Interestingly, both the Nero and Roxio suites include a fairly capable collection of DVD decoders as part of each suite. We compared them to the two most popular commercial DVD decoders on the market to see how they stacked up against those familiar software components (see the sidebar "Do You Really Need another Decoder?" for the details. For the purposes of this review, it suffices to report the following:

Both Nero 7 Ultra and Roxio Easy Media Creator 9 were able to play back all the different types of audio and video formats we threw at it, based on our extensive collection of Windows Media Center files and commercial DVDs. Both packages delivered smooth, viewable playback on 19" (Dell UltraSharp 1905 FP) and 24" (Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP) LCD monitors, and on 32" (Olevia Syntax LT32HV) and 47" (Toshiba 47LZ196) LCD high-definition television sets. We observed superior CPU utilization from Easy Media Creator 9 (consistently under 10%, typically in a range from 3-7%) and good CPU utilization from Nero 7 Ultra (consistently under 22%, typically in a range from 11-20%) during playback of dvr-ms TV captures, and slightly lower figures (about 4% less across the board on average) when playing back conventional commercial DVDs.

The Suite Value Proposition

We started this review off somewhat sceptically, having been inclined to view both of these multi-function suites as grab-bags of disparate and wildly different functionality. After spending some time with the latest version of both packages, we came away substantially mollified, for a variety of pretty good reasons:

The basic DVD and CD burning capabilities for data, music, and video in both packages are eminently satisfactory, and let us mix, manage, and match data types and formats to our hearts' content. We also had no trouble writing to conventional single- and dual-layer DVDs in both +R and -R formats, nor in working with both write-once and rewritable CD media with either package. Automatic music mix and archiving utilities for compressed CD formats (MP3 and so forth) as well as for huge DVD music archives provide outstanding opportunities to organize and listen to entire music collections. Both packages also offer interesting capabilities for capturing analogue audio from cassette tapes and vinyl records that should give oldies a second chance at being heard, if not always appreciated. Automatic features for accommodating both digital and analogue video (the latter requires a suitable capture card to digitize the original inputs), as well as organizing and dressing up home video materials, should likewise give a new lease on life to home movies in all kinds of formats. Both Nero 7 Ultra and Raxio Easy Media Creator do their best to make it easy to convert most media into DVD format for those who just want to migrate as quickly and painlessly as possible, yet provide lots of manual design, editing, and post-production tools for those who want to create high-impact home movies. Backup capabilities were surprising rich and robust for both packages as well. While not in the same league as Ultra-Bac or Retrospect, these tools clearly out-do the giveaway packages that come on many USB external drives and beat the pants off the old (and somewhat mouldy) NTbackup.exe that's included with most Windows versions (prior to Vista, which finally included a decent disk imaging tool). Photo editing and organization tools are on a par with mid-range tools such as Corel's Paint Shop Pro and offer more functionality than the basic clean-up and retouch tools you get from online photo processors. Here again, we were pleasantly surprised by the depth and breadth of photo handling functionality that both Nero 7 Ultra and Raxio Easy Media Creator 9 delivered.

When you stop to consider that you'll pay £15 / €20 to £30 / €40 for a quality DVD decoder, and around £60 / €85 for a mid-range photo editing app, not to mention audio and video editing and DVD authoring capabilities, as well as DVD and CD burning capabilities, the value proposition for these suites begins to clearly emerge. For those smart enough to acquire one or the other of these packages without also buying into the other products they can replace, it's an unbeatable deal.

In fact, if there's any downside to the embarrassment of riches that attends either the Nero or Roxio package, it's the considerable learning curve that comes with digging into and mastering each one's many components and capabilities. Though you will get copious documentation and help files, and even online tutorials and hands-on demos for each product in each suite, it still takes time and effort to learn their ways and how best to get those things done that you think need doing. But given that either package is available at prices under £80 / €90 (and sometimes substantially less than that, when competitive upgrades are available), they do offer outrageous value for the money. The real question then becomes: Are you up to making the most of the opportunities these products present and do you have the time and energy to use them to their fullest?