Nowadays, watching DVD movies on DVD players at home has become an essential way of relaxation and entertainment. But what about people who are always on-the-go and want to distract them from travel time? Lugging portable DVD players during transit not only are bulky, but bringing several discs along tend to be inconvenient, not to mention they jump on the most crucial scenes and are prone to scratches.
So software makers have come up with DVD-ripping software so users can put movies into their digital devices such as mp3 video players, mobile phones or pocket gaming consoles. Not to mention a stack of DVD movies can fit into a tiny memory card!
I have come across several popular DVD-ripping software and I’ve tried almost all of them. To spare my readers of the trouble downloading, installing and trying each and every DVD-ripping software imaginable, I’ve compiled my top 6 DVD rippers and have made a review about them.
I will try my best to explain in the simplest terms possible, since I am not a technical person myself. I hope this would be of great help to people looking for the “perfect” DVD ripper.
Here is a list of the 6 DVD rippers:
- Magic DVD Ripper Know More
- AOA DVD Ripper Know More
- Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate Know More
- AVS Video Converter Know More
- Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter Know More
- Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate Know More
I’ve made 10 categories as basis for my review of each product - 10 points for each category; overall 100 points:
|
|
Magic DVD Ripper
|
AOA DVD Ripper
|
Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate
|
AVS Video Converter
|
Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter
|
Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate
|
||
|
Download and install
|
10
|
10
|
8
|
7
|
9
|
9
|
||
|
Interface and menu
|
8
|
8
|
10
|
10
|
8
|
9
|
||
|
Input formats
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
7
|
8
|
10
|
||
|
Output formats
|
8
|
7
|
9
|
10
|
8
|
10
|
||
|
Advanced settings
|
9
|
9
|
10
|
10
|
9
|
9
|
||
|
Conversion Speed
|
7
|
7
|
9
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
||
|
Video effects
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
9
|
8
|
10
|
||
|
Video editing
|
8
|
8
|
9
|
9
|
8
|
10
|
||
|
Resource consumption
|
9
|
9
|
8
|
7
|
7
|
10
|
||
|
Price
|
10
|
10
|
9
|
8
|
8
|
7
|
||
|
Total
|
86
|
86
|
91
|
85
|
82
|
94
|
||
Test Environments:
|
|
Detailed Data
|
|
CPU
|
P4 3.0 Core 2
|
|
Main board
|
DELL OWG641（Inter 945G）
|
|
Memory
|
2G (Kingston DRR2 667MHz)
|
|
Display card
|
ATI RADEON X300 SE 128MB HyperMemory
|
|
Hard disk
|
Seagate ST3160828AS(160G)
|
|
Audio card
|
Inter 82801G（ICH7）
|
|
Network card
|
Inter 82801G（ICH7）LAN Controller
|
|
Monitor
|
DELL E228WPF（22 inch）
|
|
OS
|
Windows XP professional
|
Basic Product Specifications:
1. Download and Install
These 6 programs can be downloaded from the official site. Download speeds for all software are all similar. Installation time for AVS Video Converter and Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate took some time, since both files are large. The following are download links and installment procedures.
- Magic DVD Ripper（AKA Magic）：Free Download
Download time was pretty quick, no pop-ups or plug-ins. Very good. ( 10 points )
- AOA DVD RIPPER (AKA AOA)： Free Download
Same as Magic. ( 10 points )
- Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate (AKA Wondershare)： Free Download
Small download size but huge install file size (43M). After installing, software will prompt and jump to “Buy page”. In my opinion, why jump to buy when the user haven’t even tried the product out yet? ( 8 points)
- AVS Video Converter (AKA AVS)： Free Download
Both download and install file size are large. Installation took longer than the other programs, about 2 minutes, plus no installation progress making me think my computer froze! Also had the “Buy page” prompt right after installation, not good. ( 7 points )
Figure 1-2: A screenshot of the time it took AVS to install. Cool way of using the computer clock, eh?
- Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter (AKA Cucusoft)：Free Download
Overall a fast and quick “download and install” software, though the file size was a tad huge. ( 9 points )
- Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate (AKA Xilisoft)：Free Download
The file was big, but to my surprise, installation was pretty quick. No plug-ins or pop-up ads. ( 9 points )
2. Interface design and menu:
(1) Magic – not only do Magic’s interfaces is simple and easy to understand, there are several skins to choose from. But the entire interface gives the user a feeling that it’s about to fall to pieces (maybe because of its single-line design). ( 8 points )
Figure 3-4: Screenshot of Magic DVD Ripper
(2) AOA – interface is fresh and elegant. Operation is easy. I find quite confusing that the exit button is on the lower right, instead of the usual upper right corner. No skin or language choices, too bad. ( 8 points )
Figure 5: Screenshot of AOA DVD Ripper. See the exit button?
I’ve accidentally clicked the Exit instead of Browse several times.
(3) Wondershare – I love the strong contrasting colors of Wondershare’s interface design, especially the three-dimensional feel of the Start button. Adjustable settings on the left and preview video on the right window. Language in Chinese or English, no options to change skin. ( 10 points )
Figure 6: Screenshot of Wondershare DVD Converter. I like the strong contrasting colors.
(4) AVS – has a typical Apple-themed interface, in silver-white. Entire interface is very simple, no extra unnecessary texts. The icons are quite distinct in design. AVS must have done a lot of work to stylize their menu! Only regret is that the user cannot change skin or language. Overall design is good. ( 10 points )
Figure 7: Screenshot of AVS Video Converter
(5) Cucusoft – the interface colors are more mature compared to others. Left section of the window is transformation parameter settings, and right section is DVD info. No skin or language-change options. ( 8 points )
Figure 8: Screenshot of Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter. Dark colors make me feel more mature.
(6) Xilisoft – best in personalization options, choose from different skins and 5 languages (English, Chinese, German, French and Japanese). Drawback is that Xilisoft has put so many buttons on the interface, making it too cluttered. Good balance between simple and professional feel. ( 9 points )
Figure 9: Screenshot of Xlisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate
|
|
Magic DVD Ripper
|
AOA DVD Ripper
|
Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate
|
AVS Video Converter
|
Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter
|
Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate
|
|
Score
|
8
|
8
|
10
|
10
|
8
|
9
|
3. Input format:
Conclusion:
Wondershare and Xilisoft got highest points for this aspect, though Xilisoft is able to show DVD information such as time, director and so on. AVS was the lowest because of its poor input format.
|
|
Magic DVD Ripper
|
AOA DVD Ripper
|
Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate
|
AVS Video Converter
|
Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter
|
Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate
|
|
Input account
|
Legal DVD
Encrypt DVD
|
Legal DVD
Encrypt DVD
IFO
|
Legal DVD
Encrypt DVD
IFO
ISO
|
Encrypt DVD
IFO
|
Legal DVD
Encrypt DVD
|
Legal DVD
Encrypt DVD
IFO
ISO
|
|
Score
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
7
|
8
|
10
|
4. Output format:
(1) Magic: Only 26 output formats. ( 8 points )
Figure 10
(2) AOA: no mobile device profile that users can customize their own, but then I guess they wanted to spare the beginners who are not familiar with video codecs. ( 7 points )
Figure 11
(3) Wondershare: a total of 88 kinds of output formats classified according to digital device, covering the needs of most user without complex parameter settings. ( 9 points )
Figure 12
Choose the digital device you have, no need to worry about file format!
(4) AVS: a whopping 107 formats available! ( 10 points )
Figure 13
Users can choose as to what output device or page they want to convert.
(5) Cucusoft: 47 output format that are a headache to look at! ( 8 points )
Figure 14
Looking at Cucusoft’s output format menu makes the eyes dizzy.
(6) Xilisoft: classification and format is almost identical to Wondershare’s, though with 95 output formats, 7 more than Wondershare’s. It is rumoured that Xilisoft was the first Company to come up with this kind of classification. Kudos for originality. ( 10 points )
Figure 15
Xilisoft’s has little icons of the devices you want to use it for; easier to browse through.
Additionally, Xilsoft has this “Batch Process” function, so users can convert one file to several different output formats.
Figure 16
Assign different output formats from one file and convert in one go! How clever is that.
|
|
Magic DVD Ripper
|
AOA DVD Ripper
|
Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate
|
AVS Video Converter
|
Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter
|
Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate
|
|
Output account
|
26
|
9
|
88
|
107
|
47
|
95
|
|
Score
|
8
|
7
|
9
|
10
|
8
|
10
|
5. Advanced settings:
(1) Magic – plenty of advanced settings: code rate, resolution, frame rate, and encoder. ( 9 points )
Figure 17
(2) AOA – similar with Magic, nothing special. ( 9 points )
Figure 18
(3) Wondershare – fine for advanced settings. ( 10 points )
Figure 19
(4) AVS – plenty of advanced settings. I like its progressive logic, each layer has separate dialog window. ( 10 points )
Figure 20
(5) Cucusoft – fine advanced settings, though the color theme looked amateur. ( 9 points )
Figure 21
(6) Xilisoft – numerous advanced settings to choose from for basic or advanced users. Too much text on the right panel makes it feel too cluttered. ( 9 points )
Figure 22
One feature I liked is that Xilisoft has this “Bitrate Calculator”, you set the file size you want (bigger or smaller), and the bitrate calculator will automatically give the video bitrate for you.
Figure 23
|
|
Magic DVD Ripper
|
AOA DVD Ripper
|
Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate
|
AVS Video Converter
|
Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter
|
Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate
|
|
Score
|
9
|
9
|
10
|
10
|
9
|
9
|
6. The speed:
Movie specs to be converted:
- Movie time：00:30:00
- Content ：encrypt DVD “Return of the King”
- Video: Resolution：640*480 /Bitrate：1000/Encoder：H264/ frame rate：30
- Audio: sampling rate：48000Hz/bitrate：128/encoder：AAC/channel：2
- Priority: the highest
- AOA has not item of 1000 bitrates, therefore I can only set 900 bitrates.
Conclusion:
In my opinion, it is important for a DVD Ripper to have quickest conversion speed. Xilisoft takes the lead on this one, while AOA and Magic did the worst.
7. Video effects:
Video effects, in fact, involve several aspects like decoding rate and resolution. Generally speaking, the higher the bitrate is, the better video quality. But at a certain bitrate, quality is not as obvious, it will only increase the file size. Therefore, the appropriate bit-rate selection should balance between file size and video effect. As most basic users, they only look at the results. Good video conversion software should provide a comprehensive solution for users.
Here are screenshots of converted videos with iPod Touch output video. Take note of the display of hair strands.
(1) Magic：just so so
Figure 24
(2) AOA：better than magic.
Figure 25
(3) Wondershare：as same as AOA
Figure 26
(4) AVS：not bad
Figure 27
(5) Cucusoft：the worst performance in these software
Figure 28
(6) Xilisoft：the best because of the exquisite color and rich layers
Figure 29
8. Video Editing:
Wondershare, AVS and Xilisoft have video editing functions (crop video screen size, adjust subtitle, edit video effects, add video watermark). The other 3 doesn’t have this feature.
(1) Wondershare: watch original and edited video comparison preview.
Figure 30
(2) AVS: in addition to video effects, users can also add audio effects.
Figure 31
Figure 32
(3) Xilisoft: showed strong editing features. In addition to basic editing functions such as adding video, audio effects, watermark, crop, it also supports multi-segment clips.
Figure 33
Subtitles position, color, transparency also can be edited by xilisoft.
Figure 34
|
|
Magic DVD Ripper
|
AOA DVD Ripper
|
Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate
|
AVS Video Converter
|
Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter
|
Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate
|
|
Score
|
8
|
8
|
9
|
9
|
8
|
10
|
9. Resource consumption:
The following is a summary of the resource consumption by default. Cucusoft and AVS take too much CPU or memory usage, while Xilisoft, AVS and Magic fared well.
|
Software
|
Resource consumption
|
Score
|
|
Magic
|
MagicDVDRipper…. Christina 50 46,680 K
|
9
|
|
AOA
|
AoADVDRipper.exe Christina 48 50,680 K
|
9
|
|
Wondershare
|
DVDConverter.exe Christina 55 92,220 K
|
8
|
|
AVS
|
AVS Video Conv… Christina 67 141,884 K
|
7
|
|
Cucusoft
|
DVD2X.exe Christina 60 201,668 K
|
7
|
|
Xilisoft
|
avc.exe Christmas 50 45,056 K
|
10
|
Xilisoft did best job in resource consumption. It not only occupies fewer resources but also support multi-core, runs in the background. And users can select a different priority according to their needs.
Figure 35
10. The price:
|
|
Magic DVD Ripper
|
AOA DVD Ripper
|
Wondershare DVD Converter Ultimate
|
AVS Video Converter
|
Cucusoft Ultimate DVD Converter
|
Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate
|
|
Price
|
$34.97
|
$34.95
|
$65.95（*2/3=$43.97）
|
$69 for total products
（*2/3=$46）
|
$45.95
|
$55.95
|
|
score
|
10
|
10
|
9
|
8
|
8
|
7
|
Wondershare actually had 2 products in their pack (video converter and DVD ripper). To make it fair, I only calculated two thirds of the price, same goes to AVS Video Converter.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
The result, my dear readers, is that Xilisoft has won the race, garnering 10 points for almost every aspect except for the price. Though for feature-rich software, it’s well worth the price. Coming second is Wondershare, which is exceptional in User Experience (UE) and User Interface (UI). If you want software with the most output formats, opt for AVS. Lastly, if you just want something simple and cheap, go for Magic and AOA. Coming last is Cucusoft, the only software with not much features.
