CyberLink DVDSuite 6 Ultimate

A changing of the guard!

For the past several years, ahead's Nero had been an essential component of both my personal and corporate toolboxes.

No longer!

There is a new and highly recommended replacement: CyberLink's DVDSuite 6 Ultimate.

Like Nero, CyberLink's DVDSuite is a suite of consumer-class digital media capture and disc burning software. However, unlike it, DVDSuite is a comprehensive and integrated suite of programs that is easy to use, and become proficient with in a very short period.

CyberLink DVDSuite Ultimate

The suite consists of the following programs:

• CyberLink PowerDirector 6.5 HE*.
• CyberLink PowerDVD 7.3*
• CyberLink PowerProducer 4.2*
• CyberLink PowerDVD Copy
• CyberLink Power2Go 6*
• CyberLink PowerBackup 2.5*
• CyberLink InstantBurn 5*
• CyberLink MediaShow3
• CyberLink LabelPrint 2
• CyberLink PhotoNow!
• CyberLink Blu-ray Advisor*

  *Blu-ray-enabled software.

  I did not use the Blu-Ray functionality in the software in my testing and review of this product suite.

  CyberLink PowerDirector 6.5 HE

  For basic movie capture and editing, CyberLink PowerDirector is unbeatable. I was able to use this software proficiently in a jiffy.

  The PowerDirector UI is clean, intuitive, and straightforward.

  PowerDirector is very capable, does not use a lot of system resources, and constantly allowed for the creation of DVDs without errors, something I ran into intermittently with Nero.

  CyberLink PowerDVD 7.3

  For DVD playback on a Windows PC, look no further than PowerDVD. This is what Windows Media Player would like to be when it finally grows up!

  As someone who travels frequently, I consume an appreciable amount of DVD video content using my laptops. Using WMP is OK for music or basic PC-based video content, but for DVDs, it falls flat. PowerDVD comes to the rescue, and does it very well. I was able to watch DVDs of all types effortlessly using this product.

  CyberLink PowerProducer 4.2

  For quickly authoring a training video, PowerProducer is just the tool. While I did not have a Blu-ray writer, I was able to produce a Blu-ray disk's content that just needed a writer to conclude. PowerProducer walks you through the process, and speedily creates the product for you to burn to an acceptable medium.

  CyberLink PowerDVD Copy

  Backup, back, backup. How many times have we heard that mantra? In this day and age, it is not enough to create a backup; we have to create backups of backups, whatever the content may be. Without violating copyright law, PowerDVD Copy allows you to create backups of DVD media

  CyberLink Power2Go 6

  My personal favorite, Power2Go is a multi-format disc burning software.

  This is the fastest disc burning software I have ever used, and by far the easiest. Also allowing for HD burning, including Blu-ray, Power2Go is also the most powerful.

  It very quickly became an essential component in my personal and professional toolboxes, and at the end of my review, was one of the reasons why DVDSuite 6 was named a component of

I have been using DVDSuite for the past couple of months, in consumer, prosumer, and business settings and I have to say that it is with a very heavy heart that I downgrade Nero and declare DVDSuite 6 Ultimate the best HD creation and playback software out there, bar none.

Consequently, I give it the SmallBizVista.com Business Ready Award, and make it a component of the Logikworx Standard Business Desktop.