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Dell Inspiron laptops won't play new Paramount DVDs
March 16 — Some DVD-equipped Dell Inspiron laptops are incompatible with popular DVD titles from Paramount, including the new Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage vehicles “The Truman Show” and “Snake Eyes,” BugNet has learned.
A TECH AT MARGI SYSTEMS, a Dell strategic partner and supplier of DVD PCMCIA cards for Dell laptops, told BugNet, “Yes, indeed, it's true that some of the new DVD titles from Paramount could not be read by the current DVD drives (Torisan) being shipped with the Dell Inspiron 3000 and 3200. "We do have a couple of those new titles, and they work flawlessly on other systems like Compaq and IBM.”
According to one BugNet reader, “Basically, what happens is you start up the DVD, and before the film starts, the system crashes (blue screen of death). This happens with EVERY Inspiron 3000 and 3200, and EVERY new Paramount release, EVERY time.”
“The problem appears to be the Torisan DVD drive installed in the Inspiron,” said one observer, who has encountered the problem on several Inspirons. “If you pull a DVD drive out of an NEC laptop, for example, and stick it in the Dell: problem solved. The Paramount DVDs play fine on the NECs, on IBMs, and of course in home DVD players.”
Older Paramount DVD releases, such as “Mission Impossible,” do not appear to be affected. A knowledgeable source told BugNet that the problem has been forwarded to the Dell technical support and development teams, but there is apparently no mention of it — or any solution for help — on the Dell Web site.
Neither Dell nor Torisan was immediately available for comment.
msnbc.com |
