More Lies about DVD Copying .. kthx

[Shane R. Monroe]

More crap from 123 Software ...

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040420/206120_1.html

First off, they are liars. 1-2-3 my ass. As you will note in the article, this package will NOT backup protected DVDs (which is any movie you buy at the store). Just like EVERY OTHER legal program on the market, you must DECRYPT the DVD first, then use their lame-ass package to do the backing up.

Hardly "the first". There are dozens of programs that already do this. One even totally free at www.dvdshrink.org.

I really hate the media.

[rolisme]

Backing up DVDs is one of those things where you don't need to buy a product to do so. There are many programmers out there that are willing to create free alternatives. Any time something needs to be cracked/decrypted or whatever, there is a plethora of free programs that appear.

I have used many different DVD backup programs, including DVD X Copy and DVDshrink. I find that DVDshrink does the best job at backing up DVDs. It is not the fastest program I used, but it is small, easy to use, does a great job at encoding, and lets you use whatever DVD burning software you want (my case I use Nero).

3-2-1 or whatever they are calling themselves these days are a waste of time. They try to appear as a good company, sort of like a little guy who is getting picked on by the big bad movie studios. Meanwhile all they do is make a shoddy and overpriced product aimed at ripping off soccer moms (who want to backup their copy of The Lion King because their kids watch the movie 23 times a day and isn't very careful with the disc itself) or the general computer user who doesn't really no anything about computers, except how to use email and maybe starting up the latest overpriced MS Word program. I hope they go out of business.

[Shane R. Monroe]

DVDShrink is definately the best free product out there.

I'm still pretty much sold on Nero's package (which I own anyway) which is Nero Recode. I find the final product is better quality - AND ... I don't like my DVD drive running as long as it does with DVD Shrink's built in read/decrypt function. So I still end up Decrypting first, THEN encoding.

I hate this "gather free crap from the Net, package and sell it for a profit" trend going on.

For those wanting more info/tutorials, I wrote a bunch right here:

http://www.monroeworld.com/dvd

[Demolition Man]

Personally I use DVD Decrypter and DVD2One for preparing my backups then Nero to burn em. I don't need menus, audio commentaries, etc on my backups - just as long as the film itself remains intact then I'm happy enuf. :)

[WorknMan]

I find the final product is better quality - AND ... I don't like my DVD drive running as long as it does with DVD Shrink's built in read/decrypt function. So I still end up Decrypting first, THEN encoding.

You have a 4x burner, right? So what are those going for now days? $120? Personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much (destroying the drive), depending on how much time is wasted doing it the 'hard' way.
I mean, if I can save 5-10 on each burn (assuming I burned as much as you did) with the end result that the drive may only last half as long as otherwise, I'd rather sacrifice the drive than my time.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I'm a miser. Always have been.

The good part is; I like Nero's consistant quality improvement over DVDShrink's algorithm; the hot drive running is just a bonus argument. :)

DVDShrink using Deep Analysis is considerably better - but I'd still put the money on Nero. Esp. since the guy that MADE DVD Shrink is now working for Nero :)

[rolisme]

I have never tried the Nero one, but if it is better than DVDShrink i think I'll check it out.

[Darksol]

I'll agree with Shane that Nero is much better at recoding than DVDShrink to produce a better picture. I think Nero's normal analysis does an excellent job.

I don't Nero's deep analysis gets you much so I don't use that flag anymore. Does anymore share that sentiment ?

[Shane R. Monroe]

I'll agree with Shane that Nero is much better at recoding than DVDShrink to produce a better picture. I think Nero's normal analysis does an excellent job.

I don't Nero's deep analysis gets you much so I don't use that flag anymore. Does anymore share that sentiment ?

I'm not sure I completely understand that last part.

Normally, I'll use regular mode .. but if the movie doesn't clock in at at LEAST 70%, I'll use Deep Analysis to ensure best possible picture.

[Darksol]

I'll agree with Shane that Nero is much better at recoding than DVDShrink to produce a better picture. I think Nero's normal analysis does an excellent job.

I don't Nero's deep analysis gets you much so I don't use that flag anymore. Does anymore share that sentiment ?

I'm not sure I completely understand that last part.

Normally, I'll use regular mode .. but if the movie doesn't clock in at at LEAST 70%, I'll use Deep Analysis to ensure best possible picture.

What I meant to say was , does anyone notice a big difference between normal and deep analysis with NERO recode? Like in Shanes example where the movies isn't 70% of the original.
I don't think I noticed a big difference between normal and deep analysis when I tried it one time.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Deep analysis is like the VBR 2 pass of old. You're not likely to see improvements OVERALL, but if you watch HIGH action scenes, and scenes where you're likely to see pixelization (like a dark screen with a flashlight beam in the middle), you will see increased pixel stabilization.

For an extra 15 minutes, I'll do it.

[Boar]

More crap from 123 Software ...


First off, they are liars. 1-2-3 my ass. As you will note in the article, this package will NOT backup protected DVDs (which is any movie you buy at the store). Just like EVERY OTHER legal program on the market, you must DECRYPT the DVD first, then use their lame-ass package to do the backing up.


Just noticed and thought I'd add ...

I bought the version before it became ... illegal. Still not sure what's illegal about backing up your own purchased media. This debate has gone on since the first computer software came out and they still hit the wrong targets with their "protection" schemes -- the ordinary consumer can't do anything with their purchased product, while meanwhile the real pirates sell the software for a few dollars on the side -- to hundreds if not thousands of people. This is the standard for Asia, and I should know because against my protest my wife let a pal of hers install a cracked version of Windows XP! I have a legit copy and I could not tell the difference. It came from China, of course -- where you can also buy the latest movies playing now in the theater for a couple of bucks.

Anyway ... the current version of 321's DVD backup is crap, but mine works very well. I can either backup with little to no compression (which may mean more than one disk) or to one disk. Works great for me. I've also gone the other route in order to demux audio files -- ironically 321 is really only good for backup -- it's not as good as, say, DVD decrypter for taking out a single audio or video track (in fact, I haven't discovered a way to do this and save it to my hard drive). Personally I am too thick-headed to figure out some of the programs for use out there. Right now I find all my audio needs are met by DVD decrypter and BeSweet (GUI version), along with DBPoweramp for occassional audio conversions.

Not trying to start any controversy, but I agree silently with most of the things you write about -- in this case I think 321 is the target much like Napster was about a year ago or more -- I don't think they should still market the current copy like they did the old one ... I downloaded the "upgrade" (current ver) only to find it completely hamstrung. Ridiculous.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Well, here is one dumb ass company gone ...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/08/04/copying.dvds.ap/index.html

Took them long enough. STOP TRYING TO TRICK CONSUMERS .. kthx.

I have no problem with people making copies of their own DVDs. But I am sick of companies like this one PROMISING the power which takes total advantage of people not smart enough to realize that nothing sold over the counter can legally break laws - making them mad phat cash at the expense of often other people's work...