dvd burner question

[bell]

i recently bought a pioneer dvd-rw dvr-112d drive, it came with nero 7 for burning and such.....why can't i watch dvd's with this drive? wmp says it does not have the correct codec, nero won't play without buying their "upgrade" and every bit of searching says i need to purchase a plug-in to make it work......
i was told this would play dvd's for viewing on the computer when i bought it, it burns fine and everything else, but why the need to spend more $$ on something i already paid for? am i doing something wrong? is it a conspiracy?
thanks

[RickM]

I don't think it's your drive but the software you're using. My Dell Laptop came with Power DVD which is $39 on the street. The best free media player I could find is.... http://www.download.com/Media-Player-Classic/3000-2139_4-10518777.html?tag=lst-4

[widebody911]

You can download the codecs you need off the 'net. I've never understood why there are so many frickin' codecs, myself. I installed a 'jumbo pack' of codecs off some site I can't remember, as well as the DivX codec pack. Microsoft also has a codec pack you can download.

[Mule]

Download (free) VLC media player. Problem solved.

[RickM]

BTW, there was a firmware update released 12/07.... http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/product-e/ibs/device_e/dev00001r_e.html

[John Rogers]

I stopped PC burning DVDs of my racing camera videos and hand held camera videos when I bought an LG DVD burner/player that has front inputs for most video camera and will burn a DVD as you watch Dish Network or run back an incar race recording. The "finalization" which sets a menu and formats the DVD takes only 2 or 3 minutes. I forget which model it is but it has a built in HD tuner and was about $200 at Best Buy last May.