DVD Burning Plug-In (what do you think of it so far?)

[Sn00p]

I am using the trial DVD Burning Plug-In and I am very happy Snapstream added this option! This is going to be a very useful feature.

But then I saw we have to pay for it ($39.99 or $29.99)… Ok, this is just $29.99 but this is another $29.99 adding to the total cost… I wish it would have been free for the owners of BTV's license (I know, this is cheap compared to other authoring and burning bundles…). Of course I could use other softwares but it is nice to have it integrated into one interface. Just my 2 cents…

Since I have one minute padding at the beginning of the recording, the ten seconds preview of each video in the DVD menu play ten seconds of video before the actual show has began (mainly commercials). There is no way to adjust this unless you edit out the commercials with another software or you just go with the name’s shows only without the video preview.

Also, as many here, I am using VideoRedo to edit the shows. It would be nice to integrate that kind of feature in BTV and using the remote to cut unwanted parts of a show before burining to DVDs. Maybe in a future version…

At the end, the DVD Burning Plug-In worked flawlessly on my system and played without a glitch on my DVD player unit.
My personnal evaluation 9/10

[Rev1979]

Since it doesn't use SmartChapters to cut commercials, I'm going to pass until it does.

I'll keep using the BTV2DVD program addon.

No, it's not as seamless, but it does cut the commercials AND there's no cost.

[Addihul]

They must be running low on funds because this addition should have been yet another free upgrade to their system. Granted they worked hard on tweaking it, but there is still a number of upgrades that can happen just to that module. I'm dissapointed that such a small update is going to cost me another $30. One of the reasons I went with BTV is because it offered free upgrades. Asking us to pay now for a small upgrade is poor. If this continues to happen, Snapstream will lose my business.

[rugby]

Why in the hell do we need another thread regarding this plug-in?

[JoeDornan]

I think it's great. I was more than happy to cough up the extra $30 for this feature. It's nice that they actually give you the option of buying this rather than installing 3rd party freeware don't you think? Other companies would just make it a required feature in subsequent versions.

It worked perfectly on my machine. No glitches, no difficulty with hardware, media, formats, etc. it just worked. That's the way software should be made.

-Joe

[Khris]

Originally Posted by JoeDornan

Other companies would just make it a required feature in subsequent versions.

I think had SS made the plug-in a part of BTV5 (whenever it gets released), people would have been happier.

[Darkk]

Part of the high price is the licensing fee and R&D at Snapstream to make it work. I went ahead and purchased the plug-in since it looks like something worthwhile to have.

Looks like BTV 5.0 is another year away so figured this is a small price to have the features now.

Darkk

[pvrguy]

$20 is less than I spend in coffee for a week so please give it a rest.

[Mamba]

>I went ahead and purchased the plug-in

Same here, while the discount applies. I plan to use it later on, just wait'n to see if there are any major glitches with 4.5 reported first.

[kamiller42]

As cool as the plug-in might be, $30 is too much. It should not be more than $20. There are too many alternatives, while not as convenient, certainly not difficult to use. My $.02.

[Kilrsat]

Originally Posted by kamiller42

As cool as the plug-in might be, $30 is too much. It should not be more than $20. There are too many alternatives, while not as convenient, certainly not difficult to use. My $.02.

Then go here:

Beyond TV 4.5 now shipping, thanks to members of our community

Get your $10 off coupon and it is $20.

[Eric3a]

$20 is less than I spend in coffee for a week so please give it a rest.

You drink too much expensive coffee.

I won't use the plugin as I don't have DVD player and archive everything in mpeg4 format.
But it's nice for the occasional data DVD where I can store a whole season of a show.

It works very well and is easy to use so: Sa far so good.
Eric

[mrgrocery]

I downloaded the trial today. What I liked was how simple it was to use and the ability to shrink my the content to fit the disk(it was 104% full). What I did not like was it was a little too simple, it would be nice to have a few added features, like having a second page before playing the file giving the program info first. A few different menu would be nice, or the option of setting a picture as your background. All in all I think I will most likely end up buying it.

[dequire]

If you only use BTV on a PC with a monitor, i don't think you're as likely to buy it. However, the target audience for this is clearly those who want a 10ft interface and have it just 'work'. Functionality like this is VITAL for HTPC's to advance in popularity with the general public. I have no problem with this. And, since it is not a required upgrade (isn't it an optional module?), i don't know what all the bitching is about. Anyone here think MS would give this functionality for free? Actually, they'd never even offer it!

I think all the posts are BeyondFunny when they say something like: "If SS wants me to (optionally) pay for (optional) modules...even after I (didn't) pay for my 4.5 upgrade, I'm going to leave BTV for EVER! Please, I beg you, if you fall into this category, go at once to http://www.mythtv.org/, fire up your mad Linux skillz, and never pay for your PVR software again.

[Khris]

Originally Posted by Darkk

Part of the high price is the licensing fee and R&D at Snapstream to make it work.

Sorry, I don't agree with this at all.

I find it hard to believe that SS would invest in a licensing fee which warrants charging more than half of the price of BTV, for a simple plug-in which provides one feature. It just doesn't make sense.

The value of this feature (as compared to BTV as a whole) shouldn't be more than $10 for the plug-in. If SS were to make ShowSqueeze a plug-in, how much do you think they'd charge for that? Personally I think ShowSqueeze has many more benefits/options in comparison and could potentially warrant a $40 price tag.