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 - Already prepped for new wave mediaEverything is going HD and blue-ray so I appreciate Roxio's inclusion of these formats. Like all roxio suites, I use the Windows version too, it has a massive amount of features. Standouts are the new formats. With HD tv soon to be the norm I can already start using it. Tivo HD files are an easy way to get the programs on my pc. Toast has tivo file editing options so you're not stuck with just the timed recording file. It can alter the files like most video formats. As others have noted Toast burns regular dvd disks with higher formatting like HD. It makes HD video disks and I can buy my usual dvd disks and not the harder to find and more expensive HD and bluray ones. I can also put these video files on my ipod. Since the HD files are too big it will change to a suitable format that can fit on the portable. How easy is it to just drag the file into the work area and start processing. Good choice. Rating:  - Awful...I bought this mostly for some of the peripheral features--the TiVo Transfer and the ability to record streaming audio from the internet. I find that the DVD burning capability of OSX works for most of my needs, though it's nice to occasionally span disks. After two days of trying, I managed to finally get the update to load and give me Toast 9.02 (I'm using OSX10.5.) And so I was (finally) ready to go. TiVo Transfer will load programming to your HD and I successfully burned a half hour show to DVD, but when trying to anything longer, I get an OS error. So basically it doesn't work. The streaming audio feature also doesn't work--it doesn't recognize that there's any sound. This isn't rocket science, both WireTap Studio and Audio Hijack do a great job of this. Forget support--there basically is none. Also, be aware that if you buy software from a marketplace seller, you can't return it. Not sure of the policy if you buy directly from Amazon. Beware any software company that doesn't offer a free trial on its website. There's a reason for it. So, I'm out fifty bucks, but I suppose I'm a bit wiser for it. And I assume (though I am by no means certain) that it will span disks on a burn. So that's something. Rating: - Distinguished features make it worthwhile for MacsKids today, they think Apple makes the coolest stuff so their pc is a Mac although I still use a Dell. Creator for the pc is good so I thought that getting a roxio program for the Mac would be a good investment. I was right. It works different enough from the pc verison that sometimes I sneak time on the Mac and play around. The interface is easy, although I think that is a given for roxio programs. I have gotten frustrated with other Mac programs so I don't think an easy to figur out interface is a given. I like that it pauses in the middle of burning if you need to stop. Another thing it has over the pc version is tv streaming. I would like to see this feature in future pc versions. For now we use toast to the iPhone. Now that I know what it can do I'll be buying Apples new phones as our old ones become obsolete. Rating: - PoorI have a number of problems with Toast 9. You get NO help from the support at the website. Would not tell anyone to buy this product or any from the company!!! Rating: - Handy tools for dealing with home videoMy children's school projects are now demanding more software from my Mac. I'll be getting them their own soon but until then my home Mac is the center of their school work. My son likes to make videos for boy scouts and school assignments. Clearly my my old Apple programs couldn't meet the demands. Armed with an HD camcorder the video he takes demands much more computer space. He also has to burn pc compatible disks. This brought me to Toast 9. It can burn HD video and make hybrid disks. It compresses the video files so it takes as little room as possible. Sometimes we still need more than one disk but the spanning disks feature takes care of that. The program lets us know how many disks are needed before we start the burning process. Toast will convert video to the video ipod. This allows my children to work on their video projects while commuting. After learning a lot by helping with school projects I'm better at organizing home videos. The dvd menu creator is so easy there is no reason not to take the steps to make better looking disks, even if it is just for family archives.
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