Supported Media:  

By default CATVids supports all common video formats including DVD, Blu-ray and VHS. Less common video formats include CD-I, HD DVD and VCD. You can also add other video formats if yours is not already listed.

Features Set:  

CATVids’ feature set is comprehensive including automatic upload by title, UPC or DVD-rom drive. Automatic upload queries IMDB. All information imported is from the title’s official IMDB page. You can also preview the query results just by selecting the preview button.

One feature we really like is that CATVids automatically links the imported cast and crew. If you click on an actor’s link the software will pull up all the movies in your collection with that actor.

Although you can modify almost any piece of information imported into CATVids we did have some difficulty finding where this information can be changed. After some searching we eventually found an “advanced” editing type of screen. Here you can change cast, crew, genre, etc.

One interesting feature we noticed is an emphasis on insurance and appraisal. You can record your purchase price, the movie’s current value and where it is insured.

CATVids’ default search is adequate but again a little difficult to use. We like using the search in Explorer View where you can search by keyword; using title, cast, studio filters and more; search alphabetically; by latest addition; and they it even suggests a “Pick of the day.” But at the end of the day, even there are many search options you still feel like you are navigating though a traditional database using traditional search features.

You can export your CATVids collection to multiple formats including CSV, HTML and XML. You can also export your DVD notes to iPod. CATVids also supports importing from some other popular DVD Collection software like DVD Profiler and Movie Collector.

Ease of Use:  

From a feature standpoint CATVids is a pretty good DVD Collection program, unfortunately its ease of use is the section that makes its overall score suffer drastically.

We first noticed that the initial automatic upload process can be a bit cumbersome because even though it accepts UPC numbers it doesn’t support the barcode. We did like that you could preview a DVD’s IMDB page and cover art before you upload all of its corresponding information, but you have to remember to select the “Video Data” and the “Contents Data.” If you don’t really know what you are doing it feels redundant and it is really easy to skip one of the steps.

We also found manually editing data to be more difficult than most DVD Collection software. Although there is a place in the software to change actors director we had to find it in a random advanced type screen located under the “contents” tab.

CATVids does have a getting started guide. We don’t suggest you skip this.

Ease of Installation/Setup:  

We didn’t have any problems installing CATVids. Additionally, it didn’t require any additional plugins, software or scripts to function properly.

Help/Support:  

CATVids includes the typical help and support features including a user guide, online FAQ and user forums. They also have email support.

We really like that when you launch the software for the first time you are presented with a getting started guide to help you through the system. Considering this software’s ease of use, you should use this helpful feature.

CATVids can perform the DVD Collection tasks you need it to; it just doesn’t feel as intuitive as the higher rated DVD Collection software. Although at its heart DVD Collection software are fancy databases it shouldn’t feel like data entry and searching for and modifying your favorite movies should be a tad easier.