Intervideo WinDVD 5 Gold Review

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(More customer reviews)WinDVD 5 Gold is a great disappointment. It is a cumbersome program, compared to InterVideo WinDVD 2.1 that I have enjoyed for years. The only reason I decided to buy WinDVD 5 Gold is that I purchased a new computer, and wanted to install a good DVD player. After using this new version, I went online to find a used 2.1 -- and fortunately I was successful. The only redeeming quality WinDVD 5 Gold has is its provision for video production. But for DVD viewing, I'll take the old version anytime!!

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Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 Review

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(More customer reviews)I got the product based on the PC Mag review which said it was great. It's quite simply an incredible product when you consider what previous versions were like and what you get for less than $100. It's not perfect but it comes close. Here's some pros and cons. On the pro side, it basically has everything you need for anything to do with music, burning, video, photo and DVD. Everything looks and works the same way (it might the nicest looking software on the PC - actually it looks like Apple made it!) All the tools work well together. The burning is really fast. There's a nice data back up feature with password protection. It has this very cool feature where you can create slide shows of pictures that move, which is an amazing effect. The whole slide show app is pretty clever. It's actually a video app (which might seem scary at first) but it's so easy to use you never realize it. You can use it for both pictures and video. The disc label app is pretty extensive(I didn't think people actually use these) it's a full featured graphic app just for disc labels and it works while you burn CDs. The photo app seems no different in features than Adobe Elements but is much easier to use (more about that below). The DVD application is very full - you can move and resize buttons and text, you can animate buttons and menus, it even has Dolby audio. You can edit DVDs. You can even create a full DVD with just one click with a digital camera. There's a tool that comes up when you plug in digital cameras to bring your photos or videos in. I've never seen such a tool (usually every digital camera has it's own software). You can record audio from LPs or tapes and the software finds the different songs automatically. The help system is pretty good - there's like 1000 pdf pages for everything and even video tutorials. On the con side, I would say the photo app is a bit too wizardy for my taste. Napster is kinda connected but not like the other applications -and there's no free trial or free downloads which would have been nice. There's no printed manual like the previous version but the online help is extensive. The launcher is kinda big - it can be made smaller but there's a big graphic of the product name they should lose.
On the whole though, I think it's a great product at an amazing price. I highly recommend it.

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Corel WinDVD Pro 2010 Review

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(More customer reviews)The good news: the software performs beautifully...when it performs--picture quality is excellent, and, to my eye, tangibly superior to its competitors.
First, let me state that my desktop is state of the art: I am using an nvidia graphics card (>400 dollars), an i7 cpu, 12 gigs of ram, and a completely updated vista-64 OS, including the most recent drivers. I am not experiencing any problems with any of my other major software packages, e.g., cs4 (heavily graphics card dependent), office, or visual studio. So, I think it very unlikely that the source of the following problem resides any where other than the product under review.
With that said, here's the bad news: I average 1 complete computer freeze per day using the program, and it is a freeze requiring reboot, i. e., the freeze is pre-emptive: I cannot access any other menu, not even the task manager. The stalled program presents the usual "would you like to transmit details of the issue to the publisher of the program" form, but I cannot make selections in that menu. I have deleted and reinstalled the software several times, including a thorough, manual cleanse of any detritus left in the registry by the uninstall. My efforts proved a waste of time. I had surmised that complete lock-ups of my computer were events XP had made a residue of the past. Not so, friends! Corel has re-introduced them!!
On the cosmetic and customer usage side, many of the menu choices, and several of the stylistic elements that made the precursor, winDVD-9, so attractive to me have changed or disappeared. For instance, I like to run a video in a reduced window when I am writing code, playing mah jong, and the like. This version no longer permits me to toggle the playback's display control panel on and off, so that forces me to commit more display real estate than I wish--it is a small grievance, but aggravating. Another incidental aggravation is the help window. The user is presented with a control panel that blanks out the center of the display, and asks him to select a help link, which then opens another window, and both windows remain visible. Who implemented this program? The boss' niece?
I had great hopes for this software, thinking it would build on the previous versions' excellent picture quality and user friendliness. Alas, not to be. In fact, it completely misreads and misimplements the icc profile I have created for this monitor using color calibration hardware--I managed to tweak the picture using the nVidia control panel, but you might not be able to do this. I did not see these visual problems with windvd_9 on this same configuration. Why don't I continue using the previous version, you ask? That version doesn't play all blu-rays, since the standards for this technology are still in flux, and Corel is unwilling to provide the updates to maintain that program's usefulness. Now, doesn't that stand to reason?
The corker to all this, as I see it, is the virtual isolation of the technical support staff from the consumer. There is a 15 dollar charge for direct telephone assistance charged incrementally (hey, my 100 dollar program cost me 300 dollars in support to finally understand that it fails altogether! Now, that's what I call business ethics!!); and internet based email support is sub-standard, with lag times of 48 to 96 hours between posting your request and a reply. Add to this, that the advice is almost never useful, (it hasn't been for me, at any rate) merely advising the user to read, say, the FAQ on how to install, or how to turn it on, or some other equally trivial, irrelevant advice.
I cannot recommend this software to prospective buyers until it is revised and re-marketed.
Serious flaws.
tlt-

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Bring the movie theater experience to your PC with Corel WinDVD 2010, the world's #1 DVD & video playback software! Enjoy standard or high-definition DVDs and Dolby Digital sound. Play almost any video format, including DVD-Video, DivX, RealPlayer, QuickTime and Windows Media. Bookmark your favorite scenes and go back to them anytime. Playback videos directly from devices like your camera, camcorder or from DVD. Plus, watch entire movies on the go thanks to battery optimization for laptops.

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