Legit Reviews

I have just built a new media center PC

WINDOWS 7 Ultimate x64
Apevia X-Master BK
AMD 3800+ X2 (939)
2GB DDR400
250GB HD
Nvidia 8600GTS
Lite-On Blu-Ray Reader
BFG Tech GS-550 550W
19-1 Card Reader

First question, would badaboom media converter do me any good over handbrake for media encoding? I would like to try it out, I'm not sure I want to pay 20 dollars or more for the program unless it updates regularly and is good.

Secondly Is there a free codec or codec pack that enables windows media center to read blu-ray disks as they are inserted? I like using media center since I have everything else set up in it. I don't really like cyberlink power dvd and how it constantly wants me to upgrade to some other version than the retail 8 that came with my drive.

Has anyone used shark007's windows 7 codecs? does that or CCCP support blu-ray? I am wary of using codec packs as they sometimes contain viruses.

Not sure of a codec to be honest. Haven't used them in so long I forget. As far as the PowerDVD bugging ya, I've personally never had a full retail version come with any of my dvd or blu-ray drives. Just OEM versions that say they play Blu-ray but ironically never could. The retail ones I have(7 and 9) have been flawless for me..no badgering to upgrade or anything. just updates for the Blu-Rays when needed

I tried Badaboom and the results were less than desireable. It does convert video quickly but leaves a lot of artifacts. This was awhile back though so it may have been fixed. The inability to disable the video preview also urked me.

I agree badaboom is not a very good program it is slower than the newest version of handbrake on an old amd 64 2.0ghz processor. That is sad. the 8600gts has a lot more power than the amd 64 yet more artifacts, larger file sizes and honestly longer encoding times. 1.5-3hrs on the amd and 4+ on the 8600gts with badaboom. Decision made.