    SMPlayer 0.8.0.4316
    VLC media player 2.0.3
    Xbox Media Center 11.0

    –> Commercial:
    UFUSoft Blu-ray Player
    CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra 12.0.1905.56

    We have so broad choice to play music and videos…. :)