Hamster Free Video Converter

CNET Editors' note: The Download Now link will download a small installer file to your desktop. Remain online and double-click the installer to proceed with the actual download.

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on October 04, 2012

Nearly everyone who plays videos on a PC will come across a file that can't be played. The quick answer is to convert the file to a format your media player can handle. Your media player might even include a file converter, but finding it and figuring out how to use it could take longer than simply downloading and running Hamster Free Video Converter. Its wizard-style interface walks you through each step of converting your unfamiliar video files to a format you can play. You can also use it to standardize your videos in one universally compatible format. Hamster can merge files, too. With drag-and-drop, batch processing, and built-in universal codecs, Hamster is both easy to use and versatile.

Hamster Free Video Converter's orange accents on a dark-gray background give its simple, easy-to-read interface the attractive, up-to-date look of a smartphone app. The wizard walks you through each step of converting videos, starting with Step 1, Add Files. We added files by dragging and dropping them directly into Hamster's interface and by clicking Add Files and browsing to them the usual way. Clicking Next advanced us to the output format step, which involves choosing a device or output format. We simply had to click Devices to select our specific phone, player, or other device. We could also choose from a Formats and Devices list with common file types, or select Merge files. We chose our output format, frame size, frame rate, codec, and other options, pressed Convert, and selected an output directory, and Hamster began processing our files, tracking each item's progress with a colored bar graph and large numerals.

Hamster Free Video Converter would be worth trying for its stylish and refreshing interface alone, even if it weren't a good performer. Fortunately, it is. More and more desktop tools are taking functional cues from mobile apps. Hamster Free Video Converter already has the bold, simple, and colorful look of things to come in Windows, and it makes quick and easy work of a tricky job. Its wizard-based process makes it an especially great choice for inexperienced users.

Publisher's Description

From Hamstersoft:

More and more different video formats seem to keep coming out. Compression is getting better and video quality is getting higher. More and more media players, both software and standalone devices are appearing on the market every month. This can make it very hard to keep up with the ever changing technology and all of us have experienced the frustration of being unable to play our favorite movies as soon as we try to load them up on a smartphone or conventional home entertainment system. This is why having a free video converter is very useful these days. Hamster Free Video Converter provides the ideal solution, especially for those who are not familiar with the technical jargon associated with different formats, file types and file extensions. It provide presets for different devices and mediums and it supports YouTube as well.