5Star MP4 Video Joiner

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on February 08, 2010

We really wanted to like 5 Star MP4 Video Joiner. The interface was intuitive, and we liked the idea of a program that could join videos of different types into one file. Unfortunately, the program is more attractive than it is functional; the resulting video files were a disaster.

At first glance, 5 Star MP4 Video Joiner seems like a great program. It's easy to add files, reorder them, and select the output format and destination folder. We were quite impressed with the program--until we viewed the result. Our attempt at joining an MPG and WMV failed miserably, with the resulting video a distorted, foreshortened mess. Even though the publisher's description clearly states that the program is capable of joining files of different types, we decided to see if we'd fare any better with two files of the same type. We had no better luck with two MPG files, and two MP4 files left us with an error message and frozen application. The program's built-in Help file was quite brief and offered no troubleshooting advice. Despite our favorable first impressions of 5 Star MP4 Video Joiner, in the end, it was quite a disappointment.

5 Star MP4 Video Joiner is free to try, but the trial version puts a watermark on the program's output. The program installs a desktop icon without asking and leaves a folder and Start menu item behind upon removal. We do not recommend this program.