NTI CD and DVD Maker 7 Titanium Suite

			The NTI's Newly release CD and DVD Maker 7 The Titanium Suite	The resource for reviews of what to buy, watch out for and run out and get.
				NTI 's latest CD & DVD Maker 7, Titanium Suite
			NTI 's newest release, the titanium Suite 7. This is again a hard sell with Nero and Roxio neck and neck and their stability and ease of use so defined. If NTI's entry will make it, price, function and its ability to support its product are big issues.	NTI Newtech Infosystems CD and DVD Maker 7 Titanium Suite System Requirements Pentium III 900 Mhz or higher 256 MB of Ram 500 MB of available space 10 Gigs of working space on your hard drive Windows 98 SE to XP Nero and Roxio are the dominant forces in DVD and CD writing software. Pricing in at about $ 69.00 for the downloaded version for Nero’s Ultra Edition and more or less $ 99.99 for the boxed version, and Roxio’s Easy Media Creator 7 coming in at $ 79.95 or $99.95 when not on sale, feature for feature, they are comparable with Nero having an edge when it comes to detail and number or performance upgrades. NTI’s latest and greatest, CD and DVD Maker 7 Platinum comes in at about $79.99 for the full version. Placing this close to Roxio and not too far from Nero, the competition here is already heated proving that NTI may have a hard climb. Currently the better known providers are doing a good job of unifying their products. Roxio has gained greater stability, better interoperability and far more consistent solid performance that puts in a good place for the new user. Their clean interface and solid performance have taken them from being a weak program when Roxio acquired it to becoming a really solid one. Nero has always had a loyal following among the tech savvy. The German makers are well known for attention to detail, frequent upgrades and rock solid performance. From my own experience, Nero works no matter what you do to your system and with nearly every conceivable burner. In response to comments that the software was difficult to use, Nero has made their software not only easier, they have added a slew of features. The trend towards burning software becoming suites of programs has been around for a while. Now it is common place for such software to include image editing, label creation, sound editing and movie editing features. NTI’s latest entry, which came out this month, offers basic sound editing, slide editing and assorted other features that put it more or less in the same company. Equipped with Backup Now version four, it is a full backup program that saves you purchasing a back up utility. Banking on the interest that consumers have in DVD’s, this rendition includes disc spanning and the ability to shrink commercially available DVD’s so that they can fit on standard blank DVD’s. The interface for the program is amazingly easy and consistent. The focus here is on making the process as comprehensible as possible for the new user. On that goal, NTI has done an excellent job. The only real problem I encountered is that of interoperability with some burners. My plextor external drive just stopped working. Once the program was uninstalled, the burner worked as well as ever. To be completely sure, I ran a system check on the drive, which it passed. Through the process of elimination, the culprit had to be a conflict with the software. This was a problem I did not encounter with either Nero or Roxio. I had them installed on the same machine and experienced no problems. While my experience may not be typical, it does point out that the Roxio and Nero are more likely to give you less grief due to their large market and larger feedback. With the price points for NTI’s product being nearly identical to the better known brands, I see this being a difficult road for NTI. Summation With a simple direct interface, NTI has managed to get that part right. However, with regards to issues with burners, compatibility problems and the price points, this will be a hard sell. With Nero and Roxio offering their product at about the same price points, there could be little reason to make a switch. I do suggest that if you go this path, make sure your software and hardware work. According to my research my plextor drive was compatible, but I still had serious issues after installation. If you are looking for a full fool proof consistent burning package, I would suggest looking to Nero or Roxio.