Best CD/R software?

[Jason Dunn]

http://www.roxio.com/en/products/ecdc/index.jhtml

I'm looking for some feedback on what the best CD/R software is - I'd like to be able to burn photo slideshows that will auto-start in a PC, also the ability to do VCDs for DVD playback, etc. Easy CD 5 is a little expensive at $99 US - any other good alternatives?

[Dave Conger]

Easy CD seems to have more problems with my systems then something like Nero. I really like Nero, it is easy to use though doesn't have the wizards like Easy CD. It also has some more advanced options for the "power burner." It has premade setups for VCD's and SVCD's as well as many other types of CD's you might want to create. I can't speak for Easy CD, but Nero even has a menu building option so you can build a menu for your VCD (like if you have a bunch of clips on it).

[spg]

I used Easy CD creator before XP started having built-in burning abilities. I had a little trouble when burning image files to CD, but overall Easy CD did a great job for what I needed it to do. I didn't do anything real fancy with it though, just basic burning jobs.

[Jason Dunn]

Thanks for the responses guys...

[seanturner]

Easy CD seems to be problem prone, having a bunch of compatibility issues. At least, versoin 4 did for me. If you install anything but v 5 on windows xp, it won't even boot.

I personally use both Nero and Veritas My CD Pro. I've found the Veritas software to be quite good and easy to use for tasks from copy, burning data and music cd's and even imaging cd's in a more user friendly format than Nero. It also seems to be compatible with all the drives i've tried except for an fire wire drive included on the docking station of my Sony VAIO R505.

Also, if you need to copy copy protected cd's most software won't cut it, but try CloneCD (i'm not sure who makes it and i dont' have a link, but try searching for it on google), which has seems to copy just about everything as long as your cd burner supports the technologies used.

[seanturner]

Which one did you go with anyway?

[Jason Dunn]

Which one did you go with anyway?


I haven't actually picked one yet. :-)

[lar3ry]

I'm looking for some feedback on what the best CD/R software is - I'd like to be able to burn photo slideshows that will auto-start in a PC, also the ability to do VCDs for DVD playback, etc. Easy CD 5 is a little expensive at $99 US - any other good alternatives?


I use CDRECORD (freeware) on Linux. There's a version available for Win32 systems as well (CYGWIN tools; try http://sources.redhat.com for a pointer to CYGWIN, which is also freeware). It's a command line tool, but it is very sophisticated. Can do audio, CD-ROM, and combinations of both on the same disc.

[seanturner]

Can do audio, CD-ROM, and combinations of both on the same disc.


Yeah, i'm pretty sure adaptec can do that too, and I believe the Veritas and Nero software can also do the same. I also believe you can download a trial version of Nero if you want to demo it before you buy.