Xilisoft Reviewer's Comments

Our “TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award” winner is Xilisoft DVD to iPod Suite. This conversion program offers a solid product with high–performance abilities. The features allow you to customize your conversion, while the speed allows you to convert more files in less time. Xilisoft also works with Windows Vista.

Xilisoft does terrific conversion work with DVDs and videos. The converted DVD files have excellent picture and audio. We did not have synchronization problems with Xilisoft’s DVD conversion software in our tests.

A working partnership exists between Xilisoft and our Silver Award winning software, ImTOO. They conduct joint research as well as work together to develop new conversion technology products; therefore, their software is similar in function and appearance. Because of this partnership, we found both products had some difficulty ripping and converting some DVDs released by Sony Pictures. 

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Features Set:  

Xilisoft has a good set of features. The program allows the user to select the quality—and therefore size—of the output file. This provides optimal space on your iPod. You can also set your own start and stop times to give you control over the length of your conversion.

One uncommon feature Xilisoft has that most conversion suites don’t provide is a “log” feature. It enables you to make notes or leave yourself reminders. This can be useful for many reasons such as to note which files are the quickest, which settings are your favorite and so on.

Xilisoft worked in most of our tests; however, some DVDs released by Sony Pictures would not work with this software.  

Ease of Use:  

Like most DVD to iPod conversion software, Xilisoft consists of two programs, the DVD to iPod Converter and the Video Converter. The layout of both programs is easy to understand and use. Most of the features are accessible from the main screen. Extra features in the menu tool bar are sparse. However, everything you need to make excellent conversions can be found on the program’s main screen.

Quality of DVD:  

Xilisoft converts DVDs into high quality MP4 files. We found no evidence of pixilation or stretching. The sound synchronization was also error free.

Quality of Video:  

We had few problems with the video files we converted using Xilisoft. The program generally has great accuracy in converting video files. The picture is vibrant and the sound is clear.

When we converted an AVI into MP4 files, we experienced a problem with sound synchronization, some stretching and some inaccurate color conversion. We tested the software with other AVI files and did not experience any other problems. We concluded that the original AVI file might have had some anomalies.

Speed of Conversion:  

Xilisoft’s conversion speed is fast; it takes just one–third the time to convert an entire DVD as it would take to watch it. Video files take slightly longer to convert, but it’s still less than half the time it would take to watch the video.

Help/Support:  

Xilisoft’s help and support is great. They provide detailed user guides, helpful FAQs and responsive email support. They also offer a Mac version for those that prefer to use Apple products all around. 

Summary:  

Overall, Xilisoft’s complete DVD and Video to iPod Suite is great. Its conversion speed is excellent, finished product is high quality and support is top–notch. Both Xilisoft and its sister company, ImTOO, are first–rate converters.