Fiddling while Nero burns
(the maximum) added to the right. Click for larger image
We were far from convinced about the usability and reliability of the backup tools provided with V6 of Nero and are hoping that the company's promise is true that the tools provided in V8 are not only easy to use but actually work well enough for users to trust their data to them.
Although the backup tools aren't comparable to those found in a dedicated app, such as our current fave Acronis, our first impression are positive - the process seemed quite quick and relatively painless.
We did a full back up 2.86GB of selected critical files to an eSATA hard disk in a touch over 10 minutes, with the compressed archive taking up only 2.19GB of space.
However, we were a little irritated to discover that, in the main restore window, the option to restore to a location other than the original is still offered one step too late - in our view.
This is likely to leave the user thinking that there is no such option and worrying that if the restore takes place over the top of the original data and goes wrong, then it will do more harm than good. Restoring elsewhere first can be a vital safety step and isn't something that Nero should leave users guessing about.
Fortunately, the restore wizard does put this option right up front, so novice users (or anyone in a hurry) will see it at an early stage.
Our
initial impression of Nero 8 is that it is a whole lot easier
to use than previous versions though, of course, folk who are used to
the old Nero way of doing things may be a little confused at first.
Even
so, the usability enhancements represent a major step forward and
these, allied with the other new features should considerably increase
Nero 8's appeal to new and existing users.
We've
not had the chance to run Nero 8 on a PC that's equipped to play or
record HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc (or indeed any AVCHD camcorder
footage), so haven't been able to give that side of things a work-out.
However,
what we did do is mess around with playback of HD footage
recorded from current BBC high-def satellite transmissions and
from the BBC's earlier terrestrial HD trial in London.
All
we wanted to do was confirm that playback of this footage was as fluid as we'd already seen was possible with the version of Nero ShowTime
that we'd used from a Nero 6 OEM suite.
Fact
is that we couldn't see any difference but that's all to the good -
ShowTime is a staggeringly accomplished software player for
high-def material, something that Nero hasn't for some reason pushed hard when
selling-in its suite.
We really can't think of
another player that delivers such smooth playback on a decent PC with a
decent graphics card.
We asked
Nero why ShowTime is so good and the answer given was that the company has had a lot of good
engineers working on the coding.
As for
why the Nero hadn't made a big deal of this
feature when promoting the suite, we were told - with a wry smile - that, with so many good
things in there, it had probably just got overlooked.
