16 May 2006 0:33 GMT / By Stephen Patrick

It’s long been believed that people who buy a PC want it for general usage while those opting for a Mac are more likely to come from the creative side of life, which means designers, musicians and video editing.

If that sounds like you then Roxio Popcorn 2 is here to help you copy your DVDs to disc with the minimum of fuss.

Due to legal issues, you won’t be able to use this software to make copies or backups of commercial DVDs, as they are encrypted. Where Popcorn comes into play is for the creative type who makes their own videos, either of the family or for work, which aren’t encrypted so can be readily copied to disk.

One of the neat new features of Popcorn is how it handles compression. Effectively, you can transfer 9GB of information from a dual-layer disc to a single 4.7GB DVD-R without having to worry about the maths behind it. If you want to change format, it’ll handle that on the fly to, with support for Quicktime, MPEG4, H.264 and DivX. It’s also safe to assume that if you own a Mac, you’re more than likely to own an iPod. So, just as with Roxio Easy DVD 2, the big selling point of this update is support for iPod, along with Sony’s PSP, 3G phones and DivX players.

The interface is easy to use, due in large part to a nondescript interface – you simply put in your disc, are offered two copy options – DVD-R or portable player – while the Options tab allows you specify format and size. As it’s so clear, you won’t need any experience to quick get to grips with it, as the program assumes you simply want to copy without having to work out too much. Perhaps the biggest problem with the package is that it only supports Mac OS 10.4, which will deter those older machines.

Copying discs takes time, we transferred one hour’s worth of footage in just less than an hour, which isn’t too bad. We even hooked a video iPod up to a MacBook, with the former immediately being identified, and it took roughly the same time again to get the footage onto the iPod. A drawback of the program to date is you can’t copy from video files already on your Mac’s hard drive, you need to have it on disc already. This can be prove a little clumsy and time consuming and makes this more a consumer tool than a professional one, but we’re sure this feature will be ironed out in time.

Verdict

If you own a Mac and a fifth generation iPod and have any interest in video there is no question about it: you need this product.

The fact that it’s cheap and easy to use only makes it even more desirable.

The only caveat in the whole operation is you’ll need to have a top-spec OS to run it on but you have that anyway, right?

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Roxio

Price as reviewed

£35

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The good

Supports iPod and PSP, quick and easy

The bad

Need latest OS

Quick verdict

Mac users can now rejoice as the creators of Toast bring enhances their DVD burning software with support for iPod, making this an essential purchase

Score

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