DVD Squeeze Let's You Copy DVDs Without a DVD Burner

The most well known DVD ripper programs is DVD Squeeze. What follows is a review of this popular program (since it provides stability and availibilty). More copy software reviews at bottom of the page.

DVD rippers essentially rip content (decode) from a DVD then encode the content and burn it to a DVD. This is the basic technique used to copy DVDs or CDs. Everybody knows the music industry was quaking in their boots when MP3's became the popular format for music downloads. Now this same concept is available for video.

DVD Squeeze encodes (compresses) video the same way audio files are encoded in the MP3 format. The result is the same. Instead of slightly degraded but acceptable sound quality, you get slightly degraded but acceptable video quality.

When you copy DVDs to CDs there is image loss but it's imperceptible to most viewers. After the content is stored on your hard drive DVD Squeeze decodes that MPEG-2 content, then encodes it at a smaller level of compression, MPEG-1, so it fits on a CD. The image is still very good and you can view the content on your computer or DVD player. It's almost as though you can copy DVDs for free.

There's a very good primer with screen shots available at

DVD-recordable.org

DVD Squeeze uses a step by step approach which ties in with its manual and teaches you the basics of how to burn DVDs. The application's interface is tabbed with each tab named as a step; Step 1, Step 2, etc. Using the manual and following the steps in their logical order makes the conversion process child's play. The program's interface is clean and uncluttered adding to its ease of use.

With DVD Squeeze there are 2 ways to encode the content depending on how you'll view the video. If you watch it on the CD-ROM on your PC you'll only need 1 CD, however if you plan on watching it on your DVD player you'll need to view it in VCD format. This requires at least 2 CDs. If the DVD video is longer than 160 minutes you'll need a 3rd CD. (Each CD holds 80 minutes of video in VCD format for viewing on a DVD player.)

Of course if you copy a DVD to a hard drive and you'll use no CDs. Additionally, DVD Squeeze compresses the video on the fly. That means you don't need a large hard drive to store the content.

DVD Squeeze comes with a software package that shows you how to copy Playstation 2 games onto a standard CD-R. Use them as backups so that you can keep your Playstation 2 games in the best condition.

DVD Squeeze can take any MPEG or AVI video content, whether it's from DVD, files on your computer, or video captured from old VHS tapes and convert them to Video CD (VCD) format so you can watch it on any PC with a CD-ROM drive.

DVD Squeeze operates on several operating systems: Windows 95/98/ME/NT/XP and 2000. (Not Macintosh). You'll need a PC based DVD player, CD burner (not necessarily on the same PC) and blank CD-Rs. As you might expect the video decoding time varies for each PC. The average computer can decode a 2 hour movie in less than a couple of hours.

Major Quirks: Unless you have a fairly new PC the processing time can be extensive. It's somewhat inconvenient to have to decide which way you're going to copy DVDs--for viewing on your PC (1 CD) or on your console DVD player (2 or more CDs). In order to copy VHS tapes with DVD Squeeze you will need a video card with a Video In port for a camcorder or VCR and the software necessary to capture the video.

Conclusion: DVD Squeeze is a solid well known package. It gives instructions on important topics like how to burn DVDs and how to burn playstation games. The media (CD-R) that you copy DVDs to is very cheap so it's almost as though you can copy DVDs for free.

It should be noted that DVD rippers can differ significantly in such things as ease of use, flexibilty and picture quality. Some even come with additional software packages. Check out another good performer in the DVD ripper arena. The DVD Copy Plus package is excellent as well . Check it out Click here for DVD Copy Plus

The same people who created DVD Copy Plus (DVD to VCD conversion) also created DVD to DVD (backup your DVD). You can read about it here. Click here for DVD X COPY.