Intervideo

WIN DVD 6 Platinum and DVD 2 Copy Platinum

Intervideo does it again.

Wind DVD is just a great looking application with enough features to keep the active movie buff happy. While these programs not cheap, they do not nickel and dime you  on quality.

October 12, 2004

Intervideo 

WinDVD Player 6 

WinDVD 6 Plantinum  

Price: $ 69.00

Language: Chinese Traditional, Dutch, English U.S., French, German, Italian, Japense, Korean, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese Brazil, check for more languages at intevideo. 

Requirements 

1. Pentium 4 2.8 GHz suggested for full functions of the player
2. 128 MB of Ram, 256 strongly suggested, 512 even better
3. Windows XP suggested for full functions, is compatible with windows 98 SE and upward
4. 50 MB of hard drive space
5. DVD drive required
6. Direct X required
7. Windows compatible sound card

Inter Video DVD COPY 2

Produced by Inter Video 

Gold Version $ 49.95

Platinum Version $ 79.95 

Requirements 

1. Pentium 4 1.8 GHz
2. 256 MB of Ram
3. 1 GB free of hard drive space
4. 30 MB for program installation
5. Windows 2000 or XP
6. Direct X 8.1
7. Support Languages English, German, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portugese, Spanish, Swedish and Traditional Chinese

Web Site: www.intervideo.com 

Intervideo has always made the most compelling DVD players around. Easy on the eyes and feature rich, they have done it again with Win DVD  6 Platinum Edition.  

With a sticker price of $ 69.95, this is not exactly a bargain basement program. Then again, those nearly seventy dollars get you the most feature rich DVD player around and one with an interface that has a great wow factor. Simply put, it is stunning to look at even when you are watching a DVD. 

For those that spend time watching DVD movies on their PC, the strongest reason for obtaining a program this intense is  directly related to how often you view DVD’s and the reason for viewing them. 

In my case, as a movie reviewer, it is not uncommon for me to view a movie, have the net open on another, take notes and flip back and forth. Should your computing demand that you view DVD’s on a regular basis, you will immediate appreciate the features, access to them and the rich sound that comes from this application. 

Normally when you purchase a PC you often will get a slimed down or light version of either Roxio Easy CD Creator, or something similar, and if you get a DVD drive a slimed down copy of Intervideo’s Win DVD or something similar.  Either way, the programs are O.K. should your needs be basic.  Once you add a good stereo system, a sub woofer and a decent video card, one starts to see the advantages of a full bodied program. 

The goodies that ship with version 6 the Platinum edition include Trimension DNM, a new feature that gives smoother picture during fast scenes, High Definition Audio and Video, and this includes support for DVD Audio, Intel High Definition Audio, WMV-HD, Windows own high def and some truly inspired sound enhancements as well. 

The Enhanced sound is augmented by the Booster Pack, which includes Dolby Digital, SRS Tru Surround Xt with Dialgo Clarity and True Bass and DTS Digital Surround Sound.  What all of this translates into is sound depth that is really impressive. If you have taken sound for granted, this does make you realize how integral it is to the film experience. As is with the visuals, you can customize it to fit the DVD you are watching or for fun. 

The only caveat to this is that you will need a relatively new PC to enjoy the new enhancements. Taking full advantage of the power of XP, Direct X and whatever else has come along, to get the most from this package demands a decent sound card, a new video card, and yes, a decent speaker set up as well.

The small speakers that usually ship with most new systems will not do.  You will need a Logitech satellite system, or a good one from the likes of Altec Lansing to get the most bang for your buck. While there is customizations for recreating surround sound, if you are going to spend $ 70.00 on the software, budget spending a bit more for a solid speaker upgrade. 

The ability to capture stills from the DVD, adjustable speed and an assortment of special effects are here in great degree. When you go from basic to advanced, you begin to see the importance of some of these features. Granted some you may never use at all, but they are nice to have around, just in case. 

As a full featured rich program, Intervideo has raised the stakes in the DVD player market with this winning new edition to their growing software line up. 

Also, Intevideo has attempted to fill the void left by 321 Studios.  Closing its doors due to the many law suits filed against them for their excellent DVD X Copy Platinum, Intervideo has come out with DVD 2 Platinum. 

As an easy way to copy your existing DVD’s this is yet again a good application. The only thing missing is a ripper. In sharp contrast to 321 Studios program that included everything you need plus the ripper, Intervideo supplies you with the essentials minus this one missing ingredient. 

For straight forward copying, Copy 2 permits you to break up a DVD title before burning to remove the unwanted and the ability to preview what you are editing. Copy 2 also supports a divergent range of formats. MPEG-1, MPEG-2,  and Divix files for outputting content. 

The big selling points with Copy 2 are the ease of use, the quality of the program, both Copy 2 and Win DVD are stable and the fact that you can be sure that the results will be what you want with both.

Summation 

While neither of these programs are aggressively priced, they are excellent products. As is the case with so many titles, if you want stability, reliability, features and configurability, you do have to pay a little more for them. 

There is so much good about what Intervideo has done that they literally blow away the competition. As it stands now, they are sitting atop the entire DVD copy universe and with good reason. 

If you are seeking high quality programs for viewing DVD’s, this is the summit of the mountain top.