Was about to buy Media Center but didn't because of DVD region limits.
There are other issues with Media Jukebox which carry over to Center, limitations that are deliberate but not to my liking and don't really make sense (except from an Apple "we will control your files and how you do things, not just play them" point of view).
BUT
The real showstopper for me was video. I have videos in region 1 (USA) and 4 (Australia). I don't care about law because it's like buying a CD, ripping it to .mp3 and putting it on a mobile player that you purchased; it's illegal for some weird reason but you paid for it all. I have bought these DVDs, not fakes but legitimate because I only buy from trusted stores. I've paid money, I should be able to play them.
Let's leave aside the fact that Windows doesn't have native support for DVD playback, since it isn't relevant to MC.
I unashamedly admit I have made my drive region free. I never, NEVER play illegal DVDs in my system, not one has EVER entered my drive. Ever. I abhor copied DVDs (unless I were to for backup and had already legitimately purchased the original). I want to make that absolutely clear.
So let's say my drive WERE region locked; why is this not enough for Media Center? Why does it need its own check? I won't believe it does it through some Microsoft file, and that it's their fault, because Media Player Classic plays them just fine.
I really really like Media Jukebox, and by extension, Center. I thought I could use it for a solution to how I used to use Winamp, for music AND video. Unfortunately, the authors have chosen to include a section in their software that allows for anti-competitive practices and corporate control, not to mention disallowing fair-use, which is quite frankly easy to bypass anyway. While I could buy and use this software WITH the other software that fixes it, there's no guarantee it will always work, and not only that, that's like buying a car that you need to then use something else to make it work. I do NOT mean petrol, that's a given, just like you need a computer, or power, to use Media Center. I expect to pay money for something that works, out of the box (so to speak). Ok, no default DVD support is mostly Microsoft's fault, but including region checking in your player is your fault.
Ok I had to rant about that, sorry. I really really like the player, I can't stress that enough. I was moments away from paying for it. But this just put me off, I didn't realise there were still software developers including this archaic anti-competitive, anti-fair-use check. I'm glad I tried the demo first.
By the way, in Australia, a DVD player cannot be sold region free. BUT, you can be told, or have a slip of paper with, a code to make it free. I think just at sale it matters. How about making a code to free it up, after purchase?
Sorry about the negativity guys; but it's a serious shortcoming.
(And in the very very small chance that I am mistaken and MC DOES play multiple regions, er, well I'd like to know what went wrong, and will apologise.)
