Review by Susan Katz

At a hundred bux retail, I expect a lot from a piece of software. This player does a lot … BUT, do you really need it? Ultimately, that’s up to the individual buyer, but for me the answer was no.

PowerDVD does a lot.

- Playback of DVDs and Blu-ray movies (including 3D!) with resolution enhancementn- An interface to use with a remoten- Media playback via other pcsn- A cataloging function for your photos, music files, and videosnnSounds great. But for me, I really don’t need these things. I just wanted to open a variety of video formats without switching between players, like AVI, WMV, MOV. I don’t need a lot so this software was over-kill for me. I do plan to test it on my network. I’m hopeful that it will work on devices I don’t have a DVD player installed, which would be great for today’s netbooks & ultrabooks - although it looks like I might have to purchase stand alone players for each device for that. I will update once I try it.

Is PowerDVD 13 Ultra for you? You decide. It’s a wee bit expensive, and I’m glad I gave it shot. If you liked earlier versions, you’ll probably like this one too.

Is it the ultra experience? Probably not.