Four DVD-copying apps compared

DVD X Copy

		CNET Rating: 8 out of 10 Est. Price: S$140 (US$80)

Unlike most disc-copying programs, DVD X Copy does only one task, but it does it well: It creates perfect--and arguably legal--backups of DVD-Video discs, regardless of whether they're copy-protected. Some consider any such application to be a piracy tool rather than a backup utility, but 321 Studios has gone to great pains to make DVD X Copy a legitimate product. With so many free disc-hacking utilities available on the Internet, DVD X Copy's elaborate antitheft safeguards make it an unattractive alternative to anyone interested solely in indiscriminate copyright infringement. But its intuitive interface, simple procedures, and great-looking output make it the best choice we've seen for producing lawful, high-quality personal backups of your delicate DVD collection.

Setup And Interface
DVD X Copy may be designed to duplicate copy-protected DVDs, but it incorporates a sophisticated content-protection scheme of its own. The program won't run until you activate it (online or via phone), in a method similar to Microsoft's protection scheme for Windows XP and Office, and you can run it on only one machine. The company is lenient about allowing reactivations should you ever buy a new computer, reinstall your operating system, or format your hard drive.

DVD X Copy's interface is a no-brainer. In most cases, you merely insert a DVD, click a Copy Now button, and swap discs when prompted. The program offers a few settings that let you enable detailed log reports, rename your output disc, skip to the second disc in a two-disc backup, and choose where to store temporary files on your hard drive. It also lets you specify whether you want a copy to begin playback by displaying the root menu or by starting the movie itself. Most users will usually leave these options in their default settings.

Features
DVD X Copy stands out from competitors such as InterVideo DVD Copy because it can make virtually identical backups of commercial, copy-protected DVDs--and it uses a method that is, at least for now, legal. Because it does not recompress content, DVD X Copy makes discs with picture and sound quality that are identical to the originals.

Of course, those copies consume as much space as the originals, and because mass-replicated DVDs often contain two layers of data, that means you'll need two single-layer DVDs to fit it all. DVD X Copy automatically determines the best way to divvy up content and if possible, it will keep the entire movie (sans special features) on one piece of media. It also lets you save space by omitting certain types of unwanted content, but it can sometimes be tricky to figure out exactly what you're deleting.

DVD X Copy also tries hard to avoid illegal copyright-protection cracking by employing elaborate antipiracy safeguards. Copied DVDs are still protected by most of the content-protection mechanisms contained in the source disc, including Macrovision technology and region coding. It does not, however, retain CSS copy protection. Before each session, you'll have to declare that you've legally purchased the disc you want to copy, and when you're done, DVD X Copy deletes the temporary disc image it created on your hard drive so that no one can use it to create more copies.

DVD X Copy also inserts a banner screen into the first disc of each copy that, like an FBI warning, must be displayed whenever the disc is played. The banner also prevents users from using DVD X Copy to make copies of the copy, and it's imprinted with an invisible digital watermark that contains the license and registration information associated with the copy of the program used to produce the disc. In the event of an alleged infringement, this embedded data can be used to identify the person who made the original copy.

Performance And Support
In most cases, DVD X Copy works as billed, producing flawless two-disc versions of DVD-Video movies, complete with all menus, special features, and even DVD-ROM content. During our hands-on evaluation, it let us burn DVD+R, +RW, -R, and -RW media, and the program supports all but a handful of the latest DVD rewriters. (A current list of exceptions is posted on 321 Studios' Web site.) Performance was excellent, requiring about 50 minutes on our 2.5GHz P4 testbed to copy a complex 8GB title from a Pioneer DVR-A05 DVD-rewriter to 4X DVD+R media in a Sony DRX-500UL drive. Our 2.5GHz P4 testbed was configured with 512MB of PC800 RDRAM and a 7,200rpm Western Digital Caviar hard drive, and we copied content from a Pioneer DVR-A05 to 4x Verbatim DVD+R media in a Sony DRX-500UL DVD-rewriter.

The program did have problems with certain episodic discs, which contain several short features instead of one long movie. It couldn't, for example, copy the Six Feet Under compilations, which pack four hour-long episodes onto one disc. But it had no trouble with test discs that contained sets of 30-minute segments.

DVD X Copy ships with minimal printed documentation and only a brief help file tutorial. But the program is so easy to use that we didn't need much more. The company's Web site provides a good knowledge base of FAQs, as well as links to support forums, free downloadable updates, and e-mail support. Instant messaging with support personnel is planned for the near future.