never used the product but looks good for free

[atifsh]

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe

its free for limited time.

http://www.winxdvd.com/giveaway

[MilesAhead]

I don't think I tried that particular HD converter, but I did install a couple of WinX converters given away on GAOTD. They were the full version products. I ended up taking them off the same day. While some conversions came out ok, they seemed to be hard-wired for particular input. Many conversions came out with incorrect aspect ratio. The movie looked ok except it was stretched like showing an SD TV show on your HDTV by hitting the Wide Button on the remote.

Another thing I seem to remember is they tried to generate "speed" by encoding with an unwatchable low bit rate. A simple transcoder would do a better job. You had to set the bit rate up much higher, but then you were still susceptible to messed up display aspect ratio.

I think even for one-click converters there are better ones out there for free.

[PurpleDemon]

but I did install a couple of WinX converters given away on GAOTD. They were the full version products. I ended up taking them off the same day

So what is the best converter then?

[atifsh]

i tried couple of mkv files yesterday, and both come out good, as a divx files.

[MilesAhead]

So what is the best converter then?

The question assumes there's one really good converter that's nearly the best choice in all situations. I haven't run into it if there is. The question should at least have input type and output type specified.

edit: I can tell you what I use for certain formats.. it's just my experience. For compressing BluRay I like BD Rebuilder. For .mkv to dvd I like HC Encoder. For dvd to .avi I like AutoGK. In certain situations I also like Quick AVI Creator although it's not the fastest. But it does some things well. DVD Flick usually has good results. I liked FAVC very much but it did have some quirks including quitting about 90% though the final mux maybe one run out of 10.

I don't use .mp4 much so I don't have much experience there. My main point though, is there are a lot of video encoders that pop up for $50 or $35 that have a nice user interface, but don't really do a suitable job.

For compressing a DVD9 to DVD5 I like DVD Rebuilder using HC encoder.

MakeMKV is another nice software. Not a compressor though. But if you have a set top box it can be a good way to get video on a HD for playing quickly. Also it can suck a dvd main movie into a single .mkv container for convenient play on set top box. I though it was worth the $50 so I bought it back in February.

If I thought the WinX thing was even good for occasional use I wouldn't have thrown it away.

[MilesAhead]

i tried couple of mkv files yesterday, and both come out good, as a divx files.

When you get good output naturally you feel good about a tool. You feel a bit differently after encoding for 3 hours to get stretched video. It's just a flaw that shouldn't be there. I liked the first couple of runs I didn't with it. Then I got stretched output and tried it a few more times. Got nasty results as I mentioned. A free tool may blow up part way through due to encoding or muxing spike or audio encoding problem, but the good ones don't output stretched video with no means to correct it. It's just not well made.

[jaydeee]

I like collecting free items.
thanks for sharing...

just added it to my collection.