Nero 6 [Old Version]

The biggest thing Roxio has going for it is the extremely user-friendly interface. It's basically CD & DVD burning for dummies. Roxio also has a very simple to use utility for mixing songs on a CD that works great! Roxio's DVD authoring software is actually pretty great too... and, again, easy to use.

Nero has a bit of a learning curve because it is loaded with so many features and settings, but it is (by far) well worth the patience! In the long run you will be much happier with Nero because you can do almost anything you want and it burns PERFECT CDs every time. EVERY TIME! I don't know what some of the other reviewers were talking about when they complained of buggy behavior and difficulty installing and un-installing. I have never had a single problem with any of these situations.

My biggest disappointment with Roxio's Easy CD Creator is that it does NOT support overburning of CD's and the amount of editing capabilities is limited. Like I said before, Nero takes some getting used to, but once you do, the editing option are really pretty cool! I burned my share of frisbees with Roxio and that's always discouraging. By far it's one of the most common complaints I've heard of Roxio users.

Nero, on the otherhand, does allow over-burning (program recommends a setting or user can set it to whatever they want) and tons of editing features! Not to mention, I have never burned a frisbee with Nero. NEVER! It's really that good! Nero also burns FAST and makes perfect CD to CD copies! It also has a great backup program. The DVD authoring utility, while a little more complex than Roxio's, does work quite well. Great program!!!

Some users have complained about Nero's InCD program. Personally I don't use it, but I have used it before. It's true that it seems to have chellenges in Windows XP, but I have gotten it to work and work fine! I think it has something to do with how Windows XP handles packet writing. I have not used Roxio's equivalent to this either so I can't adequately compare the two on this point.

Nero's latest release is also far easier to operate compared to older versions, but all the stability and functionality of the older versions remain intact. Old fans of Nero will have no argument with the new layout. In fact, there are two interfaces that users can toggle between; an expert mode and a beginner mode. Vetrans of Nero will feel right at home with the expert interface, while newbies will take right to the beginner interface. Not to mention the fact that Nero has also included a nifty Start Smart guide (similar to Roxio's control panel), which makes it so easy to get right where you want to go. And who uses manuals these days anyway? Play with the program for several minutes and you'll be burning CDs in no time. The layout is not the most user-friendly, but it is intuitive and if you have a clue about anything you'll catch on in no time.

Nero is also totally stable and does the job wonderfully! I don't care what the nay-sayers say here. I believe I am (what you could call) an experienced user! I have used both programs quite extensively (on multiple systems) and Nero is still my absolute favorite! It's not buggy like users of Roxio's program (myself included) have frequently complained about. Roxio has improved their program considerably compared to older versions and it is more stable and burns faster than older versions. In fact, specs show that Roxio beats Nero just by a fraction on burn speed. I do agree that non-savy computer users will also appreciate Roxio's almost idiot-proof interface, but I still must recommend Nero over the competition. It is, by far, the most complete, most stable, most feature-laiden CD burning program available!

I wish Nero had an OEM version like Roxio does, but even at $80 bucks, it's still worth every penny!!! GET IT!!! If you want to burn perfect CDs EVERY TIME, buy Nero and forget about Roxio!


Serious problems in purchased version of product   September 12, 2003
Dougm12 (Maine, United States)
57 out of 62 found this review helpful

Nero 6 immediately crashed my extremely stable Windows XP (Service Patch 1) system right after installing it. That system had no other CD/DVD software on it, and thus no conflicting software. I had to go to the Nero web site and download over 40 MBs!! of their "updates". It then has worked fine (so far) and actually looks to be quite good. Nero clearly rushed this product out to compete against the new version 6 of easy CD and DVD Creator. If you purchase this product be sure to get all of the "updates" from the Nero site before trying to do anything at all, including just browsing the menus.


Note of Caution Before Purchasing OEM version of Nero6   December 4, 2003
30 out of 31 found this review helpful

I recently purchased an "OEM" version of this software, which I am seeing many resellers posting here on Amazon at about half retail price. If you're considering opting for that, note that this is NOT the same as the full retail version, although you'd really have to dig (as I did) to discover the differences. Only in the PDF help files which appear after the installation will you see the difference explained.

First, and very importantly, the OEM will not support MP3 encoding of any kind. You can't rip any of your CDs with this software, and there isn't a patch available from Nero which will let you do so. Note that Nero will mention on their website that the MP3 encoder patch will work with versions "higher than 5.5", but even though the OEM is technically v.6., it isn't compatible. I wasted 20 bucks learning this lesson.

Second, OEM has only the "Nero Express" interface. Nice enough, but clunky for power users used to the old v.5 look.

If your needs are very basic, OEM Nero will work fine for you. I'm running it on XP and haven't encountered any bugs yet. But if you're ripping a lot of music to MP3, better get the full retail version or download a different encoder. Thankfully, the resellers on Amazon are itentifying their copy as OEM.


Great burning engine, nasty surprise "extras"   March 27, 2004
S. McCrea (Henderson, NV United States)
27 out of 28 found this review helpful

The DVD/CD burning engine Ahead has created and their very reliable Nero Aspi make it an excellent straight up burnder, especially for making archive copies of movies. I've not--knock on wood-had any coasterizations using it. Whereas the crappy burning program my six months old Vaio PCV-420 came with created a number of coasters and finally had to be relegated to the dark corner of the hdd.

However in the "advanced" or "ultra" features than Ahead so touts you discover that you cannot use them after paying your $75 bucks. To full use their MPEG-4 creator, their re-authoring package or even their DVD viewer (!) you have to cough up at least $50 more bucks--and, and another reviewer noted, that's not even couting the $19.95 you have to pony up to be able to rip MP3s--which is just plain stupid when there are good free progs--or far less expensive ones--that can do all these things at least as good--certainly not WORSE than Nero. I'm talking about DVD-Shrink (which has an excellent burner), DVD-Decrypter and many others. Check out doom9.com's site for the full information of DVD/CD burner software and LEGAL archiving of DVDs.

I got my copy of Nero Ultra as a gift and that's the only way I'd take it. It is utterly ridiculous--but seemingly a common tactic of German companies--to provide tantalizing goodies only to hit you with a laundry list of must-buy options that cost more than the original package.

Not only that, but beyond the Tools, Nero Burning ROM and Nero Express, the rest of the "tools" are not terribly intuitive and far more timeconsuming to learn that the freeware products mentioned above. The reauthoring tool of DVD Shrink had me actually doing it whereas after twenty minutes of NeroVision I was hopelessly lost.

Not only that but trying to use the authoring prog (Nero "Recode") gets you the following messages:

"Due to copy right reasons Dolby Multi-Channel and Decoding are not available except for purchase...." which leads you to Ahead's website where you have to privelege of plunking down another $19.95 EACH.

The second message informs you. The MPEG-4 convertor has a similar message.

In short, the basic engine is great. The company's bait-and-switch attitude is a real turn-off and rip off. And finally, excepting really only Burning ROM, the rest of the products lack any real feel for "ease of use" or a sense of how Newbies and casual repeat users can quickly go about their work--assuming they've paid the extra $50 to $75 bucks on top of the $74.99 to get the package full functional.

Because for that price you should never get ANYTHING but the full package. Ahead's Prez Fabian clearly has a low opinion of his customers. We're only wallets.

That's what gets this product a two instead of a three. 90% of this "D" grade is due to the numerous demands for more cash to enable basic functionality and lack of a spirit of "ease" of use" in the more advanced products.

All in all, corporate greed and lack of innovative feel and touch turn what should be a great package into a grossly, crassly expensive con-game.