Most DVD writers come with basic DVD copying software of some kind, but Intervideo DVD Copy 5 Platinum offers a whole toolkit of useful utilities for copying, transcoding and converting DVD movies.

We use the word ‘useful’ advisedly here. Since, like many other applications of this type, DVD Copy 5 cannot actually copy DVD movies that you buy over the counter.

It is, of course, illegal to make copies of copyrighted material and DVD Copy 5 cannot natively decrypt the copy-protection that manufacturers usually implement on shop-bought titles.

That’s not to stop someone using something like AnyDVD to decrypt the disc in the background while DVD Copy 5 works, although doing so would be breaking the law.

This means DVD Copy 5 is only really of any use when copying homemade DVDs.

Those who create a lot of DVDs themselves, either from their own home movies or from a DVD video recorder or PVR, will find a fine selection of options at their disposal.

Essentially, there are four parts to the program; Copy DVD, Merge DVD, File to DVD and Copy to Go.

Each one is presented as a series of simple steps, although more advanced settings are available. The program can make like-for-like copies, squash a dual-layer DVD down to fit on 4.7GB single-layer media or rip them to a file on your hard disk.

Perhaps most useful of all is its built-in ability to convert DVDs to iPod and PlayStation Portable-friendly H.264 Mpeg4 video, offering owners of these devices a quick and easy way to get content onto their portables.

With broad format support (including DivX and HDV), intelligent folder monitoring and WinDVD 7 player thrown in as a bonus, DVD Copy 5 Platinum certainly has more on offer than many programs of its ilk, but it still has limi ted usefulness for most users.

Also consider:
DVD2Pod video conversion software
A video conversion utility for Apple's iPod

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