DVD Fab Platinum Reviewed

by R. Jerome Harris

   

Software: DVD Fab Platinum 6
Version: 6.0.4.0
File Size: 7.6 MB
Price: $57.60
Company: Fengtao Software, Inc.
 
 Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor

Yes

   

No

   

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Ease of Use  
Ease of Installation  
Quality of Copy  
DVD5 to DVD5 Copy Capability  
DVD5 to DVD9 Copy Capability  
DVD9 to DVD5 Compression  
Ability to Retain Bonus Material  
Ability to Retain Bonus Material  
Can Copy DVD Movie to Hard Drive  
Can Copy DVD Movie from Hard Drive  
Can Copy Episodic DVDs  
Time to Copy a DVD  
Restores Defective/Scratched DVDs  
Does It Support Menus  
Output Media Types   DVD(+/-)R Dual Layer, DVD(+/-)R(W),
CD-R(W),
iPod, PSP
Output Formats   NTSC, PAL
Blu-ray Support  
DVD to Mobile Support   (Optional Plugin)
Vendor Support  
Supported Operating Systems   Windows Vista, XP, 2000, Me or 98SE
 


All DVD Copies were made with blank Verbatim Digital Movie DVD-R media (Recommended). See our article on "What is the Best Quality DVD Media?" 

Test Platform

The last time we evaluated DVDFAB Platinum, it received a 3-Star rating. This years version is vastly new and improved and has a new GUI and new attitude. This new version sports seven DVD to DVD copy modes in one plus the ability to DVD to many of the mobile formats such as iPod, Zune, PSP, xBox, PDA, PVP, etc. We downloaded, installed, and tested  DVDFAB 6.0  to run on two test computers. One computer was "Home-Brewed" with an Athlon AMD 64 X2 4800 Dual-Core processor running at 2.4GHz, 1GB of memory, 100GB hard drive, and a Sony DRU-510A DVD/RW drive 32X (CD) and 12X (DVD). The other computer, a Gateway E06500D, with an Intel Pentium(R) running at 3GHz, 1GB of memory, 100GB hard drive, and a Plextor PX-708A DVD/RW drive (40X (CD) and 12X (DVD). 

Installation & Test Results

The installation was flawless on both test computers. The original DVD movie was "Cast Away" (2000) starring Tom Hanks. The movie runtime was 143 minutes.  Upon inserting the original DVD movie and pressing the "Start" button, 16 minutes lapsed until we were prompted to insert blank DVD media. The DVD movie burning process was less than 8 minutes. We then inserted the copied DVD movie in our DVD player and the copy quality was that of the original to include all of the extras and menus options we selected. The same process was perform on our second test computer and it took 16 minutes to copy the movie and  approximately 7 minutes to burn the movie to DVD.

 


DVDFab Platinum 6 User Interface – Main Movie Copy

Upon inserting the DVD movie and launching  DVDFAB 6.0 automatically scanned the inserted DVD movie. All that was left to do was to click the Start button to start the copying process.


DVDFab 6 Ripping and Transcoding Process 

After approximately 20 minutes DVDFAB 6 ejected the original DVD and prompted us to insert a blank DVD.


Prompt to Remove Original Movie and To Insert a Blank DVD 

Clicking OK initiated the Writing/Burning of the DVD.


DVD Burning Progress Window 

Copy sequence completed.


Copy Sequence Completed 

Video


DVDFAB 6.0

In about 17 minutes,  DVDFAB 6.0 ejected the burned DVD. When placed in a DVD player, the movie contained all of the extras and played beautifully.

DVDFAB 6.0 from start to finish produced a copied DVD in 33 minutes. Not as fast as 1Click DVD Copy Pro but well under and hour.

Pros

DVDFAB 6.0 user graphical interface was simpler than the previous version and easier to use. We particularly liked the additional features that makes it possible to convert DVD movies to many of the mobile devices such as iPod, Zune, and PSP. DVDFAB 6.0 produced a high-quality DVD copies. Fast burning engine.

Cons

Last years cons were removed in this new version. It is obvious careful thought during the development stage was given to making  DVDFAB 6.0 easier to use and navigate through. Some movie copied were choppy.

Quality of Copy

Good. Some copied DVDs were choppy. This is the trade-off when purchasing bundled DVD copy applications. 1Click DVD Copy Pro, a DVD Copy only application is a much better application. Movie copies always excellent and all played well.

Customer/Technical Support

We emailed Fengtae Software customer support and within an hour, a response was received. Their website has an excellent customer support system in place as well as an excellent forum..

Final Comments

DVDFAB 6.0  was a good DVD movie copy program.  It had  new and  attractive Graphical User Interface that was easy to use.

It has plenty of features for more advanced users wanting more control over the final copy. One of the outstanding features was it’s very fast burn engine; impressive.

We particularly liked all of the options to copy DVD to any one of the mobile formats such as iPod, PSP, XBOX and more. A good buy.

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