PowerDVD & Nero Alternative?

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Odin75

Gawd
Joined
Mar 27, 2007
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Ok. A few days ago, I installed the latest version of Nero and PowerDVD, since I was using the old versions that came with my PC. So yeah, that was +2 years old software. I mean, they worked, but I wanted to upgrade so I could get a few extra features. I then decided to upgrade to the latest version of each program. After the install, everything worked perfect, until my free trial ended.:(
Nero 7 just stop working, and don't even start up if I don't pay. And for PowerDVD 7, It plays movies, but without sound. So yeah, I'm now worst than I was before.

I ended up using VideoLAN VLC media player for my DVDs, and Burn4Free for my burning duties. I use those since those are the FREE options that I found. I mean, they work, but it was not as good as what I had before. I hate Burn4Free user interface, Nero was alot more cleaner. And VLC player don't has as many options as PowerDVD had.

So, is there any other alternative that I could use, that are better and FREE?
And by the way, I don't feel like reformatting my whole PC just to recover those 2 programs.

Replys would be appreciated. THX.
 
If you like those programs, you may want to consider buying them, honestly they are pretty good and are worth the money.

If you really want to stick to freeware though, the one you were using (VLC) is going to be the best, along with Media Player Classic.
 
Thx a lot for the quick answer. I tried out Media Player Classic, and so far looks good. No installation required, and still has lots of features and display lots of information. Nice. I'm going to keep on testing it since looks like Media Player Classic has more features than VLC.:)
 
I use ImgBurn for burning CDs and DVDs. I prefer using it than Nero.

VLC does a good job as a DVD player. You can even use it to open .iso files :]
What kind of features are you looking for in a DVD program that VLC doesn't have?
 
Ashampoo Burning Studio + Media Player Classic is what i use, not a single issue
 
ChingChang said:
I use ImgBurn for burning CDs and DVDs. I prefer using it than Nero.

VLC does a good job as a DVD player. You can even use it to open .iso files :]
What kind of features are you looking for in a DVD program that VLC doesn't have?
Click to expand...

Yeah, started using ImgBurn to give it a try. Seems pretty good, even though I liked Nero better. Actually, the only thing that Nero has and this one doesn't is that it had a bar which let you know how much space of the disk you were going to use. That is something I need since I need to know how much space I have left so I can put as much possible in a single disk. Of course, I know other ways to go about this, but having that bar would of been nice. But one thing I love about ImgBurn is that it displays useful info about your drive, and about the disk you inserted. That is nice. Even thorough since I uninstalled Nero, none of my burns finalize, nor with Burn4Free nor with ImgBurn. It stops at 100% and then it just stays there. I have to eject the disk myself, even if I set it to eject after it finishes. All burns work, I tried them on my DVD player, so that is not a problem, but it's just weird.

About Media Player Classic, I like it since it displays a lot of info about the file it's playing. Like the FPS, audio channel, etc... But, w/e, is cool now since I found out how to do it with VLC as well. Both are pretty good. I just hate WMP since it doesn't let you change anything. But now I'm all good.:)
OldMX said:
Ashampoo Burning Studio + Media Player Classic is what i use, not a single issue
Click to expand...
Ashampoo Burning Studio is not free.:(
 
Odin75 said:
Actually, the only thing that Nero has and this one doesn't is that it had a bar which let you know how much space of the disk you were going to use. That is something I need since I need to know how much space I have left so I can put as much possible in a single disk. Of course, I know other ways to go about this, but having that bar would of been nice.
Click to expand...
all you have to do is press the calculator button and it will give you a pretty bar :) It also tells you the minimum required media you need as shown in the image below:
463e5d6ba03ce632742269.jpg
 
ChingChang said:
all you have to do is press the calculator button and it will give you a pretty bar :) It also tells you the minimum required media you need as shown in the image below:
http://systekonline.com/upload/public/463e5d6ba03ce632742269.jpg
Click to expand...

LOL, I had it on "WRITE MODE" all along. Didn't know it have different ones. But still, only allows me write image files (ISOs I had), not regular files. When I try to put random files, says "Invalid or unsupported image file format!" :(
 
Odin75 said:
LOL, I had it on "WRITE MODE" all along. Didn't know it have different ones. But still, only allows me write image files (ISOs I had), not regular files. When I try to put random files, says "Invalid or unsupported image file format!" :(
Click to expand...

Yeah, "Write Mode" is only for burning image files to media.
You have to select "Build Mode" to burn files from your hard drive onto media. You can also use it to create .iso files from DVD .vob files.
 
ChingChang said:
Yeah, "Write Mode" is only for burning image files to media.
You have to select "Build Mode" to burn files from your hard drive onto media. You can also use it to create .iso files from DVD .vob files.
Click to expand...

Thx dude. Burning files as I write. :p
Another problem I'm running in so far is that every time I want to burn something, this message pop's up:
imgburn-error1.jpg

I just hit "continue", and it works. But it's annoying, and I don't know what it means.
 
I don't think you looked very hard ato videolans options menu if you think its missing things..
 
ChingChang said:
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=59&view=findpost&p=975

some good info on that forum!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I did what they said there and wasn't even able to find that file that they talk about.
But still,no problem since after I uninstalled Burn4Free everything got fixed. :D
Thanks again tho'.:)

geniusloci said:
I don't think you looked very hard ato videolans options menu if you think its missing things..
Click to expand...
Yeah, I didn't looked very hard since that's is not my main media player. I only use it for DVDs. But then spend a good amount of time looking into every single option it had, and is pretty damn good.
 
I'm looking for a DVD viewing program as well and, honestly, VLC had a worse picture quality than WMP11 and crashed a couple of times in my experience.

I know that it is a good player as whenever I'm using a mac I put it on for compatability, but am I missing something here?
 
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