Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper has lived through years of cutthroat competition to become today’s best Blu-ray burning software. When DVDs entered the fray, Aiseesoft was quick to adapt by adding DVD burning support to an already impressive repertoire of CD burning features. Over the next few years, Aiseesoft stayed busy by packing on new functions and expanding compatibility. Then Blu-ray arrived.
In the interest of survival, Aiseesoft turned its back on the DVD platform and embraced the high-density enemy. If you own a Blu-ray burner, you will be glad that it did—with over ten years of experience in burning optical discs, Aiseesoft knows all the secrets of prior allegiances with CD and DVD and is capable of burning any optical disc, including Blu-ray. For supreme versatility and reliability, this product is our TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award winner.
Aiseesoft maintains the impressive HD quality that Blu-ray is known for after the burn process. While we saw significant picture quality degradation in some of the other products we reviewed, Aiseesoft consistently produced crystal-clean copies.
Aiseesoft also offers a wide array of video support and is capable of burning the most popular video file types to a playable disc. You can burn high-def home videos, AVI, MP4 and many other videos files to a play-ready Blu-ray Disc. Be aware that only high-def videos will take advantage of Blu-ray's high-def video support—you can burn lower quality videos to Blu-ray, but the quality will not improve.
Aiseesoft is the perfect combination of functionality and raw decryption capabilities. It can handle region codes and any specialized encryption found on modern Blu-ray discs. It does not require a third-party plugin like some applications; everything you need to rip and burn a Blu-ray disc comes built-in.
Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper provides the entire range of necessary feature to burn CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. It is very versatile, capable of burning video, data and music discs. You will get as much control over burning and customizing your Blu-ray Discs as you want to have.
Aiseesoft can append write-once discs even if you have already burned them, with just two exceptions; you won't be able to burn Blu-ray Discs that are full or write-protected. If you are burning a rewritable disc (BD-RE), Aiseesoft can clear data from the disc for reuse.
If you will be burning multiple copies of a specific disc, Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper allows you to save a virtual disc to your computer, better known as ISO Disc Image. After creating the ISO, you will be able to select and burn the Blu-ray Disc multiple times without breaking a sweat. In a few easy clicks, Aiseesoft can protect your intellectual property and make it ready for commercial distribution, thanks to the encryption support.
Other attractive features include the following:
- DVD-9/DVD-5 conversion
- Basic audio editing
- Basic video editing
- Disc merging
Aiseesoft is compatible with all current optical data discs (CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray). This is a rare trait among Blu-ray burning software packages, which sometimes results in weaker support for Blu-ray than for DVD or CD. On the other hand, competitors that focus exclusively on Blu-ray will leave you high and dry if you still have a DVD or CD player—and you probably do. With Aiseesoft, burnable media options will not hedge you in at all.
Blu-ray Discs have a high storage capacity, so you can fit a lot on a single disc. Naturally, that means that Blu-ray burning can be a little bit slower than CD or DVD burning, and speed is a factor you may want to consider when you purchase Blu-ray burning software. To measure burning speed, we timed the application while it burned a 511 MB video and used the data to calculate our results. To fill a 25GB disc, expect to wait about 83 minutes. That creates an approximate burning speed of 5.3MB per second and 1GB every three minutes or so, depending on the quality of your Blu-ray burner. Although faster software is available on the market, Aiseesoft is by no means slow and the features and flexibility more than make up for the average burning speed.
The drag and drop interface makes it easy to organize your Blu-ray Disc before you burn. On the right half of the screen you can select the files you want to burn and drag them over to the bin on the left. If you are burning a data disc, make sure you have adjusted the burn settings. The default settings will write-protect the disc, which prevents you from adding any additional data later on. We recommend that you test the application several times with a BD-RE disc, which is fully erasable if you encounter any problems. It can become expensive and aggravating to spoil numerous discs, and a rewritable disk will give you room to make a few mistakes.
We conducted multiple Blu-ray burn tests and found that in most cases, files burned successfully. A certain error rate is intrinsic to the delicate nature of Blu-ray burning, and about one in six attempts failed to burn properly, which is pretty good—some competitors ran an error rate as high as 50 percent. These errors were minor and we were able to burn successfully on the next try without damaging the disc. If you have any trouble as you learn to work with the software, rest assured; it gets easier. The longer you use the software, the fewer problems you will encounter as you burn.
Aiseesoft packs many functions into one application, which means that there are lots of options to wade through when you first start it up. This is a double-edged sword because the application can be somewhat difficult to navigate the first time. You might have a hard time locating specific features after the first test whirl; fortunately, getting started is easy thanks to image-marked buttons.
Aiseesoft's website has an awesome live chat function. We signed in and received a rapid response from the staff. If you have any problems and need on-the-spot communication, the live chat feature is an excellent way to go. A tech-support phone number is available, but you will have to pick up the tab for the calls. You can also contact Aiseesoft via email or fax. If you really cannot wait for assistance, you can always check out the FAQs for basic troubleshooting.
Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper is a rare veteran force in the fledgling world of Blu-ray burning software, and enjoys regular updates, a good reputation and widespread popularity. Once you have mastered the interface, you will be able to burn Blu-ray Discs quickly and efficiently. We recommend this product as the best Blu-ray burning software package available.
