Hello all,
I just registered to this site here lately, looks like lots of great info on here (most way over my head).   I am hoping someone can help me out. This turned out to be a bit long, sorry.

Anyway,  I bought the program DVD Cloner V after seeing several good reviews on the product.  Sounded simple to use, so I got it from Herman Street for a good price.  Reading on here about DVD Decryptor and Shrink makes me wish I woudl have tried that first.  I just worry about the quality after shrinking from DL to SL.

I was particularly interested in the DVD_9 to dual disc DVD_5 copy mode on ClonerV, as I really like to keep the video quality as high as possible.  It seems that if I use the DVD_9 to DVD_5 copy (1 disc) the video really suffers (IMO, 50" plasma to show it all).

My problem is that many of my two disc backups are flawed (second disc only).  The first disc will play flawlessly, then when I swap to the second disc, I get a few chapters in (never the same chapter from movie to movie) and if I watch carefully the first thing that happens is the elapsed time on the player just locks up.   The movie will keep playing for some time (a minute or less) and then the Sony DVD will freeze, then back up and play a few more seconds, then freeze again, move ahead 2 seconds, play a few more seconds, freeze, and so on and so on.   Basically rendering the 2nd disc unwatchable.  BUT, some movies DO work fine.  Just can't trust it.  Using Verbatim DVD-R discs.

I did just upgrade my firmware on the Samsung TS-563B from D200 to D300 via the Dell website (brand of my PC obv.).   Don't know if that will fix it, but I thought it was the first step anyway.  I also had ClonerV set to burn at max speed, (which is default), so maybe that was a problem?  I think the burner is 16x and the discs say 16x, but ????

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.

THanks, jer

Never heard of DVD Cloner V... I would suggest you try to obtain DVD Shrink from videohelp.com and perhaps try DVDFab HD Decrypter... this is the cheapest solution... and DVD Shrink produces outstanding results.  DVDFab will decrypt your full DVD's to your hard drive and Shrink can open the files and compress what you want to fin on DVD5 (I usually go with the main title/movie only).

If you like it, you may want to invest in DVDFab Platinum or perhaps a combo of SlySoft AnyDVD and CloneDVD.

(in reply to hotrodf1)

DVD Cloner is "NOT" rated very well, and not used very much in the "burning community"

As SithTracy stated above, DVD Shrink, DVD Fab Decrypter (Both Freeware) and if you want another, I'll toss in AnyDVD by SlySoft.  It's not free, but I purchased it a long time ago, and they give you free lifetime upgrades.

(in reply to SithTracy)

Thanks for the info. . . .

well crap.

I should have done more research before I plunked down my $40.  Oh well.   Not the end of the world I guess.

I saw where some guys were using ImgBurn to do some stuff.  I have DVD Decryptor (forgot I had it actually), so I guess I can decrypt with it and then burn to media with ImgBurn?

You guys get good clear pictures shrinking onto SL media?  I guess I can try it, but the ones I've made suffered some quality loss it seemed in the faster scenes and such.

Is there any way to create two separate ISO files, one for disc 1 and 1 for disc 2?  Then I could just burn each disc separately.

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

DVD Decrypter is old and probably won't defeat the encryption on todays titles... Go with FAB... and yes, I use ImgBurn almost exclusively for DVD Video and data (cd data as well)... I think MP3Mogul is still having good luck with Nero.  I own FAB Platinum and SylSoft AnyDVD HD/CloneDVD... both are good and worth having in your tool box if you ask me...

Best of luck and Happy New Year!

(in reply to hotrodf1)

If you have a 50" Plasma, you can use DVDFabPlatinum (yes it's not the free version) but it will let you split a DVD 9 into 2 DVD 5's that will be Crystal Clear without any deterioration on the picture.

I have a 50" LCD and I usually rip "only" the movie, and not the extras and menus.  As long as I get an 85 percent or higher on Shrink, there is no noticable difference in picture quality.  If I try to shrink and it's below my 85 percent cutoff, I just use a DL disc and then backup the entire disc.

I as well also own DVDFab Platinum and AnyDVD HD as well.  I use Nero to burn exclusively, although I have used ImgBurn without any problems either.

I prefer Nero because I am part of the development team and I get the software for free... lol.... well after the headaches, but I like it and don't have any problems with it burning either SL or DL films.

(in reply to SithTracy)