Alcohol 120 or CloneDVD/CD/AnyDVD bundle?

Burning Software
#1

I know theres a ton of info here in the forums about both apps - almost too much to make sense of. I have read up some but I’d like some oppinions.

If I were only going to buy one of the apps - either Alcohol 120% or the CloneCD/CloneDVD/AnyDVD bundle, which one should I get?

I will be using either to backup games - and I tend to try and buy my games on DVD when they’re available. I’d like to be able to make images and not have to use the DVD - I think both can do this?

I’ll also backup some of my DVDs but I am doing that just fine right now with DVDDecrypter/DVDShrink so I’m not sure if this use should come into my criteria for which product to buy?

Also want to backup my audio CDs - not sure if one of these is better at that than the other? I did just buy a protected CD and after messing with it a little, I took a Sharpie to it and I think about any program can now rip or back it up lol.

Alcohol is cheaper - but I don’t think you get free updates for the life of the product like you do with AnyDVD/CloneCD - and if I’m going to buy something, free updates is awfully attractive.

Which is better and why? Do I really need to own both Alcohol and the Clone/Any bundle?

Thanks for any thoughts :slight_smile:

Edit: Shoulda mentioned in case this has bearing on which I should buy of Alcohol/Clone, I already own Nero 7.0 - got it free from Newegg when I bought my X2 4400 :smiley:

#2

:bow: :bow: :bow:

#3

Hi,

New here also and have the very same consideration. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Best,
Techson

#4

I think they’re ignoring us :slight_smile:

I’ve read lots on both packages - I’m leaning towards Alcohol since I’m actually using the trial version for BF2 DVD that came bundled with my video card. The Clone/Any bundle sounds great lots of people are using it, but so far I haven’t found a single DVD I couldn’t get done with DVDDecrypter/DVDShrink. I’ve seen people posting about problems with certain DVDs using decrypt/shrink - and I’ve had zero problem with those same DVDs…

For images, I think Alcohol is better and Alcohol seems pretty good at making difficult backups (from what I’ve read.)

Ultimately I may wind up with both - and if that’s the case, I may go ahead and get the Any/Clone bundle soon since the $10 cdfreaks discount is good til 11/15. I was trying to avoid getting both, but I guess both may have their strengths.

Of course, all I’m really doing is guessing and searching the forums and reading since no one will reply. :doh:

#5

Lance,
If it were me, I’d get Alcohol for games, AnyDVD to nullify DVD protection schemes, DVD Decrypter & ImgBurn in tandem with AnyDVD to copy DVDs, and DVD Rebuilder Pro to re-encode any DVD9s to DVD5s as needed.

With this strategy you’d have free updates for every product mentioned except Alcohol.

EDIT: typos

#6

Lance,

Thanks for your thoughts. I emailed Ben Nichols regard the question you posted, and here is what he responond with:

"Alcohol. Because it always lets you know 100% if it is using emulation, with
CloneCD it is often harder to tell if your copy is a true 1:1.

Ben"

I don’t know if you have already purchased these softwares as you indicated; if not, I hope this help. Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Best,
Techson

#7

With this strategy you’d have free updates for every product mentioned except Alcohol.
??? elaborate please

#8

you obviously can’t go wrong with decrypter/shrink combo (since they’re free), but there ARE dvds they won’t be able to handle, and that number will grow as more and more dvds come out.

anydvd is the best money i ever spent on software. you don’t even need the bundle (if you’re worried about price). just run anydvd in the background and use shrink as you normally would. it cracks the copy protection on anything you put in the drive automatically so it also cuts down on time.

i used to rely on decrypter 100% and now i don’t even use it. I do everything in shrink with anydvd in the background.

stick with free for as long as it will work for you, just be advised that if you’re into newer movies it won’t work forever, and when it stops working I really recommend anydvd. lifetime updates and the best customer support you could imagine are worth it.

i use alcohol to handle images and whatnot on my computer, but it doesn’t really do anything that nero or shrink wouldn’t do unless you’re into video games (so i hear). I don’t bother with games, so if i hadn’t receved alcohol as a gift, i probably wouldn’t have it in the first place. if you deal with games, then it seems like alcohol is a great buy as well.

#9

Phoenix,
I will gladly elaborate…I left out a word.

What I meant was everything I list in my post, with the exception of Alcohol 120%, promises free life-time updates. Alcohol 120% may do so as well, but I couldn’t find it right away on the web site.

And don’t you guys ever run sales? :smiley:

#10

@Innuendo,

Thank you for clarifying your comment… however extract from terms and conditions

7. Support & Updates\Upgrades.
(2) provide generally offered updates or enhancements of the Software and the Documentation that Licensor periodically makes available to Licensed Users at no additional charge.

As for running sales… whats a sale :slight_smile:

#11

Phoenix,
Thanks for the clarification. I missed that. Thanks for taking the time to answer.

#12

You may also take a look at DaemonTools Pro http://www.daemon-tools.cc/ which is coming soon. It’ll be able creating images from your CD/DVD, has free updates like Sylsoft/Alcohol, supports all current protections and it’s about 16$ which is more than a fair deal if you ask me.

#13

Well, the AnyDVD bundle is bought - yesterday with the cdfreaks discount :slight_smile:

Thanks for the info on DaemonTools Pro - I’ll have a look at it versus Alcohol because I will very likely still be buying something to make images to play games so I don’t have to keep the original DVD/CD in the drive all the time.

One thing I happily discovered about the AnyDVD bundle after I bought it; I sort of wondered how SlySoft could keep releasing updates to fix various DRM tricks. As far as I know, in the US selling software to circumvent DRM is against the law and I was worried at some point SlySoft would get messed with. I was SOOOO happy when I clicked the “About” screen in AnyDVD and saw “St. John’s, Antigua” for their location! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: