DVD Hunter is what a Mac program should be. Brain-dead simple to install and use.

If you've used any of the mainstream applications written for OS X in the past years, then you know how to use DVD Hunter.

Click the toolbar button for New Movie, type in the name and click autocomplete. Done.

For basic use as most users will need, those are about the only instructions you need. It is when you get into preferences and a few of the more advanced features that you need to go to the author's website and read the brief but thorough documentation.

If you just need a free, very good but basic program to keep track of your DVDs, DVD-Rs, VHS tapes, etc. then you need to look no further than DVD Hunter.

However, if you are a "power user" or collector you may wish to read further.

I'm personally very used to Movie Collector from Collectorz.com which is an extremely good shareware program for Mac and Windows. So in using DVD Hunter, I'm naturally comparing it to Movie Collector which makes for a high standard to compete against.

While DVD Hunter is very easy to use and much more "Macish" than Movie Collector, there are a few features missing. Then again, as the author states on the website this IS only the first release. (Or is that the first release of the documentation?)

The first feature that I noticed missing was the ability to search using the UPC barcode. HOWEVER, that is not true. Type in (or scan using a barcode reader) the number into the UPC field and click autocomplete and DVD Hunter will fill in the rest. Why I didn't think of that immediately, who knows? After all, it is just filling a different field than the basic instructions I gave at the start of this review.

The second feature I noticed missing was (in the terms used by DVD Hunter) autocomplete from IMDB. A field has been defined for the IMDB ID number but other than going to imdb.com and searching for the movie yourself, there is no way to get the info.

The third "missing" feature is only really of use to the initial setup or someone who deals with a LOT of media. That is the ability to queue up a list of movies to add. For instance, With Movie Collector, I can take a barcode reader to a stack of retail DVDs and tapes, scan in a number of barcodes then import them so that they are looked up in a batch.

This ties rather directly in with the fourth missing feature... the ability to import from other movie collection programs. There IS an Import function on the menu but it appears at this time to be undocumented, perhaps only compatible with files exported from DVD Hunter.

None of these "missing" features are show stoppers, nor do they keep DVD Hunter from being a very good program, especially for a first release.

The bottom line is that if you want a free, easy to use, basic DVD/Tape cataloging program, then DVD Hunter is an excellent choice. If you want one with more whistles and bells, then perhaps you need to look at one of the other programs, but be prepared to spend a little money.