{rw_text}Software reviewed in this article:

Aneesoft HD Video Converter

Version reviewed:

v2.9.1.0

Software description as per the developer:

Aneesoft HD Video Converter is the best HD video converter that converts among HD video formats, such as HD AVI, AVCHD M2TS, MTS, TS, HD MOV, HD WMV, HD MP4, HD FLV. The converted video can be play on almost any portable device including iPod, iPhone, Zune, PSP and can be used to video editing or playback on different media players.

Meanwhile, it can also support converting HD video to SD video formats, and even extract the audio from your videos, capture pictures from various videos, edit video by trimming, cropping, watermarking, etc.

Download size:

5.1 MB

Supported OS:

Windows XP SP2/Vista/Win7

Price:

$27.95 (USD)

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{rw_good}

• Straightforward and easy to use.
• Supports many input and output video formats.
• Does video -> video and video -> audio conversions.
  • Does both SD and HD video conversions.
• Has support for electronic gadgets, such as the iPhone, the PSP, and the XBox 360.
• Allows users to do some basic video editing, such as crop, trim, add watermark (text or image), change brightness, change contrast, add an effect, and deinterlace.
  • Available effects are gray, invert, gamma, sepia, embossment, flip vertically, flip horizontally, 3D grid, posterization, solarization, threshold, “video”, and halftone.
• Allows users to merge videos together.
• Supports batch processing.
• Allows users to automatically shutdown the computer after conversion.

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{rw_bad}

• Cannot make full use of multi-cores.
• No NVIDIA CUDA support.
• No option to keep output video resolution the same as input.
• “Video Quality” option has no correlation to the output video resolution.
• Cannot add subtitles to videos.
• Does not support drag + drop.
• No option to add an entry in the Windows Explorer right-click context menu.
• Extremely RAM intensive.
• Has output profiles for a only a few mobile phones/smartphones.
• Many shareware “video” converters can also do audio -> audio conversions – this one cannot.
• Does not support input SWF videos.

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{rw_score}
{for=”Ease of Use” value=”7″}The program itself is fairly easy to use. However, there are a few things that may annoying many users (including me): No option to keep output video resolution the same as input video resolution (doesn’t matter for SD -> HD conversions but is very annoying for SD -> SD or HD -> HD conversions), no drag + drop support, no ability to add an entry in the Windows Explorer right-click context menu, etc.
{/for}
{for=”Performance” value=”6″}Aneesoft HD Video Converter uses FFMPEG as its backbone; so performance, in regards to conversion quality, is great. However, Aneesoft HD Video Converter is very RAM intensive (i.e. it uses almost 150 MB when doing SD conversions, and upwards of 600 MB of RAM when doing HD conversions), lacks the ability to make use of multi-cores (if applicable), and does not have NVIDIA CUDA support. The lack of multi-core and CUDA support, of course, make Aneesoft HD Video Converter slower than rival products on machines that have the newer hardware, such as multi-cores and CUDA capable graphic cards.
{/for}
{for=”Usefulness” value=”7″}Since Aneesoft HD Video Converter does support many input and output video formats, I can see a good number of people finding it useful. However, lacking the ability to also do audio conversions and lacking the ability to support newer hardware will turn off some potential users.
{/for}
{for=”Price” value=”8″}$5-10 cheaper than rival shareware video converters.
{/for}
{for=”Final Score” value=”6″}
{/for}
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{rw_verdict}[to]
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This article is part of the new Rapid Reviews section on dotTech; thus it has no “full review”. Please visit the announcement on Rapid Reviews to learn more about what Rapid Reviews are.

(NOTE: Even though there is no “full review”, all software featured in Rapid Reviews are still held to dotTech standards, and are evaluated fully and graded fairly. And, Rapid Reviews still have the program overview, the good and the bad, ratings, quick verdict, free alternatives, and final verdict; Rapid Reviews just have no full review section. dotTech fully stands by all verdicts handed out in Rapid Reviews, just as we back all our verdicts on full Shareware Reviews.)

This review was conducted on a laptop running Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. The specs of the laptop are as follows: 3GB of RAM, a Radeon HD 2600 512MB graphics card, and an Intel T8300 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor.

{rw_freea}

iSkysoft iMedia Converter [Temporarily available for free, grab it while you can]

{/rw_freea} –>

{rw_verdict2}If I had reviewed Aneesoft HD Video Converter two or three years ago it would have been near the top of my list of best video converters; it has good conversion quality (thanks to FFMPEG), supports many input/output video formats, allows users to perform basic edits, and has an easy-to-navigate interface. However, it is not 2008 anymore – it is 2010 (almost 2011); technology has advanced beyond what it used to be. Aneesoft HD Video Converter has a lot of catching up to do: It doesn’t support multi-cores, no NVIDIA CUDA technology support, no option to keep output video resolution the same as input video resolution, etc. Aneesoft HD Video Converter may look like a Wondershare Software video converter – and it may even act like a Wondershare Software video converter, with the basic video editing capabilities, sans subtitles – but in reality it is only a cheap imitation. (Actually I don’t know who copied who, but I do know this is not a Wondershare Software video converter.) When I say cheap imitation I literally mean it: Aneesoft HD Video Converter is $5-10 cheaper than most rival shareware video converters. However, trying to save $5-10 will get you a product that essentially belongs in 2008/2009. If you are thinking about getting Aneesoft HD Video Converter my recommendation is to rethink your decision and check out one of the products listed under “Free Alternatives” above. If you are lucky enough to read this article while iSkysoft iMedia Converter is available for free, grab that. If not, any of the other freeware converters will convert videos for you just fine… without you having to pay a dime. Freemake Video Converter, FormatFactory, and iWisoft Video Converter are my top picks out of the freeware alternatives.
{/rw_verdict2} –>