Daredevil Director's Cut not playing in Dell MediaDirect, Studio 17

[redtom]

I'm writing from Ireland, and recently got a Dell Studio 17. I've rented a few blu-rays from the local video store and they've all played fine.

I've run into a problem however with Daredevil Director's Cut, which I ordered in from the States.

I've watched all the discs I've rented on the laptop itself, but when I got Daredevil, an opportunity arose to connect the laptop up to an LCD tv, which I did with my HDMI cable.

When I put the disc in, I got the red screen telling me the disc couldn't play and I might need to update my drive's firmware. Searched a bit, found no firmware but also found this site telling me to update the software used to play back the disc.
The laptop uses Dell MediaDirect, which appears to be a cut down version of PowerDVD. I duly updated this and threw in the disc again, but still no luck.

I've since found out that Daredevil Director's Cut is Region A, and I'm wondering if this is now why it won't play. But if so, would I not have got another screen saying "wrong region" or something, rather than the red screen saying I might need an update?

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas before I consider selling the disc.