Single review: CyberLink PowerDVD 13 Ultra

Blu-ray 3D Playback
Ultra HD 4K video
Customized subtitles for MKV movies
Stream content between connected devices
Complete Media Entertainment for Windows 8

End of Life, Dave? 03/15/2014

This review is from: CyberLink PowerDVD 13 Ultra

Pros:

These products are, in fact, nice while they last....

Cons:

Reviewers should demand information about Cyberlink's "End of Life" policies, which will render their blu-ray software useless if you don't pay them again for an "upgrade" once they're designated "End of Life." The previous reviewer, Richard, is correct. I was burned this way with PowerDVD9 which stopped working in 2012.

Overall Review:

If Cyberlink were to clearly announce when "End of Life" takes effect in the product specifications, then consumers might make a more informed decision about the actual usefulness and value of this software. But because they never will, your value to them as sheep to be marketed to may be greater than the value of the actual software is to you. I, for one, do not appreciate being hounded to pay money to update a product I've already legally purchased just so that it will continue to work. Imagine if your hardware had a secret "end of life" policy by the manufacturer that rendered it unworkable by a certain date - there'd be a tremendous uproar! To be fair, Cyberlink isn't the only company guilty of this deceptive practice, others do it as well. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it any less deceptive. I invested in a PC and software to do MY work, not somebody else's. I would advise those considering this purchase to demand and consider truthful and accurate information from the manufacturer on the life of this software before spending $100 on it.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello Mark,
Thanks for your review. In the other review you referred to, he indicated that PowerDVD stopped playing Blu-ray Discs soon after the new version came out. This is not correct, as users just need to occasionally install the free downloadable program updates to play the latest discs. A new PowerDVD release has no affect on the previous version's playback ability. Access to all of the free patch updates for all versions, can be found here:

http://www.cyberlink.com/support/powerdvd-ultra/patches_en_US.html

As for the end of life for PowerDVD 9 that you mentioned, that is something different. You are correct that CyberLink stopped providing the free updates to play the latest Blu-ray Discs, but this was more than two years after its release, and for PowerDVD 10, almost 4 years.

What you may have been unaware of is that users with the retail versions of PowerDVD 9 and 10 are entitled to a copy of the next version. For example, PowerDVD 10 users can download the update to version 11, so they can still get updates to play the latest Blu-ray Discs.

If you are interested, you can find the announcement for version 10 here:

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/32677.page

Regards,
David

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MARK S.
Verified Owner
Owned For: less than 1 day

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