I'm Coo-Coo for Cucusoft!

Woo hoo! I love learning new things on the computer, and today I learned a doozie. I kept reading on message boards and in articles that it was possible to put movies on your ZUNE player and I was determined to learn how to do this.

After...um...3 hours, I got it. Long, I know, but I'm self-taught and it takes longer. But the satisfaction is oh, so sweet. I finally realized that you have to have special software that converts your DVDs into a format that your ZUNE will accept and play. After trying a "trial" version of the Cucusoft DVD-to-ZUNE conversion software on izuneaccess.com, I got it to work and it was really easy. Easy is good. Of course, it wasn't after I downloaded an entire film that I saw the big ol' watermark in the middle of the screen that blares out "TRIAL VERSION." Fine, I'd buy it. At least I knew it worked and that I could use it easily and quickly. That was the most important thing.

Basically, you start up the software and put the DVD into the drive in your computer. The software has its own little screen, in which you see it zipping past all of the annoying commercials, previews, FBI warning, and other boring things. Finally, it will stop at the main menu, where you push play and another little window appears for you to name the video and asks if you want to start recording it from the beginning or from a specific point. Then you press the "convert" button and it starts. It records at about 4X the speed of normal play, so a 2 hour movie takes 30 minutes. But that also means that you can record your favorite sitcom episodes, and it will take 5-6 minutes per episode.

Once it is done, a new window opens to remind you to plug your ZUNE into the computer so it can sync the files that you just converted. That probably takes another 20-30 minutes per movie. But it is easy and automatic and the little pop-up windows walk you through everything. One of the best things is that the DVD goes straight from the disc to the ZUNE player, so it isn't eating up GBs on your computer. Very, very cool...

Above is a screen shot of the progress while I was copying one of my favorite movies, Young At Heart, with Doris Day and Frank Sinatra.

I feel so accomplished!