Time For Apollo Power

very good
key review info
application features
  • Real perfectly DVD copy by 1:1 or 1:2 without distortion
  • (6 more, see all...)

Despite the simplicity of the job, backing up your original DVD movies can be a time consuming task. And I do not mean that the backup job itself will take long. It is the finding of the application to do it with that takes time. I tested a few DVD copying tools up to now and I must say that the rule of thumb is that if you want quality then you've got to cough up some money.

There used to be free tools to do this job with, like the late DVD Decrypter, but unfortunately those projects have been suppressed by the authorities. And they were right as piracy should never be tolerated. But the DVD discs do not have an infinite lifespan and, according to Murphy's Law, "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time". So the need for a software able to copy DVD videos before they are damaged beyond reading is still an issue.

Companies struggle to "inflict" as many protections against DVD copying and users holler at them that they need a software to protect their investment. To be frank I had to backup some of my original DVD videos and I found that there are few programs up to the job of passing over the CSS and region encryptions. I also saw some applications specially designed for backing up original DVDs but lacked the CSS bypass.

Not the case with Apollo DVD Copy as the $44.95 application can copy SONY ARccOS protected DVDs as well as the discs with Content Scrambling System applied. If these two features are available then everything else is just a matter of time.

The interface is very nice and cozy and even the most inexperienced user will be able to handle it without any trouble. In the left part there are the Source settings and in the left we have the Destination or target settings. Basically there are two operations you can do with a DVD (no matter if it is a 5 or 9 type): either make a 1:1 or 1:2 copy of the video or save it in ISO format.

My greatest regret in what concerns the copying abilities of the application is that it cannot make a 1:1 copy of a DVD 9. You can however save it on your disk, but only splitting it into 2 DVD5 files. Another way is to save it as ISO or to burn it directly to a dual layer. I would have liked to copy the entire DVD in a single VIDEO_TS folder on my computer.

Anyway, a copying job of a DVD 9 disc is done in approximately 28 minutes which is damn good. Converting directly to ISO took almost 44 minutes (43'54'' to be more exact). It is worth waiting for the ISO to finish as at least the file will not be split in two trunks. Burning a DVD5 disc takes 15'55'' which is an average burning time.

In the Output Settings dialog the user can choose the audio tracks and subtitles to keep by a single unchecking of the corresponding box. You can also set the target disc size (a regular DVD5, 4.7GB-50MB, 4.7GB-100MB or 3.9GB) and depending on this the compression ratio and the quality of the resulting video will increase or decrease. The quality percentage is also available in the main window when choosing the copy mode ("Copy main movie", "Split into 2 D5" and "Copy full disc").

Destination section is not as rich in options as Source, but it has its advantages. It is in here where you can enable the copying to a dual layer disc and set the recorder to do it with. Apollo will need a temporary folder to place the temps in before moving them to the user defined location. The automatic deleting of the temporary files can be enabled by the user so that the operation is not performed manually.

The Good

The software is looking good and does its job no questions asked. There were no manifestations of instability on my computer and it carried with the task with no problems. The fact that it can avoid the protection of the DVD makes it suitable for backing up your original DVD video discs.

By reading the tips a the launch of the application you can learn everything there is about working with the application.

After the job is done the application will create a log file and place it on the system volume.

The Bad

There is no way to simply copy the DVD9 disc to your computer. The only ways to do this is to either have a dual layer disc ready for encryption, save it as two split DVD5 or as ISO.

Careful with the limitations imposed by the publisher. The seven uses restriction is more then enough for an experimented user, but the average user may not have all the time to properly test the application.

We have to appreciate that there are not spelling mistakes in the interface of the program. With the help file on the other hand things are as bad as can be as it is full of misspells.

There is no time estimation for finishing the job for neither ISO file creation nor the burning operation. All there is available in this aspect is the progress percentage.

The Truth

OK, so we have an easy to use interface, good-looking also, it can copy a DVD9 to a DVD9 disc, supports all types of DVD5 including RW type and it can write directly from an ISO file. It can also pass over all sort of protection (so it'll get its job done) and the copying speed is pretty good.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 5
features 4
ease of use 5
pricing / value 5


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
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