Can the N6010 play dvds well ?

I got a big collection of R1 dvds I'm planning to use the N6010 with .

Then saw some compliats here about the N6010 not being able to show dvd movies well ( posted by Jman ) , is it true ? is it software related or dvd NTSC/PAL issue ?

 

I have not had a problem with dvd playback on my N6010 i just recieved yesterday...but that's because i dont use the DVD decoding software that comes with it (intervideo windvd)....I just NVidia's DVD Decoder....and i feel the dvd picture quality is great. I never did like the WIndvd decoder, on ANY laptop.

-Scotty

 

Hi gilo,

I've only had my n6010 a few days. I played a dvd today. Windows Media player wouldn't recognize it, which I thought was irritating, but the Intervideo WinDvd program did. It played it smoothly, but I think the picture quality was poor. It was better than the n6010's t.v. reception, but still a little fuzzy.
I am hoping there are some adjustments I can make with some settings. Does anyone have any advice?

Amy

 

i have to say again that i am very disappointed in the n6010's tv reception with the built in tuner-it's basically unwatchable. the dvd playback was also very 'soft'. no sharpness which you expext from a dvd. i tested it with several dvd's, and i was using the fujitsu instant my media program. i don't see how a high end machine with built in multimedia program like my media is such a poor performer. why even include it then? if anyone knows any other way to play back a dvd with another program on this machine with better results, please let me know. i really think at this point i will be sending it back, as the whole multimedia portion of this laptop is not up to par. tv tuner and dvd are both hopeless, so basically you are left with a 2500 laptop with a beautiful screen that can only be used for office apps, and such. any other users have opinions on this?

 

What i mean by decoder, is SOFTWARE decoder...has nothing to do with teh hardware (ati radeon mobility 9700, etc..)
In order for DVD playback to occur on any computer, some form of dvd software decoder (codec) is required (because windows XP doesnt ship with a decoder). Alot of these notebook companies use with NVidia's or Intervideo WinDVD......I prefer the NVidia product.
THe fujitsu comes with the WinDVD sofware/decoder loaded, which i dont think is as sharp, etc...

 

thanks for the clarification scotty. can i bug you again for a bit more info. is the nvidia decoder software something available to download free, and if so, i am assuming during install you can set it up as yr default dvd player to avoid the windvd software already installed by fujitsu. would use of this software also require full boot up of the n6010, thereby rendering the instant my media program basically useless? thanks again, john

 

hi scotty. i am a little confused when you mentioned you played dvd's back with nvidia's decoder. are you talking about the n6010, because that ships with the ati radeon video card, not an nvidia card. can you give more details...thanks
<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by shboyles

 

I dont have the model with the Tvtuner, because i heard it wasnt that great...i use an external USB tv-tuner from Hauppauge called the PVR-USB2.0 model...works great.

 

thanks for the info scotty. i will give it a try and see how it compares to the current player. hopefully i will still be able to use the controls on the laptop and the remote with this software loaded? anyway, just wondering if you have the model with the tv tuner built in and if you have any comments on why that end if it is such a bad picture, and if any way to improve that. i see upon further reading of the specs that the tuner resolution is only 720 x 480, half the resolution of the crystal view screen! guess i should have noticed that before ordering. any comments on the tv tuner?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by jman

 

thanks again for your help and input scotty.
<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by shboyles

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by jman

 

I want to know when you say that the N6010 does not play DVD well do you mean using Instant MyMedia (Without booting to Windows) or Booting into Windows using WinDVD or PowerDVD software. I heard that the screen is really bright and should not have any problems playing DVD. Thanks

 

the dvd playback on this machine is very poor. it's just not dvd quality. i used the instant my media program with several dvd's and the picture was very soft and fuzzy. as i said before the tv tuner is useless-why they even include it is beyond me as no one in this day and age would watch a picture that bad. i have not tried dvd yet with win dvd, but i am not sure if playing dvd on that is using the same driver as the instant my media. but again-why include the instant my media and tout it in the marketing as an all in one media laptop, when the instant my media and tv tuner/dvr functions are useless. i will try downloading another dvd decoder this weekend and see how it performs on the crystalview screen, as scotty recommended, and then give you an update. he also agrees the dvd performance was poor with the included driver, as well as several other users in the various forums have mentioned here. i think everyone would agree the tv tuner is useless.

 

I was playing the Seinfeld dvd's. Maybe the Monsters Inc, a cartoon, looked better. The DVD's I watched had a fuzzy overlay to them, and it sparkled. It is hard to explain. The fuzzies sort of flicker over the whole screen. Kramer had on a plaid jacket, and you could hardley tell it was plaid, because of it.
Scotty, is that why you switched to the Nvidia player instead of intervideo windvd? Did you try the WinDvd on the n6010 before you switched to the Nvidia?

Amy

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by HelpAppreciated

 

Hm...I have to try the Nvadia then. I know that the TV Tuner completely sucks (and I thought it was only because I had a bad reception). When you play a DVD full screen, it is not as clear, but I usually play them on non full screen and it is clear like that..

 

qosmio s better than 6010.I very much sure,tested both of them,and tv turner,decoder,picture quality s far superior in toshiba qosmio.

Love of the dead does not last,
because the dead will not return.
But love of the living
is in every moment fresher than a bud,
both the inward and the outward eye.
Choose the love of that Living One
who is everlasting, who offers you
the wine that increases life.
Do not say "We have no entrance to that King."
Dealings with the generous are not difficult
Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi (1207-1273)

 

It's also 25% more expensive.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

I just wanted to let you know that I did get the t.v. tuner to work. I tried it with the WIN DVR program, and it worked much better than it did with MyMedia.
As for the DVD playback. My picture is very clear. I just think there is a very faint layer of static over the top of it. My huband can't even see it, but now that I have seen it, my eye is focused on it. When there are close ups of the characters, it is not even noticeable. Their faces are very clear.
I'm still very happy with this machine overall. And my husband is playing that flight simulator game all of the time . He loves it.

Amy

 

The instant on features of both the Fujitsu N6010 and Toshiba Qosmio G15 rely on a quick booting Linux OS, but unfortunately these laptops use poor quality DVD display software that I was unable to substitute in the Linux kernel. If someone has successfully done this, please let me know. In a side by side comparison (they have both on display at Fry's), the instant on DVD playback on the N6010 was better than on the Qosmio, which seems to suffer from some type of conflict between the DVD display software and the screen driver.

Both systems play DVDs flawlessly with the laptop booted as long as you are not using WinDVD (or Media Center in the case of the Qosmio) in full screen mode. Surprisingly, I have found Windows Media Player to possibly offer the best DVD playback on these systems approaching the quality seen on a Sony Vaio A290, which is less sharp and bright than either the N6010 or Qosmio but has a very clean picture with zero visible artifacts even when your nose is almost touching the screen. Windows Media Player seems to execute brilliantly on the N6010 and Qosmio by throttling back some of the pure power of their LCDs in favor of a more refined picture. The quality of the screens on both the N6010 and Qosmio in nearly identical with the Qosmio being slightly brighter (probably due to the "two bulbs" behind the panel). Viewing at an angle is very similar and given the identical native resolutions, one has to wonder whether the two LCD panels aren't one and the same.

As for the built-in tuners on both laptops, the resolution is VGA (720x480) which is DVD quality and not the reason why a TV picture might look substandard. The only higher resolution is offered in a "true" HD tuner meant to decode HD broadcasts. Rather, the low picture quality is partially explained by the laptop tuner architecture, which uses software for decoding TV signals. This software decoder is pretty weak and not calibrated to the native resolution of a WXGA+ laptop screen. On top of that, the typical TV signal when magnified to high resolution (1400x900 in this case) will not look very impressive, something HDTV owners are well aware of from viewing non-HDTV material. Finally, most viewers will probably be looking at a laptop screen way too close up, which of course will reduce the perceived quality of the picture compared to a regular TV viewed from much further away. Given the hurdles an internal laptop TV tuner faces, the effort on the N6010 is actually pretty admirable while on the Qosmio it is completely understandable.

Please allow me to digress a bit. A software based tuner will slow system speed because it relies on processing by the CPU instead of the tuner, which in this case should really be called an adapter since it does not contain any onboard processing capabilities. When a "tuner" is internal such as in these laptops, it can also cause some heat buildup that will further reduce system performance. Historically, PCI tuner cards using hardware decoding have produced the best output quality and performance but it would be impractical to run these types of tuners in a laptop because they produce tremendous heat compared to a software based tuner. The simple solution for a laptop is to purchase an external USB tuner with hardware processing -- there are several good ones on the market.

Personally speaking, I went with the N6010 with the built-in tuner because there are circumstances where the picture quality is less important than the convenience of instant on, for example the kids watching a DVD in the car. For other times, I plan on using an external USB tuner and Windows Media Player (or other competent DVD driver) with the system booted. It should be noted that the "tuner" version of the N6010 is the same price as the "nontuner" version after it is upgraded to the same 1GB memory and DVD writer (the tuner is essentially free).

As for the Qosmio, I owned one for a couple of weeks but could not live with the very poor video quality in instant on mode (much worse than the N6010), not to mention the constant conflicts with RAMASST (a DVD driver) and inability to shut down once in a while due to errors with a SONIC sound driver (had to unplug and remove battery).

Media center functionality has not been perfected in desktops, much less laptops, so all of these systems will have tradeoffs. When purchasing a 17" laptop, I looked for the best compromise between screen quality, reliability, build quality, functionality, features, performance and price (weight or portability is not a consideration in this category). I probably would have gone with an HP ZD8000 if it were quieter or had the option of an internal tuner and might have even considered the Dell 9200 had it not been plagued by poor screen quality. The Sony Vaio A290 fell out of favor due primarily to its lack of muscle. For what I want out of a laptop with media center possibilities, the Fujitsu N6010 isn't perfect but it does come out on top.

 

Silver, thank you for that detailed overview, I'm sure a lot of people appreciate that post.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

Thanks Brian, there are a few minor technical corrections to my post - the screen resolution is 1440x900 not 1400x900, Windows Media Player is a media player not DVD driver and I have been unable to determine whether the proprietary "tuners" inside the N6010 or Qosmio might indeed use hardware based decoding (I should have disclosed that I made an assumption they were software based). In any case, the internal tuner performance is weak in both these laptops and should only be used when it truly is inconvenient to boot the laptop and attach an external USB tuner.

On a separate note, I am fairly surprised that there have been no published reviews comparing the 17" laptops as a "media center laptop" category. A few reviews that include 17" mix in some 15", which is silly if you think about it. I should have kept the Qosmio for a little while longer so I could directly compare to the N6010 but alas I maxed out the return policy.

The nice thing about the 17" laptops from a review perspective is that there are relatively few of them at this point. Perhaps someone will wake up and do this review, but I'm not holding my breath. And even if they do, I wouldn't expect them to do anything reasonable like configure the laptops to similar specs before making head-to-head comparisons. Fujitsu has suffered terribly in reviews at CNET and PCMAG due to having basic configurations at a lower price -- the reviewers invariably test the basic configuration even though with upgrades the Fujis and competing non-upgraded systems are a better match spec- and price-wise.