New Easy Media Creator Adds Tools, Offers Better Backup

Fresh from its acquisition by Sonic Solutions, Roxio has released a new version of its flagship DVD software suite. A fairly major upgrade from the capable 7.0 version, Easy Media Creator 7.5 adds a handful of needed enhancements--including several features courtesy of Sonic products.

I tested a shipping version, and found the most welcome addition by far to be the inclusion of the complete retail version of BackUp MyPC 6 Deluxe (sold at retail by StompSoft), which alleviates EMC's prior deficiencies in data backup.

Sonic also contributes MyDVD Slideshow--a limited version of the MyDVD authoring program optimized to produce photo slide-show discs. It's more focused and a bit easier to use than the suite's existing DVD Builder application, which remains. Roxio also replaces its crash-prone media playback module with the more capable and dependable Sonic CinePlayer.

Among the improvements to Roxio EMC's original modules are better audio editing--with features like automatic silence detection for separating tracks--and such helpful upgraded restoration features as decrackling, dehissing, declicking, and denoising.

There is also a new app for quickly converting DivX movies into burnable DVD files.

If you're an Easy Media Creator 7 fan, the new backup utility alone is worth the $30 upgrade fee, and the other added features are compelling as well. While version 7.5 remains a bit ponderous to navigate and threatens to overwhelm users with choices, this solid update pulls EMC even with Nero 6.6 Ultra Edition.

Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5

The addition of a capable backup module means this suite does it all--albeit ponderously at times.
Price when reviewed: $100, $30 upgrade for owners of version 7.0
Current prices (if available)