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Nero will be a familiar name to many thanks to basic versions supplied with many new computers. Nero 7 Premium Reloaded offers much more than basic disc burning, including its own desktop search engine and the ability to share media with other devices.
The getting started window is quite small and understated without hiding anything useful. Tasks are divided into six different categories including a favourites list of the most commonly used. This is a much better way of working than having to remember which program does what and similar to that used by Roxio Creator 9.
A drop-down menu at the top of the window allows filtering of tasks for CDs and DVDs. You can also toggle between the normal list of tasks and what Nero considers to be expert tasks such as mixing an audio CD.
Blu-ray and HD DVD support are both included out of the box, making Nero ideal for backing up large installations as well as fitting more videos or music onto one disc. The software is also capable of creating full backup of Windows on a bootable disc.
More advanced users can expand this window to show the individual applications. The manuals for the different applications can be found in this section too.
Adding files to a data disk is simple and each folder or individually selected file is shown in the list. The contents of a folder can be seen as well so there is no loss of detail. A coloured bar at the bottom of the screen shows how much space is free on the CD and Nero will prompt for a DVD if there is not enough space on a CD.
As well as plain data, CDs and DVDs with music, photos and videos can be created. The options are not quite as polished as those available with Roxio Easy Media Creator 9 but quite adequate for personal use.
There are Digital Rights Management limitations as we were unable to include protected WMA files in an mp3 jukebox DVD. Nero Mobile will edit photos and videos so they are suitable for phones and PDAs.
Desktop search is added in the form of Nero Scout, using technology from Yahoo. It is added to the Task Bar so that it is always available. As text is entered possible search results are displayed. A wide variety of file types can be indexed including Office files, pdf and HTML. The same search string can also be used for an internet search.
Indexing takes place in the background and is paused when something is happening in the foreground. This does prevent the software from interfering with other tasks but it would be helpful to have an option to force a full scan. We also encountered some stability problems on changing the program settings but this did not affect the ability to scan.
Nero also caters for other means of access as well as ordinary desktop computer use. Nero Home makes the computer useable at living room distances in a similar style to Media Center. The red theme might be a bit much for some but there is an alternative supplied. Nero Home can be used with a TV card for time-shifting and recording programs.
Other utilities include one for selecting the speed and spin down time for the optical drives in the computer. Although slower speeds mean slower transfer rates, they also mean quieter operation, something worth experimenting with for Media Center computers in the living room.
Nero is also supplied with its own Voice over IP (VoIP) client called Nero Sipps. As installed this can only make calls to other Nero Sipps users but the manual does claim that it can be used for low cost calls to landlines.
We were unable to find any information to this effect on the Nero website. However, the Sipps software is freely available from Nero so there is no reason why friends and family cannot install it themselves.
A helpful touch is the ability to set a second audio device for playing the ringtone for incoming calls; ideal for anyone who uses a USB phone.
Also consider:
Roxio Easy Media Creator 9
Just as Office takes care of all word processing needs, Roxio Creator 9 is the
complete multimedia package
Roxio MyDVD 8 Premier media management software
If you want to make DVDs for your friends, family or yourself, Roxio MyDVD 8
Premier offers an easy way to professional results.
X-oom Movie Clone 4 Media management software
X-oom Movie Clone 4 works well enough but to use it fully is legally dubious
All Audio Recording, Editing & Mixing
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