powerdvd or nero?

PowerDVD or Nero for my dell m1210 which is best?
thanks

 

I personally prefer Nero.

 

Why not both? PowerDVD is for watching DVD movies, and Nero is for recording optical discs.

 

Last time I tried to install Nero, it came with two Windows services (including one that tried to index my filesystem, which caused more than a few performance issues), as well as Daemontools clone. Plus 6 or 7 tools I don't even know what were for.

And that was with a minimum installation.
The best thing you can say about recent versions of Nero is that you don't have to use it. There are plenty of alternatives for burning CD's/DVD's.

 

Whats up with Nero lately ? They are going way overboard with sticking all that multimedia stuff in to what used to be a great CD/DVD burner. They should have just sticked to their original business and let companies like cyberlink and intervideo worry about media players.

 

The Setup nowadays is suprisingly flexible. I just finished installing Nero 7 Ultimate edition, and all I currently have on from the entire suite are Burning Rom and the tools (Infotool, Drivespeed). The one annoying part of the installation is that you must install Nero Scout (the file indexing system) -- however you can disable it completely.

Nero has also (surprisingly) only one startup service. It installs something called Nero Product Service, which lets you add/remove separate components from the Suite at will. Overall I think Nero's improved dramatically in this area.

 

is it flexible that it *forces* you to install some crappy file indexing system? (And yes, you can more or less disable it. You can't, however, uninstall it, or choose not to install it)

Or that it has "only" one startup service? That is one too many.

How can this be an improvement over when it did *not* force you to install Nero Scout, did *not* force a virtual CD/DVD drive on you, and did *not* automatically install any services?
I also seem to recall that it decided to stick a new toolbar in my taskbar.

The only flexibility the installer showed was in how it proved fully capable of working around my choices... I choose to install *only* the CD/DVD burner? Oh well, we're flexible enough to install 5 other apps as well.

If you think this is good, I'd hate to see the programs you think are too bloated and junk-ridden.

 

What do you use for burning optical discs, Jalf?

 

Good question... I always have a hell of a time finding decent (free) burning software. Last time I needed it, I used MagicIso, which seemed to work really well. Going to stick with that until I find a reason not to.

 

Have you even tried installing Ultimate 7? in any case I'm happy with it *shrugs*. At least compared to earlier versions it's got a very small footprint. And I'm used to the interface. And no there's no virtual disk service, no toolbar, nothing. You just have to choose not to install those things, which the install program (for 7 at least) allows you to do.

As for Scout (file index) -- well, it takes zero system resources, the function can be completely disabled.

As for that last comment, I've given up on staring down my Task Manager every time I load a program. I'm no longer obsessed with it, and I am much better off for it. I have no complaints about my programs and what I install, thank you. My PC runs fine.

 

Tried right clicking on a .iso file?

And yes, as I said, I tried to do a minimal install (and yes, the installer did ask me to choose which of a few dozen apps and utils I wanted to install. And I deselected everything except Burning ROM. Then it went ahead and installed a good handful different ones anyway, maybe because they weren't on the list, maybe because it just ignores my choices. I don't know, and I'm not going to try installing it again just to find out)

That wasn't my experience. And yes, it can be disabled, but you can't avoid installing it.

Good for you that you like it though.

 

I'm using the latest version of Nero too and I admit I have no problems with it either. To each his/her own I say.

I agree with both of you however, since the install is very bloated (unlike v6 or previous) that you could choose to just install the burner and leave all the other crap out.

I do like the interface and features however and that's why I'm sticking with it. Also it is compatible with Vista.

The only gripe I have with it is that it *forces* you to install DX9 when Vista is a DX10 O/S. However after installing Nero 7, I checked the DXDiag tool and it still reports v10 so I don't know what happened there. Unless it just changed a few of the DX files to v9. Either way, my laptop runs fast and smooth and burns true. So that's all I care.

I also use PowerDVD for watching DVD's because I like the features it has. It also plays the DVD's true to it's original production (with the correct settings).

 

Have you try Grab&Burn from Rocket Division?

Also, I visited the MagicIso website, and there is the option to download the software. What's the difference between the download and purchase versions?