So recently I bought a DVD/CD burner for my computer so I of course could “back up” all my files that I of course legally downloaded. So my next problem was what program to use for the best quality and the best usability. What I found were some good programs that all are useful in different ways; well this meant I had to do the trial and error method before I found the best for each project. Well with this article I am hoping to eliminate that problem for all of you.
Ok first you probably received some crap DVD/CD burning program with your burner, trust me if it didn’t come with Nero it isn’t worth installing. You can try it out but 90% of the time they are a waste of time. The best product I have found for most of your burning needs is Nero, you can get Nero at www.nero.com the new version is 7.0 and runs $79.99. Sometimes you can get a copy of Nero with a CD burner if this happens you are lucky, it’s a great product and you can subtract the $40 you just saved off the price of your burner.
So what makes Nero so great is what you are asking, well it can do so many different operations for you. You can burn a CD, burn a data disk to back up all your critical files (or just all the junk you have been downloading), you can burn DVD’s, you can turn windows media files into DVD’s, and much more.
I am going to focus on the three main reasons I use Nero for, I have other programs I use for more important things that Nero just doesn’t cut it in. Nero is great for Audio CD’s depending on processor speeds you can burn a CD in about 3 minutes. It has good quality and allows you to name the tracks, CD, and edit other functionality of the disk, which I generally stay away from. I also like Nero for burning CD’s because it’s so straight forward and almost any user can use it properly and effectively. The other operation I use on Nero is the burn a data CD, its good for backing up important files and anything you want to protect from being lost. The last operation I love that works best in Nero is the converting of Windows Media files to a DVD that will play in almost any DVD player.
I love this feature because you can download music videos and make them into a DVD and play them at your next party, you can download your favorite episodes from TV and make them a DVD. It’s one of the best functions of Nero and I still haven’t found another program that does it as well as Nero. The one problem with the conversion process is that it can take up to 8 hours if you are filling a 4gig DVD. This can be annoying and will greatly slow down your system, so I suggest starting the process right before you go to bed.
The next useful program for burning is called DVDShrink; you can get a free copy of this program at http://www.freedownloadhq.com/DvdShrink.html. Or just go to www.google.com and type in DVD shrink, and choose a site to download from, the version of the program is now 3.2.0.17. I use this program solely for burning DVD’s, and the reason is most DVD’s are to big to burn without a program to condense them. This is the best program I have found out there for doing this operation. It also allows you to edit the DVD how you like it. You can only put the film, or you can burn the DVD in its entirety, with all the extras.
This program like Nero is very easy to use, I would say a little more complex than Nero but if you read the help files you can figure it out. I have found that with this program you can burn nearly every DVD, some ask for country codes but if you follow the instructions you can get the proper ones and get your DVD burned in no time. I can’t think of anything bad I want to tell you about this product I have never had any real problems with it ever. So far it’s good but if there are any problems with future upgrades I will be the first to tell everyone.
The last program I would suggest is a product called Deep burner, you can get a free version at www.deepburner.com, scroll to the bottom and download the latest free version. This one does ok with burning CD’s and I didn’t burn any DVD’s with it but the one thing I like that comes with this one is the label maker it has integrated in with the burner. Other than that I wouldn’t really suggest this program but if you want to make labels, I had this temporarily and it made the list just because I liked the ability to make labels for my CD’s.
So let’s recap on the burning software, there is Nero, DVDShrink, and Deepburner. The best for CD’s, data backup and converting media files to DVD’s is Nero. Nero is easy to use and a good product. DVDShrink is for all of your DVD’s you need to copy, it is simple to use and has great help files if you get lost. And if you want CD burning software with label making capabilities go with Deepburner, it is good for those two operations. The only product here that costs money is Nero and I am sure you can find a free copy if you have a download program, I hope all of this information makes all your burning projects go smoothly, this certainly has helped me out a lot.
