Pros:
- Cheaper than a stand-alone Bluray player
- Mine came with PowerDVD 7.3 "lite" edition (see other thoughts)
- Performs as advertisted, no compatibility problems with any of my movies so far
- Small in size
- Great Blu-Ray playback
The included PowerDVD 7.3 lite is perfectly fine for my needs. I set the audio mode to SPDIF pass-thru and it appears to be passing the full 5.1 DTS audo stream to my receiver via the optical cable. I have read about people having difficulty getting more than two channels over HDMI connections, but can't say for sure that this is not fixed by the SPDIF option. At any rate, these issues are minor considering the PowerDVD is a "freebie". It would be nice if it integrated seamlessly into Media Center, but bottom line is that I can play Blurays on my HTPC! I am satisfied.