The Coffee Desk

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum Gets Reviewed

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum is, as the name suggests, a tool to turn DVD movies into different video formats so that they can be watched on the computer and other devices. The user simply loads a DVD into the program by clicking on the Disc button in the top button row which opens a small drive letter selection window. WinX DVD Ripper Platinum will then scan the disc and display the contents of it on the right side. The program can rip normal DVD video disks but also copy protected DVDs including those protected with CSS, Sony ArccOS and newer copy protections like those used in blockbusters like on the movie Star Trek which was my test subject.

When I first popped Star Trek in the drive, each of the titles that are stored on the DVD were presented with information including the title’s playtime, the resolution and format and audio, video and subtitle information. Within the “Copy” tab, where you make a straight copy of the DVD, there are no options. Just a 1:1 copy. While I know that this done is for speed purposes, I would still like to have the ability to force the resulting output to a 4.4 GB DVD for archive purposes.

A small selection interface below the title listing can be used to change the output settings including the audio used in the output (if multiple audio tracks are stored on the DVD), subtitles, an alternative start and end time plus the output folder. The default audio and subtitle language can be changed in the program’s options so that the preferred language selected by the user will be picked by the program automatically. The lower half of the screen contains the formats that the DVD can be ripped to. This is divided into general formats like avi, mp4, mpeg or flv but also device specific formats including formats for devices such as the iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, PSP, PDA or 3GP. Selecting a different video output format can change the available configuration options at the bottom of the screen.

I decided to put ripped the movie in iPhone format since I do have an iPhone after all. You would think it would be faster at doing the conversion, however, that was not the case. It took the same amount of time if not longer to create an iPhone version. It isn’t too big of a deal, but it would have been nice it were faster. However, If you are making a straight backup of your DVD, it can take as little as five minutes. After finished, I was watching Star Trek on my phone like a pro!

But what I really like about this application is the interface. The interface is very user friendly and easy to get around in and that is something I always cherish in an application. There are a number of other improvements to the interface that could make it a bit easier to get around such as when you are in the title browse window, you can’t scroll down using the mouse wheel. You have to drag the slider bar. When you slide the bar on the video screen, it highlights the start time box, but if you enter a start time, it doesn’t change the slider bar on the video screen.

Overall, WinX DVD Ripper Platinum provides an easy, wonderful interface to an awesome product that will provide you with backup and alternate copies of your movies. If you need to make a copy of one of your DVDs, especially one of the most recent ones with Fort Knox decrypting techniques, then I highly recommend this software. There is a free version and there is the paid version which I tested. If you would like nothing more than to get your hands on a Platinum copy of WinX DVD Ripper, then I ask you to tell me the best reason why you want a copy  in the comments leaving your name and email, and I will personally send you an activation code. I only have ten codes so I look forward to hearing your thoughts as they will go quickly!