Do i have to get clonedvd?

[blaqlion22]

I got my anydvd. From all the tutorials i've read, they use clonedvd with it. Do i have to buy it too or can i use another program(dvdshrink)?

[Baldrick]

You can use dvd shrink.

[Krispy Kritter]

Or you can just use DVDFab Decrypter for ripping discs, it's free.

[orsetto]

If you already paid for AnyDVD, check and see if there is a discount to buy CloneDVD as well- they usually have some sort of deal available. It is available as a 30 day free trial, so you can take it for a spin before you buy. I use both together and they work great. Many people default to DVDshrink because its been around forever and is freeware, the problem with it is its very basic and makes it very difficult to strip space-wasting things you don't want from the DVD like extras, commentary, etc. I have not tried the free DVDFab but reports indicate it may be a better option than shrink.

CloneDVD is as easy to use as they can make it while still giving you every imaginable option. One thing CloneDVD excels at is removing stuff you don't need, like bonus extras, trailers, warnings, foreign language tracks, etc., that take up space and lower picture quality on a backup. CloneDVD presents you with a checklist of everything on the DVD along with a preview of what it is. You just deselect what you don't need, and on your finished backup DVD those items will be gone but the main DVD menu structure will remain and behave normally. If you choose something on the menu that you removed, your player will blank the screen for a second and then just return to the menu, indicating the item is gone and you should choose something else. From what I gather no other backup software lets you "edit" the functions of the original DVD this way as easily while keeping the original menu functional for everything you kept on the backup. This "retain the menu" ability is worth the cost of CloneDVD to me, especially for backing up TV series discs.

There are fierce debates here over which backup software makes the clearest, sharpest, "best" backups. Many feel that CloneDVD is only average at shrinking quality, but I disagree: first of all, no matter what you will see some slight degradation on a big screen with ANY shrinking software you use, that is a given, and CloneDVD backups do not look bad to me at all compared to what I've seen of DVDshrink output: I think they're comparable. CloneDVD is very fast, and and very reliable. I don't understand the compulsion some have for making an absolutely "perfect" backup: for the trouble and time it takes to do this with software like DVDrebuilder and HCencoder, I'd just go out and buy another retail DVD if I needed a backup that was bit-for-bit perfect. If you are like most users, and just need backups for the car or your laptop or your kids, CloneDVD is just fine.