If you’ve ever bought a new computer, you might have ­received a free version of PowerDVD with your DVD drive.

There’s probably a good chance that if you rummage through your stack of old installation CDs that you’ll find a copy of PowerDVD there somewhere. Here’s a handy tip, if Windows Media Player can’t play it, try PowerDVD.

This latest version of PowerDVD really does do it all, as far as video playback goes. Like a lot of software it comes in three versions. We tried the “Standard” ­edition and were not let down in the least.

Apart from playing back a vast array of ­formats, this ­version of the software lets you remix your DVD movies by letting you re-order scenes, adding ­sub-titles, or recording ­voice-overs. It also ­offers ­advanced features for the very serious ­aficionados out there, like ­gathering data and trivia about each movie you watch.

PowerDVD v8 has an RRP of R670 (incl VAT) and is available from Edusphere on 011-450-4578 or ­www.edusphere.co.za.