PowerDVD 7.3 — the Ultimate High-Def Movie Experience on the PC

• Watch high-definition movies on Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs

• Experience virtual surround sound and 8-channel audio expansion

• Play a broad range of audio and video formats, such as AVCHD

• Navigate easily with shortcuts, bookmarks and other cool controls

• Enjoy theater-like quality with advanced audio and video technologies

The PowerDVD series has always been a favourite with our staff as it is the most in-depth DVD movie player on the PC and with the addition of Blu-Ray and HD DVD support, it once again remains the king of the field.

Best of all, PowerDVD 7.3 is not just for discs, it also offers the user a wide variety of different file formats, ensuring that this program is your one-stop shop for movie playback. The interface is a little awkward at times but the various options available to the user is outstanding.

PowerDirector 6.5 HE — the Magic Editing Tools for High-Def Videos

• Capture, edit and burn high-definition and 16:9 video content

• Create titles from templates with the improved Title Designer

• Output video in 720i/1080i high-definition formats,
  including MPEG-2 and WMV

• Stabilize shaky videos and sharpen picture focus with Magic Fix

• Edit movies with Magic Style, auto-combining effects, transitions, and titles

PowerDirector 6.5 HE is included in this bundle and for a full review of version 6, please visit (CyberLink PowerDirector v6). Version 6.5HE of PowerDirector really ups the ante of movie creation by allowing the creation of real high definition videos and also our personal favourite, the ability to reduce the shakiness of videos and also a sharpen feature.

PowerProducer 4.2 BD/HD — High-Definition Movies on Discs

• Capture high-definition videos and produce Blu-ray Discs

• Create HD DVDs and DVDs for playing on a home player

• Produce discs of your own widescreen (16:9) videos

• Enjoy advanced video recording (DVD-VR and DVD+VR)

• Personalize your discs with menus, music, and titles

PowerProducer 4.2 BD/HD goes one step beyond PowerDirector that allows you to burn in real-time using "Right-to-Disc" and allows 16:9 video creations and performs that final touch on your videos to give the end result that you are seeking.

MediaShow 3 — Dazzling Photo Slideshows on DVD

• Create a dynamic multimedia show featuring music, photos and PowerPoint slides

• Customize slideshows with title designs, title effects, and transitions

• Automatically fix photos and apply image effects with PhotoNow!

• Burn slideshows onto DVDs or VCDs for convenient playback

• Save slideshows as EXE formatted files, allowing playback on any computer

MediaShow 3 allows you to create your own customizable slideshows and is probably the weaker aspect of this suite. It allows the user to touch up photos by removing red eye or enhancing the original quality by sharpening.

PhotoNow is a great little tool that offers the photographer a variety of options to improve their photos and with PhotoEnhancer, this allows the user to add a touch of flare to their photos with filters that allow for some really cool effects.

Power2Go 6 — the Media Disc Burning Software

• Burn data onto Blu-ray Discs, HD DVDs, DVDs and CDs

• Increase data security with encryption and password protection

• Drag-and-drop files on desktop express icons for super-easy data burning

• Search for files instantly using file names and tags

• Convert music files to MP3s and create audio discs

Power2Go 6 is the ultimate drag and drop authoring tool that with the use of a windows sidebar gadget, users can easily drag the files that they are wishing to burn with true ease.

Windows Vista users will be pleased to know that Power2Go 6 also supports Vista with the both the interface and ability to run on this popular operating system.

It also offers a MP3 ripping program to create audio CD's into MP3 or vice versa, creating MP3's into audio CD's.

With to protect your data? Simple! Power2Go 6 allows the user to add a password to their creations, ensuring added protection to their discs.

Wish to copy a disc? Simple! Power2Go 6 easily creates copies of your original discs with no hassles whatsoever.

PowerBackup 2.5 — the Safe Way to Protect Your Valuable Data

• Archive files, folders and application data

• Include or exclude files with advanced filtering

• Schedule automatic backups of important data

• Restore data using the independent restorer utility

• Back up onto a Blu-ray Disc or any DVD type, split data across discs

• Protect archives with password protection

PowerBackup 2.5 now with Blu-Ray support allows user to easily backup their hard drives with this new media format as Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 50GB of information.

This is a must have program to prevent any computer catastrophes and if something does happen, users can easily restore their files in a holistic and simplistic way.

The program also offers three different backup modes that include full (backup your entire hard drive), differential (backup new and changed files) and incremental (backup new files since your last backup).

PowerBackup 2.5 can also be setup to backup your computer at a particular time, ensuring that the backup process does not interfere with your productivity and of course, a password can be attached to the backup, preventing any unauthorized users from accessing your data.

The program also offers the user to restore either certain files or entire backups and we tested the program on our test machine which took quite a while to backup and we deleted the hard drive. With no operating system present, PowerBackup 2.5 easily restored our hard drive with a limited hassles.

InstantBurn 5 — the Intuitive Solution for Rewritable Disc Media

• Use a Blu-ray Disc or DVD like a super large floppy disc

• Store files via a broad range of rewritable disc burners

• Drag-and-drop, cut, copy, and delete files

• Rename files and change file property information

InstantBurn 5 is another impressive feature of this compilation that allows user to use a Blu-ray disc or DVD like a large floppy disc which is as simply as drag and drop. You could even use this as a second storage "hard drive" for backups etc which is quite easy to use.

LabelPrint 2 — the Smart Way to Personalize Your DVD Labels

• Create labels, covers, and jewel-case inlays quickly and easily

• Design professional layouts with built-in high-resolution backgrounds

• Personalize designs by importing photo files

• Auto-import MP3 song titles and play list information

• Etch images directly onto LightScribe and Labelflash discs

LabelPrint 2 allows you to create CD/DVD and Blu-ray covers almost as 1-2-3 which is extremely easy to use and my favourite aspect is that you can auto-import MP3 play lists which makes things easier. For those users who own LightScribe or Labelflash, you can even directly label the disc. Thumbs up!

PowerDVD Copy — the One-Step DVD to DVD Copying Software

• Make high-quality DVD to DVD backups of your movie content

• Auto-shrink disc content to fit 8.5 GB onto a 4.7 GB DVD

• View video content via the Movie Preview window

• Customize disc copies with removable disc features

• Copy using a broad range of burners: DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW

PowerDVD Copy is great for those who wish to make DVD copies (non-copyright discs only) and you can even shrink an 8.5GB disc to a 4.7GB disc. This does take some time but it's a great feature to have and sometimes the quality difference is minimal.

Conclusion

Even though this review has just touched the surface of this program, it's easily one of the best programs on the market that offers the most definitive production and creative software. It features everything you will ever need in the foreseeable future at an extremely competitive price point. Definitely one to check out!