# Which is better, DVDFab or AnyDVD?



## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

DVDFab or AnyDVD? I'm trying to figure out which is the better choice (and why) for ripping owned, retail DVDs to my own hard drive for my personal use. I recognize that AnyDVD is not free, where DVDFab is free...which is an important point no less, but beyond that, which is the better choice?


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## DtvSlave (Nov 14, 2007)

As far as I know, and I could be wrong, both programs are only free as a trial. I have used both as a free trial and paid program and I personally have had better luck with DVDFab 5 Platnium. After their Dec 24, 2008 update,there isn't much that I haven't been able to rip, but I guess there are always exceptions.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

Have used both. Both are good but AnyDVD seems to be a slightly better operation and quicker to put out a critical update when needed.

Purchased AnyDVD including the HD key. Very, very happy with AnyDVD.

Worth every penny I paid for it!


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

DVDFab has a free program that will just rip to your hard drive. You will need something else to compress and burn with.



DtvSlave said:


> As far as I know, and I could be wrong, both programs are only free as a trial. I have used both as a free trial and paid program and I personally have had better luck with DVDFab 5 Platnium. After their Dec 24, 2008 update,there isn't much that I haven't been able to rip, but I guess there are always exceptions.


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

I use AnyDVD and it works very well. One thing I would like to find is a good program to take ripped Blu-Ray and "downconvert" it to play on a standard DVD player. This is not for pirating, but portability. I have only two Blu-Ray players in the house (living room and in the office PC). Sometimes our granddaughter visits and wants to watch movies in guest room or we want to watch in the master bedroom.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

rudeney said:


> One thing I would like to find is a good program to take ripped Blu-Ray and "downconvert" it to play on a standard DVD player. This is not for pirating, but portability.


Neat idea and good news - it's available already....it's called a Digital Copy.


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> Neat idea and good news - it's available already....it's called a Digital Copy.


Will Digital Copy allow you to burn that copy to a DVD of the movie, or just store a copy on your hard drive on a computer?


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## Chop69 (Aug 11, 2007)

I had always used DVDFab, until I started downconverting Blu-Ray, then I switched to AnyDVD. I usually use Nero to recode for DVD and Handbrake to convert to iPod, so the free version of DVDFab is good enough for me. 

I thought I remember reading somewhere that AnyDVD was going to a subscription model, due to the amount of updates needed for Blu-Ray


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Hansen said:


> Will Digital Copy allow you to burn that copy to a DVD of the movie, or just store a copy on your hard drive on a computer?


It's an authorized copy designed to let you "copy" to another (typically mobile) device, such as a laptop, PC, or hand-held video-enabled unit (like the video Ipods...

I watched 2 different movies recently on my laptop recently that were digital copies, and was actually impressed with how great the imagery looked.


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## durl (Mar 27, 2003)

DVDFab "basic" is free. There is a paid version that allows more options. But if you just want to rip standard DVDs to a hard drive, the free version will work fine for you. It will make an ISO file which is an exact copy of your DVD and keeps the chapter marks intact.

You can rip the entire movie or, to save space, select the Main Movie and a particular audio track. You can also choose whether or not to included captions. Just pick your options, select a destination folder, name the file, and click "Start." Very simple.

If you want to compress and/or burn, you can use another free program called DVD Shrink.

As others have said, AnyDVD is what you need to rip blu-ray.


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## flexoffset (Jul 16, 2007)

AnyDVD will give you the means by which to use the necessary tools to put movies from DVD's, HDDVD, or Blu-Ray onto your home media server. 
I am able to stream WALL-E -which I paid for- in 1080p to my PS3 in no small part because of AnyDVD (and a few select free command line apps for demuxing, selecting playlists, audio tracks, video tracks, remuxing, etc. that I won't mention). 
All strictly for my own personal use.


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## deltafowler (Aug 28, 2007)

I like the ImToo line of products.
http://www.imtoo.com/


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> It's an authorized copy designed to let you "copy" to another (typically mobile) device, such as a laptop, PC, or hand-held video-enabled unit (like the video Ipods...
> 
> I watched 2 different movies recently on my laptop recently that were digital copies, and was actually impressed with how great the imagery looked.


The digital copies use common DRM encryption. You copy the file ( the .wmv for example) to your computer, then you authorize it with the "key" included with the disc. All of the ones I have dealt with will only authorize one computer with one key. Since these are DRM protected, you can't stream the movie to another device, but you can sync it to a portable player (i.e. iPod, Zune).

For my needs, I could put the digital copy on my laptop, then use its S-video out to a TV. I'd rather just have a DVD to drop into the player and go. I guess "someday" BD players will be cheap like DVD players and I'll have one in every room, but until then, it's a real PITA.


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

I just used dvdfab to rip a dvd to my hard drive using the mobile 'Generic' feature. It created an .avi file and will play on the computer through TVersity and WMP.

Media Share sees the file but refuses to play it. And of course, no error other than "There are no playable files in this folder". It does bring up the program banner before this.

What did I do wrong?


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## durl (Mar 27, 2003)

dennisj00 said:


> I just used dvdfab to rip a dvd to my hard drive using the mobile 'Generic' feature. It created an .avi file and will play on the computer through TVersity and WMP.
> 
> Media Share sees the file but refuses to play it. And of course, no error other than "There are no playable files in this folder". It does bring up the program banner before this.
> 
> What did I do wrong?


MediaShare only plays MPEG video files. You'll need to get it into that format.


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

dennisj00 said:


> I just used dvdfab to rip a dvd to my hard drive using the mobile 'Generic' feature. It created an .avi file and will play on the computer through TVersity and WMP.
> 
> Media Share sees the file but refuses to play it. And of course, no error other than "There are no playable files in this folder". It does bring up the program banner before this.
> 
> What did I do wrong?


Convert it to MPEG 2. I think DVD Shrink will do this after you burn an unprotected ISO of the DVD you own and incorporate the sound track.


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

dvdfab says the generic mobile is MPEG4 / h.264 avi. . I'm currently trying the iPod and Zune formats.


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

Interesting, both the iPod and Zune formats play on media share but not the generic.


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