Review by mhnstr

SummarynPower DVD 14 Ultra is a multi-media powerhouse that is capable of playing all of the multimedia on you computer whether it be movies, photos or music. The interface is easy to use and for ease of use I would give five stars. However, the software is very invasive in that it changes your file associations and searches your computer for media without asking.

ReviewnI have used Power DVD for years since it came preinstalled on my Dell laptop. However, the version installed on my laptop would not play Blu-Rays and so it was time for an upgrade. VLC media player is an option for those who are willing to go through the effort of making that work, but for the majority of people who just want to effortlessly play movies, Power DVD is probably one of the players under consideration.

The interface for Power DVD is very slick and probably one of the nicest looking players currently available. The controls are intuitive and straightforward. I found changing settings to be easy, but sometimes I had to change the settings more than once for Power DVD to take my changes.

PowerDVD 14 is a universal player in that it can play almost any type of video file, including Windows Media (WMV), QuickTime (MOV), MKV and AVI formats. The program can also be used to view your digital photographs and play your digital music files. The Blu-ray player software supports all high-definition audio formats, including DTS and Dolby Digital as well as 4K. For the majority of people, Power DVD will be able to play all of their media.

Normal playback includes hardware acceleration, but theres also a CPU mode with TrueTheater enhancements which will make media such as playback from a DVD look more high definition. I had a play with this and the controls are great. You can even split the screen so that you can see the changed and unchanged versions of the video.

However, there were several really annoying problems with the installation of the software. By default, Power DVD wants to be your media player and once installed, will scan your computer searching for your photos, music and videos. If you don’t want Power DVD to search your computer, you need to find the menu which lists the folders included in the software’s library and remove them. However, while you are doing this, the program will be busy searching until you convince it to stop. I didn’t want Power DVD to be my media player or to organize all my files and so removed the My Music and My Photos folders from the library, but then had to do it again when Power DVD added the folders again.

Power DVD associated all media files with Power DVD so that by default, they open with the program. Other programs such as the VLC media player ask before doing this because it is very invasive, but Power DVD gave no warning. I found that my photographs in raw as well as TIFF and DNG formats were no longer associated with Photoshop, but instead opened with Power DVD. Since I want to open those files with Photoshop for editing, I had to the Power DVD settings, disassociate the file types and then associate them correctly in Windows Explorer. This was really annoying since I had to spend time fixing everything to the way it was and the Power DVD should have prompted me first to see of changing all of my file associations was acceptable.

PowerDVD 14 comes with a one-year 10GB subscription to Cyberlink Cloud, which allows you to sync media to the Internet and play it with the Power Media Player app. There is also a Power Media Player app, which supports streaming or copying your media across iPad, Android and Windows 8 devices. Lastly, there is an application for both iOS and Android devices for controlling playback on your computer via your phone.

Overall, a great movie player packed with features. However, be aware that the program will try to incorporate all of the media on your computer. If you are ok with this, it is a handy feature, but it really should be an optional one.