Do Not Buy Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD

[aviationwiz]

I am very upset with Pinnacle and I will never buy another thing from them again. They talk about how easy it is to put DVDs onto CDs in VCD format. Little do we all know, that DOES NOT include copy protected DVDs. I emailed Pinnacle asking them for a refund as I did not know this and they refused. I think Pinnacle are a bunch of fu*kers. I am incredibly upset with them. Especially considering the software cost me ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. That is a lot of money.

[cfitz]

Well, that is too bad, and I am sorry you didn't get what you want, but I think some caveat emptor should have been practiced here. You can't really blame Pinnacle. They are quite clear about the product not being able to copy CSS encrypted discs. It is stated in the very first paragraph of the product description:

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage. ... angue_ID=7

However, let me try to help you get some of your money back. There is a $50 rebate available for the product:

http://www.provantage.com/instantcd.pdf

It's from the site of the retailer Provantage (which by the way is selling the product for only $70), but the rebate form itself doesn't say anything about being limited only to purchases made through Provantage. Perhaps you can use it too.

cfitz

[aviationwiz]

I got a $50 MIR from Comp USA. $50 is better than $100 to waste, but still...

I guess I'll see what I can use it for since I can not return it.

[MediumRare]

Aviationwiz- you may want to have a look at this freeware product: dvdshrink which does copy encrypted DVDs. I ran across this message in the (german) Heise Newsticker: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/vza-08.04.03-000/ and recalled your cry of anguish.

Incidentally, the normal price for InstantCopy here is 50 Euro (roughly $50) without rebates. These are very rare in Germany.

G

[Nibbler]

You could also use the freeware program DVD Decrypter to remove the encryption (onto your hard drive). Once thats done you can use Pinnacle to make your DVD. At least you won't be waisting your hundred bucks.

[CowboySlim]

AviationWiz,

I infer that you bought this directly rather than from a retailer. If so, maybe the lesson is to buy from a reputable retailer, like Amazon?, where you might have a better chance of a return. Although, I think that a lot of places will not accept CDs for return. Many times I prefer to spend a little more at a reputable retailer than buy at SuperDealDiscountGoingOutOfBusinessThisWeekOnlyNowOrNeverGreasyCharlie's.

Slim
Who is looking for a lesson for all of us.

[Trek234]

I have to disagree...

Pinn Instant CD/DVD is the best burning software I have used in a long time. Absolutely destorys Nero/EZCD 6 for instance IMO.

Of course I don't use it for illegal purposes so the lack of deCSS is not a problem for me. (nor do I have need for legit DVD movie "backups")

The feature set is absolutely AWESOME. Mastering allows you to select UDF version 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.01. This is *very* useful for me, and I have yet to see any other software support this. Hmm, I can't think of anything it can't do that the competition can other than the CSS noted above.

The packet writing software is very flexible as well, allowing the choice of UDF versions and is the *most* stable packetwriting software I have used to date. Again, crushes Roxio & Nero solutions.

[rmdir]

After reading the above, and considering my modest needs (and budget), I decided to go for it. Got the box yesterday and guess what. NO SERIAL NUMBER WITH THE PRODUCT. Bought it from a reputable on line reseller, so now I have to go to all the trouble to ship it back, get a new one, and hope like hell this one has a serial with it.
Obviously QC is quite lax when you ship a product you know needs a serial and there is not one in the box.
So, instead of a fun weekend spent burning mix CD's, it's a not so fun weekend spent fuming over their stupidity.

[aviationwiz]

That sucks, thats why I like to buy locally.

If there is ever a problem like there was no serial number or something. I just go right back into the store and get a new one right away. Don't have to wait for it to ship back to them and then again shipped to me.