Brand new Studio XPS M1640 not playing blue-ray movies?

Hello,

I have just received today my new Studio XPS M1640 laptop (with blue ray drive and led screen) and so far all seems to be good except ... It can't play Blue-Ray movies. When I insert a BD disk, the autoplay only gives me the option to explore the folders with explorer. No option to play the disk. If I right click on the drive, I can select powerdvd but once in powerdvd nothing happens.

Notes:
1) I can see the folders on the BD disk in explorer
2) I tried it with the version of powerdvd dx that came with the laptop and also used the online update option of powerdvd dx to get the latest version (8.1). No change.
3) I'm trying to play to the built-in screen, no external monitor connected.
4) I've read somewhere about a blue-ray icon in powerdvd, I don't see this.
5) A long call with Dell support yielded nothing. I specifically asked if they might have shipped the wrong version (non-blue ray of powerdvd), the tech said that they only have the one version and that it has been tested to play BD disks properly.
6) Dell support says to try with other BD disks and if it still doesn't work to return the computer to have it fixed. (I don't really want to do that since it seems to be a software problem).
7) I ran the Cyberlink Blue Ray advisor and it tells me that all is fine except that it doesn't detect a blue ray software player.

Anybody else ran into this? Any solutions?

It would seem a bit strange to have to pay extra for a blue ray movie player on a brand new laptop that included a blue ray drive.

Sylvain

 

run a diskinfo tool to make sure you have a blu-ray player? if not you should exchange it
goodluck

 

Even if it's just a software problem, a new laptop should be shipped in suitable condition to play Blu-Ray disks if that's what you paid for. I'd get Dell to take a look at it and explain why it wasn't set up to play them.

 

Agreed. This stuff sounds terrible.

 

I had the same problem one long talk with tech support and an email to the execs got me the right version of powerdvd being shipped to me. Apparently they ship it with deluxe version which is great except powerdvd needs ultra to work, deluxe doesnt support blu-ray

 

My 1530 played blu ray's out of the box ...just wondering which drive is in your's cause mine is a Mata BD-RE UJ-225s
I guess you could try updating Vid/Sound Drivers for a start...Did you get an install CD for the software? maybe reinstall that?
Definitely is a software issue cause my drive refused to play Dark Knight even after updating. Ended up getting Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 which works with all my disks no problem

 

@fluffboy: I confirm that I have a Blue Ray drive.
@iansr: Do you (still) have a case number with Dell that I could refer to? The tech I spoke to insisted that the DX version of powerdvd could play blue ray movies. All indications that I have is that it doesn't and that another version is needed.

 

Can't you, um, just DL the correct PowerDVD from cough*bt*cough (for testing purposes only, until your new disk arrives)? lol

 

@horspiste: Heres some infomation, I think this is a level three tech's extension. 18006249897 ex:7283848, my case number is 604117063, also heres the link of the website that shows dx doesnt support blueray http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/main_1_en_US.html then click compare.

 

Current Status:

Spoke to a few Dell techs today (kept being bounced around) and one installed PowerDVD Ultra-trial which demonstrated that the Blue-ray drive was functional and then agreed to have Dell send me the right version of PowerDVD (couldn't give me a code, need to send CD). I should get that tomorrow or friday.

@iansr: Thanks!

 

That's good to hear!

 

PDVD is a hit-n-miss. I have that on my HTPC (with LG BR/HD combo drive) and it took me several updates/patches to finally get it stable. Funny thing is Cyblerlink's own patches break several functionalities. The latest PDDVD breaks the ability to play HDDVD's wihile fixing HDCP errors.

Arcsoft's TMT is another option so some people prefer over PDVD but I had the trial version and the audio was somewhat lacking compared to PDVD.

Reality is the support for PC BR drives is far from 'matured' right now and while the movie industry keeps updating BDLive, software companies are playing catch-up to stay updated which is a tauting task in itself.

 

Just want to share this:

I've purchased my 1640 from Dell Singapore website. It's bound to be delivered within two weeks.

I confirmed it from both the Order Details tab from Dell's Order Status website, and the PDF they sent me after I've placed my order: there's an item that reads:

(1) PowerDVD for Blu-Ray


No version was specified so I'm guessing that refers to the latest version (the only one that plays BD).

From the 1640 thread, it appears that US orders do not have their PowerDVD listed the same way as mine, so I guess that explains why the included PowerDVD does not play Blu-Ray for the 1640s they've ordered.

 

I'm having the same issue w/ my new xps 16. They didn't ship any power dvd disc with my machine. I called support and they're shipping me the discs, but it looks like as I suspected, PowerDVD DX does not support blu ray. So the discs they'll be sending will be of no use. Going to try to follow up and get them to send me ultra which should play bluray discs. Thanks for the link!