Pondering aloud...

I'm about to purchase a mac for the first time and one of the most important things for me is the DVD capability a powerbook seems to possess, so I'd like to know what the powerbook is/is not capable of...

I know DVDs have regional codes. I live in Japan so can I watch the same DVDs as my friends in the US, Canada and Britain? Can I watch DVDs from any region on a powerbook? Is there software I can buy/download for free that will help me to do so? How about backing up DVD's I've already bought? Does it make any difference if a DVD is recorded through Windows software?

Has anyone had any problems with recently purchased powerbooks while using the DVD drive/screen/player?

I have no experience of using computers to watch/record DVDs so I could use your words of wisdom. Thanks.

region codes are set specific to countries..so if you buy a dvd in japan and your powerbook is set for japan it will play if you put that dvd into and canadain power book im not sure what will happen if it is affected by the computer or just dvd players
- i know with software called DVDbackup which im sure you can get as a free download and when you backup your dvd's it will actually give you the option to select the region you want or to make the dvd region free..playable anywhere..this is waht you want but its only once you have backed up the movie
- i have the 17" powerbook and i back up my personnal dvd's for protection and havent had any issues with them yet, also creating of your dvd's is easy and simple with the help of imovie and idvd