Like most of its predecessors, DVD Cloner 2013 earns the TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award for DVD copy software. It does this by reproducing and improving the features that made all the previous incarnations of Cloner great applications. Chief among them is making a perfect 1:1 copy of the discs in your DVD library. Other features that keep Cloner at the top of our charts is its breeze-easy interface with both express and expert modes, the ability to compress a commercial DVD onto a blank DVDR (also known as DVD 5) and the option to select exactly what features of a commercial disc you want to clone.
What really makes a DVD copy application good is the feature set. DVD Cloner offers more features than you may know what to do with at first glance, but trust us, you will find them all useful as you get to know the application. Some of the features we found especially useful are the compression, the speed and the codecs available. With all of these options you will have an easy time making backup copies of your favorite movies for the off-chance that the original disc gets damaged.
The first feature we want to talk about is the compression. You may not realize it, but just as you can decrease the file size on your music to fit more on a disc, you can do the same with your movies. You can make an exact DVD clone with perfect 1:1 quality. However, if you would rather fit two movies on one disc, or compress a DVD-9 to a DVD-5, all of the options are available with DVD Cloner 2013. There is also the option of just ripping the movie and storing it on your hard drive. Not only does this particular DVD copy application work with DVDs, but it is good for Blu-rays and HD DVDs as well. So long as your disc drive can accommodate these types of discs, you can rip them to your hard drive or burn them to other discs.
When making a copy, sometimes you don't want all of the content included on the disc. Seriously, do you really need all of the previews or even all of the language tracks? By excluding some of the special features, you can keep a high-quality copy and take up less space. The most common form of copying a disc is to go from a DVD-9 dual layer to a smaller DVD-5 single layer. While you can compress the disc, which works really well when using DVD Cloner 2013, if you decide not to include every little special feature you can save a lot of space without sacrificing the quality of the movie. This is also true with scenes. Though it doesn't give you the full control that you would have with video editing software, it is really easy to remove a scene you don't want your kids watching.
Once you decide what you want to include, you can check out how it will look when it is compressed. We found this feature really useful, especially when you want to include more than one movie on a disc. With DVD Cloner 2013, you can preview each clip and keep an eye on how much space is left on the disc, so you won't get halfway through burning it and learn you have run out of space and have to start the guessing game over.
One of the features we found useful was how well the application recognizes the type of disc. Because it can tell what kind of disc you're using, it can also tell you which copy modes will work the best. For example, if you have a disc that is less than 4.7GB, the size of a DVD-5 disc, the software gives you the option of doing a perfect clone or just copying the movie. If you don't want to use either you can specify exactly what gets copied. For DVD-9 and Blu-ray Discs there are a few more options, including: DVD-9 to DVD-5, DVD-9 to DVD-9 (1:1), DVD-9 to two DVD-5s (full quality) and DVD-9 to DVD-5 movie only. This version of DVD Cloner includes an integrated Blu-ray copier.
DVD Cloner 2013 uses Intelligent Analyzing Technology, which means it recognizes the disc you put in and keeps the structure of the original movie. It also comes with the upgraded HST technology. This decrypts the DVD protections so that you can actually make a backup copy. Having an updated HST means that even new movies that come out will be included in the decoders.
If you are worried about making multiple copies, rest easy. This application can burn multiple copies of the disc in a batch. This means you can get the exact settings you want and burn all of the disc in one go without doing the setup multiple times. When you have as many copies as you need, delete or save the files you want to keep. If you are interested in copying movies to play on your iPod, you will want to look at DVD Cloner Platinum.
One of the other big things to consider about DVD copy software is the quality of the copied DVDs. There is no point in copying the movie if the quality isn't going to be as good as you want. With DVD Cloner 2013, you can choose exactly what you want. Even though it offers a lot of customization options, this software isn't difficult to use. It works more quickly than any of the other applications we looked at, yet it still yields high quality copies. The speed does depend on the hardware installed on your computer. The application gives you an estimated time of completion so you can keep track of exactly how long it will take to finish the ripping and burning process.
We are also pleased that DVD Cloner 2013 is able to read the IFO, which means you can copy over all the menus and chapters. They also use OET, which lets you copy the latest movies through the optimized core. And if you are worried about making a perfect copy from a scratched disc, you can let those fears rest. This particular DVD copying application works even on scratched DVDs, so you don't have to worry that your favorite damaged DVD is lost forever.
The last thing you want to happen when you're copying a DVD is for the application crash during the process. DVD Cloner 2013 is designed with stability in mind. The developers made sure you get optimized reading speeds and won't have to deal with the software freezing up or crashing. In our testing, we never had any problem with this application while burning or ripping.
Maybe you haven't made copies of your DVDs because you worry that the applications are too difficult to use. The process of copying your DVDs with DVD Cloner 2013 is easy. There are a couple of different ways to use the application. The first is Express mode, which just uses the preprogrammed copy options. The second method is a little more complex, but it's still easy. It follows a five-step process and it takes you through all of the options so you can make the DVD you want. Both methods are easy to use; it just depends on how much control you want.
DVD Cloner 2013 is actually a suite with multiple pieces that work smoothly with one another. If you know exactly what you want, it gives you the flexibility to do it – and you don't have to be an expert computer technician. Whether you just want to use the default settings or would rather adjust everything to meet your specific needs, this DVD copy software is the perfect choice.
Sometimes the hardest part of using an application is actually installing it on your computer. DVD Cloner 2013 can be downloaded online. The company provides a CD of the application for backup or if you would rather not download a file from the internet. When we installed the application it took a little while, but since the application is so complex we understood the extra time it took. Though it takes time to install, it is really quite easy and it walks you through the whole process so you shouldn't have a problem. The application works on Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and even Mac computers, though that requires DVD Cloner for Mac.
There are plenty of reasons to look into getting DVD Cloner 2013. Not only is the copy quality excellent, but it only takes roughly half an hour to copy a full-length movie. And whether you want to control every aspect of the copy process or you would rather use the default settings, this software works great either way. It will also make flawless copies of scratched DVDs, so you can bring your damaged movies back to life. This DVD copy software does everything you want, and it does it better than any other software in our lineup, which is why we give it our full recommendation and put it at the top of our reviews.
