Review: 321Studios' DVDxcopy

This DVD copying tool for Windows 2000/XP really works

321Studios has released a program that makes it trivially easy to back up the DVDs you own. The backups you make can then be burned onto DVD recordable or rewritable discs, or saved on your hard drive if you like. Virtually all features of the original DVD are preserved: scene selection menus, closed captions, alternate languages, bonus footage, and so on. And the program is astonishingly fast. We backed up our copy of The Fifth Element (widescreen edition) to hard drive in less than 10 minutes. The company says a complete backup to a recordable disc typically takes about an hour in total. And, yes, the copy looked exactly like the original.

Here's how it works:

1. Insert your original DVD and launch the program
2. Click to select the title(s) of some or all of the content that appears in the "available" window (our test DVD, for example, had only one title listed, and the program advised us that the copy would fit on a single DVD-R disc.)
3. Click the >> symbol to move the selected content to the "selected" window
4.  Click "Copy now."

That's it. When the copy to your hard drive is complete, a burn to disc dialog opens, allowing you to copy the content to however many discs the first screen says you'll need. If you want to skip one or more disks for any reason, there's a "skip this disc" button.

It's dead simple. About the only other option provided is a button allowing you to choose the hard drive where the program will store its temporary files. (Typically, about 5GB of space are needed to back up a DVD.)

Virtually all types of DVD burners are supported, including Pioneer DVR-103, A03 and A04 DVD-R/RW drives, HP DVD100i and 200j DVD+RW models, the new "dual format" Sony A500u DVD+R/RW/DVD-R/RW burner, various DVD-RAM drives, and many others. An FAQ page on the company's website lists recommended PC configurations, DVD burners and brands of recordable media known to be compatible.

Although there are some limitations in version 1.0 of the program (currently, the program isn't compatible with Windows 98 or Me, and the PAL video format isn't yet officially supported), 321Studios says it hopes to address these issues in a future release. And, although we encountered no problems in our tests, the company warns that the program may have problems with some improperly authored discs. Still, DVDxcopy is truly a breakthrough in easy DVD backups. Get it before the movie industry gets it pulled from the market. DVDxcopy is offered for US$99, complete with a money-back guarantee. Recommended.

For further reading:

• Note: some links are to external sites and are thus outside our control.
• DVDxcopy user support forum: www.afterdawn.com
• Get the program or find out more at www.dvdxcopy.com
• Slashdot: [Dec. 20, 2002] “321 Studios, maker of DVDxcopy, is being counter-sued by the MPAA. You may remember the company filing suit to allow its software to be produced and sold. Interesting point: the MPAA wants to claim all profits from sales of the software, which is now being bundled with some DVD burners.”