Avanquest Transfer My Video

There are plenty of devices that can play both music and video files, but while music is easy to copy to a portable player, video files usually need to be converted first.

Avanquest’s Transfer My Video automates the process and includes support for a wide range of modern devices, including mobile phones, music and video players and handheld games consoles.

When started for the first time, the software requires the user to specify a make and model of device so it can figure out the conversion settings required. If your model isn’t on the list, it’s possible to enter the settings manually provided you know details – such as the format, resolution and frame rate – that are most appropriate.

Common devices such as iPods, popular mobile phones and games consoles are listed, though, so for most people, choosing from the list shouldn’t be a problem.

Either a single video file or a DVD (but not shop-bought films, which are protected) can be chosen for conversion and in basic mode the file will then be converted and saved to an easily accessible folder for transfer. The process takes around 15 minutes per gigabyte of data, though this can vary considerable depending on the original file format. Advanced functions allow users to specify their own quality settings, though the default settings be fine in most cases.

If an Apple device has been selected, the software can automatically open iTunes, store the file in the movie library and transfer it to the iPod or iPhone if one is connected. Otherwise the file must be copied to the player manually.

While the conversion process worked pretty well, it’s disappointing to see that even when manually selecting conversion settings, only WMV, 3GP and MP4 video formats are available, which may restrict things.

There’s also no ability to edit or trim video or to store previously configured settings. Transfer My Video ends up being a rather limited quick-fix solution, then, and though it will appeal to those who simply want a quick and easy way to save video to portables, it does come across as being overly basic.