Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Anyone know where I can get a "PC DVD decoder" card to render DVD's on a mac? A friend of mine says it's missing on his PowerBook G3.

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Macs currently decode DVDs via software. That's probably why he's missing the card

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

The only existing DVD decoder card for the Macintosh (as of April, anyway) is the "Wired4DVD" PCI card. It's kinda pricey.
I recently researched this problem for myself and that was the only card I was able to find. I got one, and it's able to handle the DVD's I own that Apple's software controller can't.

Pros: handles DVDs better; software control program is more multifunctional; can be used to output video & audio to a TV set; don't have to give up the Apple DVD Player software if you don't want to
Cons: expensive ($200-240) and as it's a couple years old, difficult to locate; documentation isn't very good. Uses up a PCI slot.

Also, there's a non-functioning audio-out port on the card itself -- sound actually plays through the Mac speaker system or your external speakers. I wasn't aware of this when I tried to connect the audio & video to my TV. There was a power surge. TV screamed and died. If you or your friend gets this card, DON'T use that port.

Look it up at www.xlr8yourmac.com for more info.

and anyway, do G3 PB's have a DVD drive?

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Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NJ
Posts: 517

They use software, but they also depend on the ATI (and NVIDIA in newer systems) video cards. So you couldn't just install a DVD drive in a PB and be able to play movies. If it came with the DVD drive then he should be able to play movies; maybe the problem lies somewhere else?

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Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NJ
Posts: 517

I found the Wired4DVD decoder card for $88. If you go to the OWC SPECIALS link on the right hand side of www.xlr8yourmac.com you will be taken to the reader specials page. Scroll down to the very bottom and there it is. Just an FYI for anyone wanting to save a few bucks on the card.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

quote:

---

Originally posted by lennonhead
I found the Wired4DVD decoder card for $88. If you go to the OWC SPECIALS link on the right hand side of www.xlr8yourmac.com you will be taken to the reader specials page. Scroll down to the very bottom and there it is. Just an FYI for anyone wanting to save a few bucks on the card.

---

man, did that finally come back?
They used to have that special, while I was still thinking about getting it, back in February.
then the day I went to buy the card it was gone from the OWC site completely. I spent three weeks finding someplace else with it in stock.
considering what subsequently happened with my TV,
aaaarrgh!

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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 172

I don't know squat about Macs, but the ATI Radeon has hardware-DVD decoding as good as any decoder card, plus it's a kick-ass video card. The 32MB DDR version is $299, three times the price of the PC version. Ouch!

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