Nero is regarded by many as the emperor of the disc burning world, although there's a lot more that this Premium edition can do besides CD/DVD writing. In fact there's so much it can do, it's probably easier just to list the tasks it can't handle. Nero 7 Premium doesn't word-process, it doesn't produce Web pages and it doesn't make your toast in the morning. But it does just about everything else, in terms of multimedia at any rate.

The suite, which features no fewer than 18 applications, operates very smoothly from a central, user-friendly interface. Simply select whether you're using a CD or DVD from the drop-down menu at the top, then further menus allow you to work with data projects, audio, video, backup facilities or various extras. There's also a favourites menu so you can quickly access the programs you use the most.

Burning a CD, for example, is a matter of selecting CD, then Make Data CD (or Audio CD), which brings up the Nero Express 7 program window automatically. You then use the Add button to browse to the appropriate files, with a simple graph illustrating how full the disc is. Finally, you type in a name for the CD and click Burn. It doesn't get any easier than this, and burning a test disc was both quick and painless.

The more computer literate can opt to use the full Nero Burning Rom 7 program, which allows you greater control over the process, including the choice of an extensive range of file formats. It already supports HD-DVD burning, and there are more advanced options like over-burning both CDs and DVDs (essentially cramming a bit more data onto the disc than should be possible).

The other central pillar of this suite is the Nero Home program, which provides a platform for playing and organising all your media files. This includes the typical media playlists which are compiled automatically by another program called Nero Scout. That's pretty handy, plus you can access the Scout database of your media files from within Windows Explorer or other applications. Nero Home's interface is designed so that it will work with your widescreen TV, with support for remote control operation. It also has built-in support for TV cards.

There's a ton of other programs that lie around the periphery of these major components. Nero Wave Editor 3 lets you edit audio files using noise reduction tools and a variety of effects processors, from doppler to wah-wah. You can employ this to jazz up your tunes before burning them onto a CD, then fire up the Nero Cover Designer to create your own CD label. These aren't tacked-on programs, either; they're well-featured efforts.

Nero Vision 4 provides decent video editing capabilities, while PhotoSnap brings a serviceable image editor to the table. There's a host of minor extra programs, including a diagnostic toolkit for your CD/DVD drive, and on top of all this there's Nero BackItUp 2. Using this data protection toolkit, it's possible to backup files or drives onto discs, schedule backups or even create system recovery CDs. This is certainly a thoughtful and useful extra.

If you haven't got the message yet, Nero 7 Premium is one extensive piece of software that we're very impressed with. It's true that Nero PhotoSnap, to take an example, is never going to replace Photoshop, but it has enough tools and options for the average user to play with.

This holds true throughout Nero 7 Premium, and considering the huge amount of programs on offer, the sheer value for money factor is excellent. Our one complaint with the package is that we did find it a touch unstable occasionally, experiencing a couple of crashes when using Nero Burning Rom 7.

Verdict
There's a vast array of programs here and what's really impressive is that they complement each other well, all fitting neatly together under an easy to use interface. And to seal the bargain, this suite is, well... a bargain.

Company: Nero

Contact: +49 7248 9280

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