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Mr. Redenbacher, you knot a mean bowtie, but for copying video DVDs, your light and fluffy snacks are of predictably meager use. We prefer the fare of Roxio, makers of the popular Toast disc-burning software and the brand-new DVD-copying app, Popcorn.
Toast 6 creates DVD-Video discs, but can’t copy them. To fill the gap, Popcorn copies DVDVideo discs made with programs such as Toast and iDVD, as well as non-copy-protected commercial DVDs. This leaves out copy-protected DVDs, which comprise the vast majority of commercial DVDs. But don’t kernel panic. Popcorn also writes video DVDs from image files or VIDEO_TS folders, which means it can work with content that’s been unencrypted by DVD ripping utilities. However, using DVDripping software can be legally suspect.
Insert a DVD, and its content appears in the main window. You select to create a DVD disc, image file or VIDEO_TS folder. Many long-form movies are on duallayer (DL), 9GB DVDs, which Popcorn can read and write (to a compatible drive). If no DL drive is available, Popcorn compresses the video to the maximum quality that fits on a 4.7GB DVD—one of its greatest features. You may also choose to copy only the main video selection and primary audio track to save space and attain better video quality. The compression worked very well, even though the process was time-intensive.
Toast Anywhere lets you write content from Popcorn to the DVD drive of any other Mac on your network with Toast 6 installed. Again, this process takes time, but it worked perfectly. Overall, Popcorn is easy to use and performs very well, but like partially-popped kernels, it feels a little unsatisfying. Popcorn could have been folded into an update of Toast at a lower cost. Plus, Popcorn is most useful only to those who have no problem with the potential legal, ethical and technical issues of using copy-protected DVDripping software.
–MARKKUS ROVITO
Popcorn 
Roxio, Inc. | www.roxio.com | 866-280-7694 | $50
Pros: Excellent compression options, supports duallayer burners, includes Toast Anywhere burner sharing, delivers consistently accurate DVD copies.
Cons: Of limited use unless you also use questionable copy-protected DVD-ripping utilities.
Requires: G3 or better, OS 10.2.8 or higher, internal or external DVD burner
macHOME recommends: G4 or better, as much as 15GB of free hard drive space for temporary storage
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