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DVDxDV Pro for Mac 3.6.1 Review

Users who work with personal DVD videos need a program capable of changing them to editable formats. DVDxDV Pro for Mac performs this function well, but its lack of other capabilities makes it less useful for average users.

DVDxDV Pro for Mac offers a free trial version that places a watermark on the output video. The full, unrestricted version requires payment of $39.99. Its download completed quickly, but the installation took longer than expected, despite the native installer. Upon startup, the program gives the user access to a number of tutorial videos, which walk the user through certain functions. … Read more

Create quality digital copies of DVDs with DVDxDV for Mac

Users who need to edit video contained on DVDs need a program capable of ripping the video into an editable format. DVDxDV for Mac, with its features and excellent instructions, is a great option for those who want to edit DVD video using other editing programs.

DVDxDV for Mac downloads from the developer's Web site quickly and the installation occurs without any user intervention needed. After accepting a licensing agreement and going through an initial setup, the user is taken to a menu with tutorial videos. These provide instruction on using the program and sending the files to a … Read more

The best alternatives to the late, great 17-inch MacBook Pro

The sudden disappearance of Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro laptop after yesterday's WWDC keynote provoked split opinions on CNET. Photographers and videographers will weep, some said. The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display has more pixels and will be a great replacement, said others.

Whichever way you slice it, potential suitors of the 17-inch Pro suddenly find themselves looking for a new partner. Alas, here's what you'll soon discover: most 17-inch laptops on the Windows side are "gaming laptops," built clunky, bulky, and leaning toward power over battery life.

(Note: yes, commenters, I agree. Of all Windows laptops, the HP Envy 17 would probably be the closest match. HP still sells the 17-inch version, and it costs as little as $1,249 on HP's website. However, we haven't reviewed the current 17-incher: for the closest equivalent, see our review of the HP Envy 15.)

Here are the closest equivalents we've reviewed at CNET, but you'll rapidly realize that none of them perfectly match what the Pro offered.… Read more

Samsung DV300F DualView camera packs built-in Wi-Fi

Samsung's DualView cameras already had a cool and convenient front-facing LCD screen for easy self-portraits. For 2012, the newest DualView is getting a new upgrade: built-in Wi-Fi.

The addition of Wi-Fi to the DV300F will allow the camera to upload photos and videos to Picasa, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube. Moreover, photos can also be wirelessly transferred to a home PC and to cloud storage services such as Microsoft SkyDrive.

The camera itself offers 16-megapixel resolution, 5x optical zoom, and a 25mm wide-angle lens. Beyond the dual LCD screens, the DV300F also includes some photo templates and on-board image manipulation … Read more

Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78 review: Big-screen 3D and Blu-ray in a very large laptop

In stark counterpoint to small, fast systems like the MacBook Air, big-screened, heavy, packed-to-the-gills desktop-alternative laptops are still alive and well, although sometimes a little hard to justify. Toshiba's Qosmio line of laptops has been a well-known example of that type of massive machine for years, and 2011's update to the Qosmio largely continues the trend with a new design. The $1,899 Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78 is bulky, heavy (8 pounds), and expensive, but it's also got top-of-the-line features. A quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 graphics, and dual hard drives with a … Read more

HP lists future laptops with Intel next-gen chip

Hewlett-Packard has posted detailed specifications of two upcoming Pavilion dv7 laptops furnished with Intel's next-gen Sandy Bridge processor.

Though some details have been leaked already based on an Engadget report, HP's U.S. product support pages (PDF) now list future models in all of their spec'd out glory (see graphic below).

Intel is already shipping the processor to PC makers, which means when the chip technology is formally announced at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 5, systems will be in the pipeline.

One model will sport the Core i7-2820QM 2.3GHz processor, listed with an "… Read more