burner software

[gsd]

I have about decided on Panasonic SW-9571-CYY External DVD-R/RW/RAM as a burner to use with a Dell Inspiron 8200. It comes with
Nero Burning ROM 5
Nero Vision Express
Nero Media Player
InCD / Packet-Writing
EasyWriter Reader

After hearing that software with the burner is abandoned and new software purchased I would like to ask if it would be best to buy without software? If so what software should I get? I have looked at the guides and saw that there are several different brands and versions used. I am new to this and intend to learn the use of dvd-decripter, dvd-shrink and burnatonce. Never having used these I do not know if anything else is needed. Any help appreciated.
thanks,

[Roderz]

All depends what you want to do.

I use dvdshrink for ripping
MainConcept MPEG Encoder for encoding stuff if needed
TMPGEnc DVD Author/DVD-lab for making dvd vobs.
and Nero 5.5.??? for ALL my DVD/CD burning
no probs.