WinX DVD Author: Feedback from winners

[Grr]

late but sure I'm here with my review

Using Version 5.5.2 build 20090831 (this is almost an year old)

Before you use it make sure u have the necessary codecs installed. use either of the following:

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--I use this

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Installation allows to create desktop & quick launch shortcuts.


Upon installation it allows to uncheck the following options:

1. launch the appz
2. launch the webpage for other software's. it actually opens the following page:

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On every launch it asks to register

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It allows various settings for making the DVD, as shown below. Settings are very simple.

PS: don't know why the default language is set to Chinese...

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Now a stupid thing. I downloaded from the site & although it shows an option to register, when i enter my license info (which I won at Avinashtech), it still says "This is a Trial version, Please buy the Full version". What the heck....

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I now installed the Full version from the link in the email Avinash mailed me with the license code

Worst that it was an older version than the trial:

Version 5.5 build 20090817

Even after registering, link for purchasing is not grayed out..lol

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I then selected the 1st option to create a DVD with Menu from 3 video clips totaling to 1Gb.

PS: it does not fits in the screen size. some portion is behind the taskbar...

Well it provides different background for the Menu

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Following are the options for burning and temp folder

PS: cannot edit the temp folder location by changing the drive letter in the display Need to click on VOB and specify a new location.

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Good thing that it allows to either Burn a DVD directly or better save the DVD file to hard-disk for burning it later.

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It displays the current processing file:

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If u stop the VOB creation process, it stops but doesn't deletes the incomplete VOB files.

The splash screen on every startup is very annoying

There is no option to check for an update

There are only icons in the GUI, I would prefer to have a name also for them being displayed.

[Avinash]

Thanx Grr for the feedback. I know there are few annoyances and I would convey this to WinX guys.

[Grr]

Thanx Grr for the feedback. I know there are few annoyances and I would convey this to WinX guys.

Thanks Avi...I think it's time for them to come up with a new version..

[Ashwin]

@Grr Thanks for the review, was very informative.

WinX developers are from China, that should explain why the default language is chinese. Probably targeting people from their own country, but why with an English installer???

Or maybe it is a common installer for all languages. Installation packages of many software detect the default language of your OS & installs the software in the same language.

PS: Did u try installing the latest version over the registered version to see if it accepts the update?

[Grr]

Thanks Ashwin

I would try installing the setup from the site to see if it works. Chances are less as it would be a trail.

[Avinash]

Thanks Ashwin

I would try installing the setup from the site to see if it works. Chances are less as it would be a trail.

As far as I know, It wont let you upgrade.

[detailer]

got to sit down and play with this thing.Good thing my daughter was with me,as we ran into some of the very same problems described by Grr.However,due to her persistence and experience in this area,my daughter was able to navigate through and create a couple of DVD"s. I would still be trying to figure this thing out! Not for the novice like myself,but does the job if you have experience with this type of software.Thanks for the freebie!!

[jelson]

Really Late

I won a license for WinX DVD Author 5.5 back in July. Had it installed for awhile but haven't had occasion to use it till now.

Actually, for quite awhile now I haven't been able to use it or any WinX product: they would all hang at the splash screen during launch. Of course, I wondered why because I had used WinX Video Converter before. Finally, I figured out that the problem was Zemana Antilogger!!

Turns out that disabling protection & exiting Zemana is not enough, it has to be uninstalled.
Then all my WinX apps will launch. This is a problem!

Anyway, I did have occasion to give DVD Author a try. Just something simple: make a DVD of videos I've collected. The short answer is it works.

WinX DVD Author is a basic DVD creator app with nothing fancy. It'll get the job done.
If you'll looking for style or pizazz, look elsewhere.

One thing I found a bit annoying is each of the different tasks has it own screen:

1. Convert Video to VOB
2. VOB to DVD Compiler
3. Burn.

Of course, there is the Video DVD Author which combines all 3 steps into one. But in general, I don't like it when apps launch a fully focused screen for a component module. It's annoying ... and I sometimes forget where I am or want to go back and do something else with having to close the module I'm working in.

One thing I found missing was the option to create an ISO instead of burning directly to DVD. But of course, many users won't need that or even know what an ISO is. And this product is geared to the causal user.

Overall verdict: it works well, with decent results and it's very simple to use.

But I'm still wondering what WinX products are trying to at launch that the installation of Zemana stops.
Hmmmm... Interestingly, the installation as well as active protection of SpyShelter does not interfere with WinX apps. Perhaps, it's something about my XP Pro SP3 install. In near future, I'm going back to a system image of a year ago... before that troublesome install of Returnil. I can also see it I have the same problem on the as-shipped install of XP on my laptop.

P.S. I'm using the Combined Community Codec Pack (

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) which is often a better choice than the K-Lite codec packs for playback decoding (one

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among many.) Also, I have a number of codecs installed via Nero 8,

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(very nice) and

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. Of course, knowing which codecs to install, in what order, and configuration are something of an art form.