Toast 5 Titanium

Has limited support for VCD. No support for SVCD, or VCD/SVCD menu authoring. No support for real DVD authoring. Bootable CD feature never works. No provision to print CD labels. The latest revision supports CDtext. With CDtext you'll finally be able to utilize a feature of many Sony players that most never knew existed. Latest revision supports a bit to bit copy mode.

Without competition this software will never be cutting edge. Nero (MS only) is a much better choice.


Essential tool for your Mac   November 18, 2002
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

I used my new iMac with superdrive for almost four months before I discovered this program. It took a bit of research for me to learn why I needed this program when OS X comes with its own built in CD/DVD burn software. If all you need to do is burn discs for backup and make music CDs and DVDs - you don't need Toast. However, if you want to make PC-compatible DVDs or CDs or want to burn DVD-R's that will play in a DVD player without using the iDVD application, then you need Toast.

Basically anything I have wanted to do with a CD/DVD burner, this sofware supported it. I had no problems with install and it has worked flawlessly since I installed it. The user interface is highly intutive and I have not had to crack open the help more than once. Highly recommended.


You won't get burnt with Toast   September 17, 2002
 21 out of 21 found this review helpful

Toast was one of the first programs I bought for my OS X iMac, and I've certainly not regretted handing over the money in the slightest. It works perfectly with an Iomega external USB drive on my iBook and G3 iMac, and also with the Superdrive on my G4 flat-screen iMac.

Why get Toast when OS X will already burn CDs and DVDs? I wanted it mostly for its VideoCD features - before I was lucky enough to have an iMac had a Superdrive, I wanted to make discs that could be played in home DVD players. Thanks to iMovie and Toast, that's exactly what I did: made lots of home movies in VideoCD format. Toast even provides a plug-in for iMovie and QuickTime to make the entire process remarkably painless. OK, so the quality of VideoCD wasn't a match for DVD, but it's pretty close to VHS quality and darn good fun.

After that, well, almost every time I burn a CD I reach for Toast. It's just so easy to use, and flexible - I can be sure that a CD I burn will work on my PC system as well as on my Mac for example. Recent updates to Toast add new features: be sure to download any patches!

The version with Jam is aimed more at professional musicians who want to create audio CDs that can act as masters for duplication - certainly not a feature I need (you don't want to hear me sing).

If you want a reliable, flexible, easy to use way of writing CDs and DVDs on your Mac, this is the solution. It even comes with other utilities that simplify converting old LP albums to CD audio.

Good value for money.