Hacksar

If you download any type of video, whether they’re movies, TV shows, or what have you, you may have noticed that they come in a multitude of different file formats. AVI, MPEG, WMV, DIVX; there are just too many file formats to keep up with. I’m sure that if you own any sort of portable video player, say, an iPod or PSP, you’ve come across the problem that your downloaded files don’t play. Instead, you have to wait for hours using some crappy piece of software that’s filled with bugs and usually just dies in the middle of a 12 hour long conversion to convert one video into something that can be played by your portable media player.

If you try to shy away from those commercial video converters, you’ll only be greeted by many other converters that are “free” to try, but have some ridiculous limitation on it until you actually purchase the whole program. Often times, these programs don’t even do what they’re advertised for, and you may end up buying something that is completely useless and is actually worse than your original piece of software. So, why not stick to free software that actually works?. Keep reading for a list of the best of the best when it comes to freeware video conversion softwares.

• My personal favorite is QuickMediaConverter. It’s extremely fast, supports a plethora of both input and output files, and has a very user-friendly interface. I think the nicest touch is the large buttons that are at the top, indicating what output format you want to make conversion as painless a process as possible. It’s freeware, and should definitely be your first pick if you had to choose which video converter to install. I give this 5 stars.
• Another converter I have used is SUPER (aka Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer). The window seems extremely complicated at first, but when you realize that all you do is drag the video file into the window, it seems ridiculously easy. It also is not exactly pleasing to the eye, but who cares? It works superbly for what it’s supposed to do, and that’s what’s important. However, SUPER has many more capabilities and much more flexibility (such as scripting, etc) so if you are a power user, you may want this one.I give it 4 stars.
• The final converter that I’ll mention is HandBrake. It’s also an open-source, free video converter that can actually double for converting DVDs as well. I personally have never used it (as QuickMediaConverter has met and exceeded all of my video converting needs), but there are many people that swear by HandBrake. This is definitely the one that you want if you’re running Mac or Linux, as it runs on both of those (unlike many others).
  I give it 4 stars.

So overall, the software that you should use is completely dependent on what your intentions are. If you just need a simple converter with no frills, get QuickMediaConverter. If you want something powerful with lots of flexibility, try SUPER. Finally, if you’re running a Mac or Linux, HandBrake would be your best bet.

If you use some other converter, tell us about it in the comments!

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