14 DAY TRIAL // Finding a free CD/DVD burner is not hard at all, but my problem is not if I'll find what I am looking for, no matter the quest I'm in. In the last years, the software industry kept producing more and more, and of course that the bad programs' amount increased approximately at the same rate. I am not afraid of not being able to find more and more free CD/DVD burners, but I am really scared when thinking about the features that I need and how many of those will be missing...
Today's find is called FinalBurner and its purpose is to help you burn discs, and it doesn't matter if you're using CD, DVD or Blu-Ray media, this program claims to be able to burn them all! Even better, FinalBurner is completely free, and its latest version is red hot, being released only a few days ago. The setup package of the version that I have here, labeled 1.3.0.23, has 2.5MB in size and the install process should be a piece of cake for all of you. These being said, the time has come to check the program's interface and features, as usual.
Should I say this program looks good? Unfortunately for its producer, I am not that blind yet, so I'll say the truth: FinalBurner doesn't look good at all. In fact, this program's interface is sooo updated, that I start dreaming about when I was eighteen and most programs that I would put my hands on were looking like this. Anyway, you don't get anything fancy for your eyes, but a program that's easy to use and, as I've just said, completely free.
The program starts with a big gray, empty window that has a small panel asking you to select the project type. There are four project types available, and they say almost everything about things that can be done using FinalBurner. Data CD/DVD, Audio CD, Video DVD and Burn ISO are these project types I am talking about, and the Data CD/DVD also enables you to erase rewritable disks and, as I was saying, write Blu-Ray media.
If you want, you can have as much projects opened at a time as you need, and use the Window menu or the toolbar icons for organizing them nicely inside your interface. There is no configuration needed, all you have to do is drag your files into the disc area and then burn the disc. This sounds easy, but there are some things that need to be said here...
First of all, how can one think about a burning tool without an option to choose writing speed? I know, I know, ease of use and no worries about setting countless options, but this is taking simplicity to the extremes, and apart from some extreme metal bands, I am not crazy about such things at all. The best overall programs are those that have the best balance between ease of use and features, not those looking like a nuclear submarine's command center or as simple as a hammer.
To start the burning process, you have to click what seems to be a progress bar...but - what do you know? - you don't get a progress bar here, and the information displayed inside the log area is next to nothing..."Burning Started, Burning Complete" sounds a little too basic, isn't it?
If you are thinking about disc to disc copy or audio CD ripping, you can forget about them, because you won't see any of that stuff inside FinalBurner. It's sad to see so many things missing, but life is life, and you have two options when you get something for free: spit or swallow, and I think that this one is too heavy for my stomach...
The Good
FinalBurner is easy to use and has most of the basic features required to burn CDs, DVDs and even Blu-Ray discs, and most important of all, it's free.
The Bad
This program's interface is really bad, you can't choose the writing speed and the log feature is more of a joke than a real thing.
The Truth
I am not in a bad mood today, and even FinalBurner couldn't ruin my day. Anyway, there is still enough time for disasters, but I can't say that I don't have anything better to do than think about bad things that can happen. For me, it's time to move on to something better, but if you have the time and courage required to play with poor programs, take your time and try FinalBurner. After all, this may be completely free, but you don't have to pay for a program that's bad just to feel sorry later on...
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
