John, I have to back up Dave on this one. I think that SoftDVD is entirely a marketing ploy at this point. Why? Because there are lots of things that you could do in software that are currently done in hardware, such as audio, modems, and graphics. The Apple II's floppy disc drive interface was in software, and now every disc interface is in HW (granted, it has to be for performance reasons).
DVD decoding takes way more horsepower than audio, modems, and many but not all of the graphics functions. From an architectural point of view, it makes more sense to do things in parallel -- to have multitasking -- in which the computer's CPU can run software at the same time that you have audio, graphics, disc access, modem access, and DVD. From cost effectiveness standpoint, it doesn't make sense to forego the multitasking ability to save the cost of a $25 chip, particularly in a high end Pentium II PC.
If I am going to plop down the money for a Mercedes, I want to buy air-conditioning, even though I could get almost the same effect by rolling down the windows.
Please let me know if I am missing something here.
Thanks,
BillyG |
