5 comments about PhotoSUITE 4.0.

1. One of the best graphics programs on the market that you can get for your money. Easy to use, good results and the possibilities are endless.



2. While PhotoSuite 4.0 has some interesting features, it's quirks outweigh any benefits they might offer.

   On the plus side: it's guides to enhancing and cropping photos are simple and straightforward -- but then, so are most of the better imaging software.

   On the negative side: when you create an album of photos, the pictures remain where they originally were stored on your hard drive. Which makes uploading them to a printing service (say, Ofoto) extremely complicated, difficult and frustrating. Further, because of this approach it is easy to erase a picture unintentionally.

   Also of note: to talk to a support technician will cost you...!! So if you do have problems, the cost of getting help is nearly as much as the software itself.

   I'm back on Amazon to find decent imaging software. Not only can't I recommend PhotoSuite, but based on the problems I've had with other Roxio products, I can't recommend the company either.




3. I have used this product for a year now, and am very disappointed with its performance and ease of use.

   I move on to Paintshop pro.




4. I own this product. It's hard to use. There are no instructions. The albums are not albums, they are virtual albums. It is laborious and slow to print from it. The CD became corrupted after 4 months of use and can no longer be loaded on my computer. It does not work with WIndows MIllenium.
   The only positive: you can crop photos with ease.



5. I was replacing my (corruted) MGI photosuite with this product and was gravely disappointed. I couldn't do simple retrievals from clip art discs and found the online help worthless. I threw it away the next day, chalked it up as a cheap mistake, and bought Photo Explosion instead.

No comments about Digidesign AIR Velvet Virtual Electric Piano (Macintosh and Windows).

No comments about QuickStart Greeting Card Studio.

3 comments about DesignCad 3DMax V 17.

1. I have been with DesignCAD for many, many years starting with them when they were the American Small Business Company out of Austin, Texas. Over that span of time, I have produced more drawings using DesignCAD than I can count. I started with them when they were DOS based, where I first learned 2D and 3D before the mouse - the commands were keyboard "shortcuts" and arrow keys alone. Try 3D in DOS sometime if you want bewildering frustration. Since the advent of Windows and that nice little mouse, I draw almost exclusively in 3D. DesignCAD is compatible with AutoCAD and SketchUp (tryout SketchUp's free express version at [...].- you'll like it, but it can be a bit difficult to grasp for a beginner). I owned and used AutoCAD in the past, but I would always return to DesignCAD to start the drawing in 3D and then export it to AutoCAD for the purpose of using AutoCAD's enhancements. My 3D drawings always start in DesignCAD. In short, I am very familiar with this program, and, in my way of thinking, it is the perhaps the finest 2D/3D CAD program in existence - a full five stars.
   
   Unfortunately, version 17 is two stars because it has a few too many continuing issues that need fixing.
   
   With DesignCAD, you can just sit down in front of your screen and start drawing. If you are new to CAD, you may want to have DesignCAD setup each drawing for you. When you press /, the New File Wizard should appear. If not, press "Q" (without the quotation marks) and then click on the tab entitled "View". Scroll down and check "Show New File Wizard". Now, every time you start a new drawing, the wizard appears and steps you through the setup one . . . two . . . three. Piece of cake. Then, for example, (1) Press "V" to start a line. Then left-click the mouse to set a point anywhere on the screen. (2) press ":" and you're given a small screen so you can enter how long you want the line in American Standard (inches, feet, etc.) or Metric units (mm, cm) depending on your settings - go to /. (3) Then enter the direction in degrees the line is to go - X (right or left), Y (up or down), or Z (3D depth). (4) Hit and there's your line accurately drawn to length in the plane of your choice. (5) Select zoom (Fit to Windows) to bring the line to full screen, and you're off and running. Use the right mouse button to snap instantly to the end of a line, or press "K" to snap anywhere "on" a line. From there, you have a full list of commands including circles, arcs, arrays, planes and solids with a full set of dimensioning tools and layers together with a host of editing tools. They make it easy for you, if you start by using one simple basic command at a time. As a result, you can begin drawing a 2D or 3D product fast and accurately.
   
   At the time of this writing, because of the lingering issues with version 17, you might consider a more reliable version - perhaps version 16. Unfortunately, I have had to remove this version from my computer and put an older version back on. Version 17 is simply unreliable. It's too bad, because prior versions of DesignCAD have really been quite good.



2. I took Edgar Young's advice and specifically ordered version 16. Instead the shipper sent me v. 17...never replied to any of my E-Mails
   ..In short this was the worst experience with Amazon that I've had.
   
   I've used design CAD v. 13 for years. After two weeks of frustration with v.17, I too had to go back to v.13...v.17's response to inputs is
   highly unpredictable and unreliable!!!! e.g. many times you are completely locked out of the Z-Axis, unable to correctly position your part in 3-D space....parts show up deformed and placed seemingly randomly miles from where they should be....and on and on.
   
   I'm quite sure the vendor is pawning off v.17 to people that request v.16 just to unload a useless product!!!!!!!!!!
   
   Advice...Demand in writing that you want v. 16 or earlier!!!
   
   Vince Young
   St. Petersburg, Fl.



3. Crashes all time. Most features won't work right. I give this software 0. Total waste of money and you better off use paper and pencil to draw

No comments about Calendar Creator 4.0 Classic.

No comments about NOVA PhotoImpact Pro 11.

5 comments about Piano Wizard for PC With 49E Keystation.

1. I bought this (for Christmas for my daughters) under the assumption that it was the Premiere version of the Piano Wizard software, and that I was saving $20 over the retail price. But, I got the EASY version and spent $30 more! So, if I want to upgrade, it will cost me another $70! If you are buying this, skip Amazon and go direct to the Piano Wizard website.
   
   The one star review is for the failure to label this product the EASY version. The software itself seems pretty good so far, but there are many ways they could have improved it.



2. I had previously complained that I could not get sound. We had spent hours reinstalling, downloading a driver, pushing buttons... I finally got off work early enough to call customer service (still a problem with their hours). The kind and patient young man I spoke with had the music playing in ten minutes. CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE and save yourself a lot of frustration! It seems to be a fun program that will take many hours to explore. (Note: The midi keyboard needs a program to run through, so don't expect sound unless you are in "free play" or a game.)



3. I purchased this software hoping to get some basic instruction and have a little fun. Its very lacking in both areas. The graphics are circa 1990, and the basic premise is find the key and hit it -- find the key and hit it -- find the key and hit it. Its more like that game where you bash the gophers as they come out of the hole than a learning experience.
   
   The interface is setup with "lessons", but these are just a selection of the song you want, and the colors of the notes, orientation of the keyboard, etc. There are no real "lessons", its point and shoot from beginning to end.
   
   Having spent the money I am now in a position of having to research some software that teaches. At least the keyboard that cam with it is OK.
   
   If you looking for something fun and educational, this is not it.



4. Never had opportunity to try the product. E-mails (9) requesting help to m-audio and support@allegrorainbow were either never answered or took over four days and resulted in no help. Calls to m-audio resulted in being put on hold immediately, then put on hold for tech support with no results . The calls were never picked-up. I left my name and phone number on three separate occasions and never received a return phone call. This has been going on since 1/12/08. The company does not care and does not back it's product. They delayed so that the opportunity for return has passed. Piano Wizard for PC With 49E Keystation



5. My kids as well as my husband love this piano. It is a good way to tell if your child will be interested in learning piano and getting the basics down. It won't replace lessons but it is a good place to start. Even if they aren't bound for piano greatness, it is fun. The 49 key station is definately the way to go. The other would be too small.

No comments about Reaktor 5.

1 comments about Site Builder JC.

1. Worse piece of garbage I ever purchased. It's just a marketing CD. Get's you to register with a credit card to purchase web hosting, then use their site builder online. They market this as though it's web building software. Not what I expected at all. In addition, you need an activation key. However, if you lose that key and call them, they refer you to where you purchased it. I called customer service and after responding to a series of recordings I got an oursourced person in another country and unfortunately, she wasn't much help either. Buyer beware!

5 comments about Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 [OLD VERSION].

1. The video-editing component of this package, Video Wave, worked great for me for about a year, but it has recently turned into a NIGHTMARE! The audio is anywhere between 2 and 4 seconds out of sync with the video, and after trying everything I'm convinced that its a problem with the code. A quick product search will show others who have had similar problems. I would STAY AWAY!



2. I bought this product based on my research of users opinions and found it has lived up to their high opinions. I have boxes of family photos as well as numerous camcorder tapes of family events. I wanted an easy comprehensive program that would let me arrange photos and video clips, add music and burn on a DVD. This program does it all and more. It may not do everything extremely well, but for the price, well enough to put out an impressive DVD. After about two hours of getting familiar with the program, I was able to create a DVD that had 35 pictures and a video clip with background music - stunning results. I played the DVD on several different brands of DVD players and had no problems. Looks great on TV. I've had no problems running the program on my computer - I'm running this on a Pentium IV 2.9 GHz, 1 gig ram and 200 GB ram HD. Since I am a beginner/weekend hobbyist, this suites my purpose of sharing pictures with family - I'm finding much better to share on DVD than paper photos. For an all-in-one package at this price, it does the job very well and I would recommend it.



3. The features of the program are great, but it crashes WAY too much. My computer system is fully adequate for video editing, so that is not the problem. I've gotten to the point where I save my work literally every minute for fear that it will crash.



4. The video editing part of this software is completely useless. It didn't come with a manual and I ended up buying on my own a book about how to use it. It hasn't made a difference. The software is completely uncooperative. My computer more than meets the minimum requirements for running the program. If you bought this software for the video editing, I recommend using the disc as a drinks coaster and buying something else.



5. I bought this product to burn CD's (using CD-R disks). It didn't work for me. After a lot of research I discovered (from Microsoft) that CD's burn better at a slower speed, so I set my system to 48X and it worked. Tech support from Roxio was confusing, as they supply lots of (for me) useless documentation. I could have saved my money, and used Windows or any AT&T Yahoo! CD burners.