DVD Decoder included?

Hi all. I've just received my HEL80, and LOVE it! One question, though. I've looked through the disk of drivers et al that was included, and can't seem to find a DVD decoder, nor is there one installed. Does anyone know if there's one on there somewhere? Not a big deal, I know, but twenty bucks is twenty bucks. I've emailed Milestone, and am waiting for a response but I'll probably get one quicker here. Thanks!

 

We ship all of ours with WinDVD (with XP) or NERO 7 (with Vista) and I am pretty sure Milestone does as well...take a look for that CD in your accessories box...it will not be on your drivers CD.

 

No joy; just the drivers and Windows CDs. Hopefully they just forgot to include it, and will send it along shortly. Thanks very much for the help, Donald. I've noticed how helpful you are with everyone here, customers or not; very encouraging for us noobs!!

 

powernotebooks ship powerDVD with the laptop. However, if you don't buy an OS from them, and install your own version of Vista, you are pretty much screwed. The powerDVD version they ship doesn't work and you have to get your own.

Same thing with Nero.

Also a problem with the OmniPass. If you don't get an OS, and install Vista, you get a 30-day trial version and then have to buy the full version yourself. Another $50 bucks.

I was pretty pleased with the laptop, but I didn't expect to run into all these extra costs when I didn't get an OS from powernotebooks. Thought I was saving some money, but Nero costs money, so does PowerDVD, and then OmniPass.

Just a note for others who are considering the HEL80 without the Operating system.

btw, I am running Vista Business and it runs without a problem. Be careful when installing older programs as some will cause it to crash. (Nero and Alcohol 120 in particular.)

 

Sometimes you need to ask before you leap

NERO 7 works fine with Vista Business...that is why we ship that instead of NERO 6. Vista Business does not have any Codecs built in, so you need some other utility to provide them. We also found that the NERO codecs work better than Premium or Ultimate so when you buy Vista from us we include NERO 7 no matter what version you buy. If you buy XP, or no OS at all, they ship with NERO 6.

piratey...did you ask about the OmniPass license? It really has nothing to do with whether you bought an OS or not...the license comes from Compal, not MS.

 

Thanks for the info, piratey (btw, I'm in the Navy, and love the nick!). I got my OS (Win XP Pro) installed by them, and am planning on holding off on Vista until SP1, if not longer

 

I talked to Ron over the phone, told him I was going to install my own Vista. Nothing was mentioned about those problems. I did ask Ron about the license. He referred me to tech support. I called them, and was told they would call me back. Called me in about an hour and told me that I needed to buy it myself. They provided a full version with XP, but that was it. Was I misinformed?

Kind of hard to ask if you don't know the issue exists before you leap.

 

You are welcome.

I just thought it was a good chance to save money. I am a comp sci major in college, and we get a free version of vista business. Figured I could just use that instead of paying for an OS. The sales person did not bring up any of these issues, and I didn't ask. I didn't see anyone else mentioning problems like this, so I didn't know stuff like this existed.

Also, I know Nero 7 runs fine with Vista Business, but Nero 6 was shipped, not Nero 7. So how exactly does it help me that Nero 7 runs fine with Vista? I still have to buy it.

I know powernotebooks can't do anything about it, because it is actually Compal that provides the Nero with the laptop, but I do wish someone had mentioned the PowerDVD, OmniPass and Nero problem.

I do video editing regularly, so having something like Nero is important for burning, while PowerDVD is useful for watching the stuff I burn and so on.

 

www.videolan.org/vlc

the only player you will ever need.

 

I know VLC, but it occasionally has problems with DVDs. It's very good with regular files though.

With VLC, I've had problems where the picture disappears after selecting a scene or something from a title screen. Usually running something like PowerDVD or WinDVD, back when I had it, fixes the problem.

I actually prefer VLC over just about all other video players because of the simple interface and small size, but like I said, it occasionally has problems displaying the picture. It may be a problem with the DVDs themselves though. I'm not sure.

 

Try using Klite mega codec pack.

You can install one of two DVD codec, a ton of others, and a nice video file player all at the same time. (make sure you do a custom install to pick a dvd decoder).

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/KLite_Codec_Pack_Full/1094057842/3

It's what I use and recommend as a nice all in one solution.

 

I can see how compatibility issues could arise with Vista. After all, it is still a newborn and has many issues that are yet to be worked out.

I understand your frustration--but perhaps mentioning to the sales team that you intended to install your own copy of Vista may have prompted them to send you a different driver/application set.

I didn't buy an OS from PNB. I installed my own XP and did not have to buy anything further. The Nero, PowerDVD, and OmniPass all work to this day--9 months later. None of them were trial versions.

 

Vista isn't a newborn, it's a stillborn that they're doing major resuscitation work with, but the prognosis isn't good for it to live anything like a normal life. It'll still be gimpy, and use a lot of processing time to not accomplish a whole lot

Sorry, it was in my head screaming to get out. I'll try to keep my "Kill the Monkey in Chief!" "Shut up, you!" thoughts to myself from now on. I really shouldn't try to function on this little sleep...

 

Please do not pay the $50 for the Omnipass software at this time. We are all working with Compal to provide the appropriate license, and I will post it here once we have this issue resolved.

We sincerely apologize for not being aware of this issue earlier.

Compal also ships with the NERO 6 software, but PowerNotebooks.com adds the NERO 7 for its DVD codecs when Vista is ordered with the laptop. When no OS is ordered we do not upgrade what Compal provides. However NERO 7 is pretty cheap out there, so for those who want to use their own Vista OS it is not much of a burden to get their own DVD codecs from the multiple sources available.

 

I got the OmniPass already, since my trial version ran out and I was told by Tech Support that I had no choice. I was told that OmniPass is the only software that uses the fingerprint reader?

I got Nero as well. I could use the VLC player or other things for watching DVDs, but in order to burn DVDs, or just any compilation of files in general, NERO is the easiest program to use, and also one that I am familiar with.

I'll keep checking here to see if there is an update on the OmniPass situation.

 

LOL. I thought that was pretty funny. I personally will probably skip Vista altogether as well. I'm curious to see what its successor will be like and XP suits me just fine.

 

My thoughts lean towards OS X

 

The CD they sent had XP drivers. I actually had to use the bizcom website and also compal's own site to get drivers. Compal's site is a bit confusing. Bizcom's is much better. The Drivers CD was pretty much useless.

 

I'm thinking I'm just gonna skip Windows period any more. I may miss some games, but a few still come out for Linux, and that's enough for me. I haven't even finished up FFXII, or half of my Nintendo DS games, or lots of things... plenty of stuff to keep me amused, and that's the absolute only reason I keep Windows around. It's only on my laptop any more, and on the smaller partition, too. My girlfriend may want Windows on her machine, but I'll get her off of it eventually Quicken still doesn't work quite well enough in Wine, and she's tied to that, but I think that's about it for her, too. I think that with Vista, Microsoft has done more for the migration to OSX and Linux than anyone or anything else could have.

 

Perhaps in your particular situation there isn't much that could be done. Their default driver CD will be for XP unless you are having Vista installed by them. I was just thinking that if you had mentioned when you were placing your order that you were planning to install Vista they might have given you the Vista drivers CD--but only Donald can confirm if I would be right about that. I don't think so though...according to his posts in this thread.

Bizcom is a better site for drivers...you are right about that.

 

Compal has never released a Vista CD so the only place to get those drivers is by downloading them.

Please understand that Compal provides the drivers CD, and the DVD and NERO CDs, all of which were made over a year ago and are for XP. When we sell a laptop with XP or no OS we include these CDs. When we sell a laptop with Vista we replace the DVD and NERO CDs with NERO 7 at no charge.

Now, it is possible that production may from time to time not remove the DVD and NERO 6 CDs when they should...please forgive us for that.

 

That's pretty much what I thought was going on...bummer about the nonexistant Vista drivers CD from Compal though. Not that I would expect there to be one ;p.