14 DAY TRIAL // DVDs are still the best compromise between quality of the image and cost. But no matter how reliable they are, unfortunate accidents can still happen and time can irremediably damage them. Having these in mind, creating copies of the DVD movies in your collection remains the only way to protect them.
Softwares able to do that are too many to keep track and all the computers nowadays come with DVD writing units installed. So the only issue is electing the right candidate for the task at hand. Not an easy job, but fortunately most such softwares have trial versions that have as restriction only a time limit.
Blaze DVD Copy can be properly evaluated for 14 days. After this time expires, you can decide if buying it is the best solution or keep looking for another product. The price is $49.95 and judging solely by its looks I would say it is worth it as the interface is extremely smart and clean cut; if there were a software beauty contest Blaze DVD Copy would be on the podium. However, the looks are not everything when it comes to a software and an "insignificant" aspect called functionality has also to be taken into consideration.
There is nothing special about Blaze DVD Copy and it features all the elements most users look at when it comes to such softwares: copy the DVD from the disc to hard disk and back to another DVD disc in as little time as possible and the copy to be 1:1. This aspect together with supporting copying CSS-encrypted and region protected movie discs are the most sought features.
Unfortunately, Blaze DVD Copy is not compliant with the needs of the users and does not support copying CSS-encrypted and region protected movie discs. This is a major drawback as it hinders saving the DVD movie collection and protecting it against unfortunate accidents and the pass of time. However, if you have DVDs that are not protected in any way (quite difficult to find them nowadays) then the software should do a pretty nice job.
Among the features sported by the application there is the customization of the DVD. Thus you can select what to keep from the original movie (select the subtitles and the desired audio tracks). The options available in this sense are copying the entire disc as the original (that is a 1:1 copy), only the main movie (strips the DVD from all the features, extras and bonuses available), customize it (choose only the parts that you want: certain subtitles, chapters/titles or audio tracks) or, in the case of a DVD 9 (up to 8.5GB), split it in two.
Shrinking a DVD9 to a DVD5 is no problem for Blaze DVD Copy as long as the disc is not CSS-encrypted or region protected. But the downside is that the copy will no longer preserve the quality of the original and you can see this in the bottom right hand corner of the application window. Also, not to sacrifice too much quality, the resulting copy has to preserve at least 50% of the original quality otherwise the operation will not start.
The multiple options for copying a DVD include saving it as ISO. This choice is also affected by CSS-encryption and region protection restriction. Converting the DVD into MP4 (Sony and iPod), AVI, ASF and 3GP are also useless features if copying despite the CSS-encryption is not supported. The output result of the conversion can be customized in terms of resolution, bitrate, framerate, audio format, sample rate and audio channel. However little the customization, it is present and allows you to make minor changes in order to "correct" the quality by shrinking the resolution.
The Settings section of the application covers a minimum amount of options like language, work space folder, enabling auto-deleting temporary files when the job is finished and turning off the computer after the task is finished.
The Good
The interface is the only one to be mentioned in this section.
The Bad
All the features supported by the software are nil if there is no CSS-encrypted and region protection disc copying can be performed.
Also, considering the above mentioned, the price is high enough to make the average user back off.
The Truth
I can't imagine someone falling into this trap. Blaze DVD Copy is practically useless without bypassing the CSS encryption and the region protection. There is no way to protect the personal original DVD collection with this program.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
