I usually back up a DVD with DVD Shrink, and burn with Record Now.
I also have ImgTool Classic, DVD Decrypter, and Nero 6 (which seems very cumbersome) Why would I ever need any of these three other programs if all I do is back-up DVDs? What for? What would be the advantages?
I will recycle them if they won't be useful.
I personally do not use ImgTool Classic, But I can speak first hand, that there are times when you will need programs such as DVD Decrypter along with others, to successfully back up your original DVD. This is more common for newer movies. DVD Shrink by itself will have issues backing up movies with the newer encryption, and this program is no longer updated.
So I would not get rid of these programs, because you never know when you will need them in the near future.
As for Nero 6. It is your burning program which acts the same as Record Now. Once again, I do not use Record Now, so i do not know what options it has. But I know that Nero 6, or at least mine does, comes with a whole lot of different options. I love Nero's results. But it is a personal preference.
You stated that you use DVD Shrink and then Record now, DVD Shrink will automatically burn your ISO image with DVD Decrypter or Nero, leaving you with one less step in your backup process.
DVD Decrypter is irreplaceable, and even though it is no longer being updated and slowly removed from the internet, it will be a valuable part of my arsenal for years to come.
Nero, for what it is, is an excellent suite...burner, compressor, and many more useful tools. Nero Recode is actually developed by the same fella that gave us DVD Shrink, but it's encode times are faster.
