PerfectDisk 2008 Professional - Complete Package (Q33291) Category: Utility Software Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)For Vista users, this is almost required software. You probably already know Microsoft went way backwards with defragment. This product does what Microsoft should have done in the first place, and adds some nice functions.
I've used many different defrag tools in the past and none work as well as Perfectdisk. The software installs quickly and easily. The default settings are pretty decent, a person could leave them alone and the software will quietly do it's job. The defragging is fast and efficient. I haven't run any benchmarks, but qualitatively would say my drives run faster than with Vista's defragment program.
Comparing the Vista's defrag with Perfectdisk, a 1 or 2% fragmented 180Gb hard drive 3/4 full took about 6 hours to defrag with Vista's built in program. Perfectdisk took about an hour.
Perfectdisk adds some pretty nice options that other software doesn't include.
Scheduling, you can set the program to run manually, on a timed schedule, background, at boot, and at screensaver. Background senses whenever a program runs and stops working. My personal favorite is on screensaver. You can set the program to only defrag if the drive is over a certain percentage fragmented (I set mine at 1%).
Reports, there are performance graphs and logs the software keeps. It's kind of fun to see how successive defrags improve drive performance.
Overall, I really like this program. It's reasonably priced. It's an essential tool for Vista users. It's probably a nice to have for XP. It's just sad that Microsoft did such a bad job on defragmenting in Vista.


Click Here to see more reviews about: PerfectDisk 2008 Professional - Complete Package (Q33291) Category: Utility Software

Click here for more information about PerfectDisk 2008 Professional - Complete Package (Q33291) Category: Utility Software

Read More...

ConceptDraw 7 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Pay $300 to beta test a product that still does not work in version 7.6. Please search around forums and see the vast multitude of people unsatisfied with this junk. It's ok if you are making a flow chart but try to do anything more in depth it crashes frequently. See for yourself by downloading the demo then draw three lines, highlight them all them try and copy and paste...crash. Make sure the dimensions menu is open on the side bar and resize something...crash. The list is pretty extensive. Also if you require any kind of precision then this is not the program for you, as every time you group or move an object things shift so that by the end of your drawing most of your lines and vertices don't match up. I often find that (before I quit using ConceptDraw) I have to export to MS Paint to retouch everything.

Click Here to see more reviews about: ConceptDraw 7

Click here for more information about ConceptDraw 7

Read More...

Photo Explosion Deluxe 3.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I used to have Microsoft's Image Composer (now discontinued) that came with FrontPage '98. What a great, intuitive little program that was for cutting out parts of photos and combining them into collages or new photos! It came with no manual, yet I was able to teach myself to use it just by playing around and trying things out. It was that easy, and it was a lot of fun!
This program claims to have many of the same functions IC did: cutting out pieces of pics by tracing an outline, resizing or recoloring or otherwise manipulating these pieces, and then combining them into a new 'photo.' Unfortunately, this program is so counter-intuitive and inflexible that you can't just play with it to figure things out.
Which would be tolerable if the manual was helpful but, of course, it's useless. It spends 70 pages describing the 'workspace' and how to 'organize your photos' (as if any moron can't do that by creating directories on their PC). After all that, there are only 10 pages on how to use the selection/trace function, how to resize, etc. And it doesn't seem to explain anywhere what to do to 'select' something once you've cut it out of a photo.
The worst part of the program is that you have to create a separate file for the place you want to combine all your images. This is stupid. Why can't you just work on one base photo, add to and alter it, and then do a 'save as...'? That would be simple. This program makes you create a 'project,' which requires sifting through dozens of their templates to find one that you can twist into something like what you want. Why not just let me work without a template? Not fun and certainly not functional.
The templates are very restrictive. For example, you can't size the space of the project once you create it. So if what you create needs to be a little larger or smaller than the template size, you have to shrink everything to fit into the template.
Further, the program's logic doesn't make much sense. If I cut out a piece of a photo and then go to resize it, the program resizes the original picture only (even though the cut-out is highlighted as selected). There's no obvious way to tell the program what I want to manipulate: the original or a cut-out. This is just one example, but there are many others I could offer.
I think the program MIGHT be good if all you want is real basic photo editing (i.e. cut a square shaped piece out of a photo and plop it into some inane greeting card template provided), but otherwise this is very limited and difficult to work with.
I can't see shelling out the bucks for Adobe. And I don't understand why someone doesn't offer an inexpensive version of Adobe (like Image Composer was)? I think I'm going to hunt for an old copy of FrontPage '98 at used software stores and reload IC.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Photo Explosion Deluxe 3.0

Photo Explosion® Deluxe made history as the first software of its kind to deliver powerful editing features spectacular special effects and professional-quality photo projects all together in one program.Now Photo Explosion Deluxe 3.0 makes digital photography even easier. And it s packed with exciting new features all designed to let you get the most out of your digital camera.System Requirements:Windows 98 2000 Me XP or Vista; 32 MB RAM; Pentium 166Mhz or faster; CD-ROM DriveFormat: WIN 98ME2000XPVISTA Genre:PRODUCTIVITY UPC:727298403831 Manufacturer No:PRW

Click here for more information about Photo Explosion Deluxe 3.0

Read More...

WinCleaner One-Click (Up to 3 Users) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This does everything [as advertised]. I also have Ultra Wincleaner version 8 which works on WINDOWS XP. Before installing the NEW version 11, I ran version 8 [1] last time. After installing the new software, I was surprised to find out that it located and cleaned an additional 45.75 MB of junk files. Another good feature is that it protects the [user specified] cookies during cleaning. There is a chart on the box that shows the comparative differance between WINCLEANER ONE CLICK [100.0% effective], SYSTEM WORKS [81.8% effective], and SYSTEM MECHANIC [3.2% effective]. I have used ALL [3] of the programs listed and can verify that the performance differances on my system closely match the advertised figures!

Click Here to see more reviews about: WinCleaner One-Click (Up to 3 Users)

Business Logic 2227431 WinCleaner 1-Click Promarket is the leading Registry Cleaner, it safely cleans, repairs, and optimizes the Windows Registry to remove errors and improve your PC's performance.

Click here for more information about WinCleaner One-Click (Up to 3 Users)

Read More...

Roxio Easy VHS to DVD Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've never written an online review before. But my experience with this product was, and continues to be so unpleasant, I feel I owe it to potential unsuspecting buyers to share what has happened to me. I bought TWO of these packages at $59 each at Best Buy three weeks ago- as of right now I am THREE WEEKS into my failed attempts to making either system install or function in any way.
I bought TWO of these systems. One for an almost new HP Vista Home Premium 64 bit laptop as well as my very well maintained XP Pro 32 bit (service pack 3) desktop PC. I found it interesting that I had total failure in my attempts to install or use this packages on either computer - kind of taking any validity out of the argument, "well there is obviously just something wrong with your PC." But BOTH PCs?!
Of course the next argument would be that I'm just some clown that doesn't even know how to find the power cord on a computer. But in fact I am a sound engineer by profession and have been using all sorts of computer hardware and software since 1985, including Roxio and Sonic Solution's professional line of sound restoration tools (many costing in excess of $10,000) to remaster and preserve many famous early jazz music recordings for major record labels for re-release on compact disc.
That being said, I have never had so much trouble installing or using any computer hardware and software package- either professional or consumer grade in the nearly three decades I have been using this sort of equipment. This product is clearly being marketed to the average computer user (not rocket scientists) who just need a straight forward, no fuss method of transferring their old VHS libraries to a digital format, either DVD or hard drive. If a guy like me can't make it work, how is the "average" computer user supposed to use it?
ROXIO THECHNICAL SUPPORT TO THE RESCUE!
Obviously early on I decided to contact Roxio tech support to try to work out these problems. I very quickly discovered that the customer support phone lines were exclusively reserved for owners of their "flag ship" products, as they call them, NOT for us "EASY VHS" owners. NO, we would have to resort to the tech support email system or their user forums, unless we had a valid Visa or Mastercard ready to buy their premium phone support.
ROXIO EMAIL SUPPORT:
I have now contacted Roxio email tech support countless times. They would sometimes give me a bunch of Windows settings and parameters to check out to make sure all of my Vista files and so on were up to date- a reasonable strategy. Of course they always were. So this didn't solve anything.
But I also received some really insulting emails from Roxio customer support. I always spend a very long time trying to document exactly what my problems were and very accurately describe everything I have tried to resolve my issues. I was surprised, at least at first, when I would receive a generic form letter back with some trouble shooting tips I should attempt (things I clearly described in my emails that have already been tried). But I was furious when I would get these kind of generic trouble shooting emails FOR THE WRONG PRODUCT! How are they going to help make my product work when they won't even pay enough attention to what product it is that I am using?!
ROXIO USER FORUMS:
My only other recourse was to post my issues on the Roxio user forum. I only received one response. It appeared to be from the guy considered to be the forum's "technical guru". In short, the response said that the things I described simply do not happen on properly installed and well maintained Windows PCs. He suggested that I take a harsh look at my PC maintenance practices and be more careful of "the places I go to on the internet."
Having exhausted all other options, I actually took his advice which was to completely erase the contents of my (only 2 month old) Vista Home Premium 64 bit laptop and reformat the whole thing and do a clean install of windows.
After doing this, I went through the Roxio emails to confirm every single critical Windows software component and version that had to be installed as carefully as a NASA pre-launch check list. It should be noted that I did not install ANY software other than the Vista software - updated to its most current version.
Then I tried to install Roxio Easy VHS to DVD and it's updates and drivers. I was totally depressed to discover after the time and trouble I took to totally wipe clean and freshly install Windows Vista that it did nothing to solve any of the problems to installing EASY VHS to DVD.
No one seems to have any more advice to offer. I have now spent three weeks of my life trying to get a piece of software to work. Please note that this is just what I have gone through trying to install the FIRST of TWO of these systems that I bought! I have yet to even START trouble shooting the second one of these I bought for my XP pro computer! It won't work at all either.
I have been searching the internet trying to find answers that could make this product work, since the manufacturer, Roxio, can't get it to work and has no more useful suggestions.
Obviously I can not speak for anyone else's experience with this product but I think it is important to mention that I have noticed reviews of it starting to appear all over the internet. The vast majority of reviews I have found for Easy VHS to DVD are reporting identical experiences as mine. In those reviews, some customers are frustrated, other are very angry, and some reviewers on Amazon have actually reported that they have simply given up and thrown Roxio's Easy VHS to DVD in the trash.
After nearly three weeks of trying to install only the first of the two copies I bought, with no answers or resolutions from Roxio and a no returns policy on software form Best Buy, throwing EASY VHS to DVD in the trash (along with my $118) is starting to look like the only option left. I only wish I could get back the nearly three weeks of my life I wasted trying without success to make it work. "EASY" VHS to DVD?? Don't believe everything you read.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Roxio Easy VHS to DVD

It's a sad fact that treasured home movies shot on VHS, Hi8, and V8 tapes will degrade over time, eventually disappearing completely. Roxio Easy VHS to DVD makes it easy to preserve irreplaceable memories by transferring them to DVD to save and share for generations.

Easily transfer video from VHS tapes or analog camcorders to DVD. Great for transferring LPs and audio tapes too!
Video
Go from VCR to DVD in a few clicks--the fastest way to create a DVD from your VCR home video
Burn DVD, SVCD and VCD discs from your VCR or camcorder videos
Add titles and scrolling credits to your video production
Trim and cut video clips
Automatically fix video color, contrast and brightness
Quickly and easily upload video to YouTube

DVD Creation
Turn your home videos into striking DVDs complete with animated menus and fully orchestrated music
Produce Hollywood-style DVDs with motion menus and resizable buttons
Exercise full creative control over DVD menu options

Music
Digitize your analog LPs and cassettes
Auto-Level adjusts recording audio volume for the best sound quality
Automatically trim annoying gaps between tracks
Create music playlists with cross-fades and export to portable devices
Convert multiple audio for payback on a broad variety of devices
Automatically add title, artist and genre information to your music tracks
Burn Audio or MP3 CDs from your audio recordings

Sharing
Create and share online photo stories with fun effects and music directly from Roxio Easy VHS to DVD
Share with family and friends on your private, secure Roxio web page
Post video to YouTube or other popular online destinations

Disc Label Creation
Create personalized disc labels, DVD case inserts and booklets
Choose from professional-quality templates or create your own

Mobile
Convert audio and video files to play on most popular mobile devices including Sony PSP, iPod and iPhone

Roxio Easy VHS to DVD Contents:
Easy VHS to DVD Software Installation DVD
A Getting Started Guide
Roxio Video Capture USB device
Multi-Cable
External USB cable

Supported Input Formats:
Video: AVI, DV-AVI, MPEG-1/2/4, IFO/VOB, DVR-MS, ASF, MOV, WMV, QuickTime, MPEG2 Transport Stream
Audio: MP3, WAV, WMA, Dolby Digital AC-3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, M4A, MP4
Image: JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, GIF

Supported Output Formats:
Video: AVI, DV-AVI, MPEG-1/2/4, WMV, MP4
Audio: MP3, WAV, WMA, Dolby Digital AC-3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MPEG-1/2, M4A, AAC
Video disc formats: DVD, Video CD (VCD), Super Video CD (SVCD), Mini DVD

Click here for more information about Roxio Easy VHS to DVD

Read More...

VHS To DVD 4.0 Plus Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The actual physical device included is fantastic. It's small, easy to use, and does it's job without any hassle. The software included is a little clumsy at first, but once you get the hang of it it's not a problem.
I've spent about 20 hours so far recording from all of my family's old home movies and ran into very few problems throughout the whole process. Just make sure to do a few short test recordings to find the best format before you commit hours and hours of time. For me the WMV 4GB setting gave the best quality/file size ratio. But anyway once you figure out which format to record in everything's pretty easy.
The only thing that was a bit frustrating was the editing component of the software. It's just sorta clunky overall, but it gets the job done. If it bothers you there are plenty of free programs out there that you can substitute in. The recording aspect produces normal video files which you can easily move to other programs.
Where this product really shines is the ease of capturing video with minimal mess. I'd rate it a 4.5/5 if I could, but I'm pleased enough that I'll bump it up to a 5 rather than drop it to a 4 on Amazon's rating system. I did a lot of research before buying and I'm fairly positive this is the best video capture system available right now.

Click Here to see more reviews about: VHS To DVD 4.0 Plus

Honest Technology VHS to DVD 4.0 Plus VDP4M Business Management Software

Click here for more information about VHS To DVD 4.0 Plus

Read More...

Roxio Creator 2009 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've come across some awful and expensive software (like Cakewalk 6~9), but this one takes the cake. It's an intrusive, clunky, resource hog which wouldn't work correctly if the hand of god glided over it.
Right now, it's 12:41AM and I've been trying for the past 8 hours to get MyDVD (Part of this Roxio package) to make a DVD of a vacation I recently took. I'm an IT professional, and I was absolutely baffled on GUI on these interfaces. The only consistency here is that every interface has it's own flavor of 'clunk' to it.
INTERFACE BUGS...
For instance, I'm trying to setup the menu and sub-menus; And, while I'm working it's actually flaking out and moving the graphical elements all over the page. I've had to work on the same menu now 20 times. Not to mention, you must click on the sub-menu icon to navigate to it. But when you attempt to click on it, it moves out of position in the page. Which means if you don't like the new position...too bad...because you're going to have to move the sub-menu graphic back to your original strategic location.
Some of the setup menu's for the objects in MyDVD don't work, or have bugs. For instance, there's a color palette fill in one of the sub-menu's which doesn't work.
I can go on and on about all the interface bugs throughout Roxio 2009, but I'm going to spare that chapter and go to the next.
RESOURCE HOG AND CUMBERSOME...
This software is 2gigs+ out of the box. Which means when you install it, you'll probably be left with 2kb of hard drive space left. They could have saved SOME real space had they used the DIALOG boxes that comes with Windows XP & Vista. But no, Roxio had to be different and create new, cumbersome, confusing, over elaborate dialog boxes. This obviously means that whatever you're doing in the new dialog boxes will take 3 times longer. My experience has been that they're clunky, taking sometimes 5~10 seconds to perform a refresh or task in the Roxio dialogs.
UPON INSTALLATION...
Roxio must have designed this software with the idea that you'll never need to have or install other software. Because the installation package loads up many large programs, WHICH MANY after installation LOAD WITH WINDOWS. I'm baffled, as I look at the list of all the new Roxio related programs in Windows Task Manager. Not to mention, ZoneAlarm is prompting me every 10 seconds with some resource it's trying to mess with...or the FACT THAT IT'S TRYING TO ACCESS THE INTERNET constantly. Here's a another snare in the Roxio sucker net...it would be nice if I could choose the Roxio programs I WANT TO INSTALL, versus Roxio INSTALLING EVERYTHING ON MY COMPUTER!!
As you can see in my review... I'm furious. I'm going to make a recommendation here... DON'T BUY THIS SOFTWARE!!! Treat the positive ratings with a grain of salt...because they're probably from the Roxio Sales and Programming staff.
I bought Roxio 2009 Ultimate, but I figured I'd tell you guys who wanted to spend $49 instead of $99.
DON'T BUY THIS SOFTWARE!!!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Roxio Creator 2009

New Roxio Creator 2009 is everything you need to easily create and share the stories of your life. The new design provides streamlined access to tips, tutorials, and tools. Beginners will find it easy to burn and copy discs, edit photos, video, and music.

Click here for more information about Roxio Creator 2009

Read More...

Wipedrive 6 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)A couple of months ago, I purchased a new computer. My old computer was about eight years old. I wanted to sell it during a community-wide yard sale in our small town, but I wanted to make sure the hard drive was clean. I purchased WIPEDRIVE 6 for this purpose. The advertising makes it clear that this is the "wiping tool APPROVED and USED by the U.S. Department of Defense". Just to see if the software did what it claims, I used it three times on my old computer. The first time I used it, I chose the option of clearing out all my data, but leaving the Windows operating system (OS) intact. As far as I can tell, it worked perfectly: the OS was there but there was no personal information, I even checked in the safe mode to make sure. The second time I used the software, I chose to erase all the data on my hard drive, including the Windows OS. When I restarted the computer, all the data was gone. The last time I used it was after I reinstalled Windows. I just wanted to make sure that there was no data left. I couldn't find any and after using the software again to erase everything, (including the Windows OS) there was nothing left on the computer. When choosing to erase data, the software gives you several options including ones that say they are used by various U.S. government departments and different branches of the military. I chose the option that including an asterisk saying something like "most secure". Overall, I was quite pleased with this project. It should work for anyone who has a PC, but I'm not sure how or if it works on Macs.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Wipedrive 6

Click here for more information about Wipedrive 6

Read More...

Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Gold Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Flight simulation for your PC just doesn't get any better than this. Microsoft has been at this for a long time, and they make it better with every release.
A few things seasoned flight simmers will know that new users will certainly WANT to know are:
The system requirements to really make this software work well are dauntingly advanced. You'll need something approaching a top-level gaming machine, with a huge video card, to get the full benefit of the entire visual, audible, advanced controls experience. Got a laptop you think is pretty smokin'? Forget it.
Microsoft follows every release of this product with massive service packs you must download and install, and each one takes a huge chunk out of your hard drive. Be prepared with LOTS of disk space. This particular release (meaning, the "Gold Edition") includes service packs one and two, so you won't need to download them.
An internet connection is required to register the product.
A note to real pilots (I am also a pilot): Keep in mind that this is a $30 product for a home computer, not a Flight Safety training machine. The flight model is basic and stable, and is not intended to simulate extreme attitudes and emergency procedures. If you're looking for a realistic spin trainer, or a procedural instrument trainer there are expensive add-ons that will get you CLOSE, but you should generally be looking elsewhere.
Bottom line is that this is, hands down, the best of the lot, but you really DO need vast hardware resources to run it. If you own those resources, be prepared for a real-time, audio-visual feast.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Gold Edition

Click here for more information about Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Gold Edition

Read More...