5 comments about AutoCAD LT 2008 [OLD VERSION].

1. Actually works with Vista. Several new features aid with production. We are ditching architectural desktop for production seats since it is all 2D. LT works and integrates just fine at 1/4 the price. First 'downgrade' in 14 years of autocad.



2. I have been using AutoCAD LT 2003 and like the updates in the new version. Although it takes some getting used to, some of the changes are intuitive. The older versions did not automatically go into edit commands like 2008 does. Just click on an object and the attributes highlight and can be changed without typing in the command. That is just some of the changes that make this a really nice upgrade from earlier versions.



3. I had the full blown student version of R13 for years and it served my purposed well until I upgraded my computer. AutoCAD is like many software and hardware suppliers and will not support any of their products over three or four years. So AutoCAD LT suites my purposes well for a fraction of the cost of the big package. The basics are still there, but a companion instruction manual is necessary to come up to date with all the useful changes that have been made since R13 some ten years ago. I am back in business.



4. I'm not an expert drafter but I've used AutoCAD 2005 for years and have found several of the changes make drawings harder.



5. I am very pleased with the product which was delivered in a timely manner (and with extra secure "signed" receipt because of the cost). As I only need 2D CAD there was no need to buy a full AutoCAD and this is doing all that I need-I'm VERY pleased -especially with the full Autodesk support that was included. It also accepted most of the "add-on" software that I had used with AutoCAD 2002.

5 comments about BIAS SoundSoap 2 ( Windows/Macintosh ).

1. I saw the demo of the program and thought, "That's exactly what I need!". I have been working on the post side of a movie Quest for the Golden Rod for over a year now (...) and due to the actors spreading to the four winds I'm stuck with the audio I got from my Sennheiser MKE-300. Which isn't bad, but not great eithor. I was forced to use it both in doors and outside having little "problems" like airplans, TOO LOUD of a river bank and of course the ever famous electronic hum (fridges). So I crossed my fingers and dropped $90 on this tool, plugged it into Adobe Premeir Pro 2.0 and was amazed that it was VERY simular to the results one would expect from a standard Noise Gate feature. Then I watched the online tutorials and learned the magical way of "learn sound" and that helped. I mean it was kind of remarkable it would remove very specific frequences and would behind only the voice (if you desired it). But here in lies it's flaw. DISTORTION. The more noise removal the quiter the audio gets and the more "canny" (that's how I put it) the voice becomes. Still legable and clear, but very distorted. So if you are doing a documentary then A++ if you are doing a film let's hope the background audio you are trieing to remove isn't too bad. Works best against repetitive back ground noise like humming. Very little distortion there.
   
   (...)



2. The SoundSoap 2 software (running on my older Mac) is a neat tool to go with BIAS's Peak recording software. It works quite well in dealing with my albums (33 rpm records, licorice pizza, stacks o' wax, etc.) and the pops, clicks, and scratches that sometimes came on a brand new vinyl LP. You should take a tour of the BIAS website and watch / listen to the demo they have for SoundSoap. It will do all that, but it is possible to overdo the signal processing and swamp out some of the music content. However, that can be the case with other click repair software too. The best approach I've found is not to try to create a 'master recording' with studio like audio qualities, but instead focus on cleaning up an obnoxious record or cassette.
   
   SS's 'learn noise' feature is dead handy, and the 50/60 cycle buzz remover works great. Best of all is being able to keep your master digital recording (mine done through BIAS Peak LE) and play with the settings in SoundSoap. Too little click removal? Too much removal of crackles and the music suffers? Delete the file and try again. A very easy to use, effective, and affordable tool for the music lover who's facing a stack of wax unplayed for years. I breathed new life into Moody Blues 'Days of Future Passed' and Horst Jankowski's 'Walk in the Black Forest.' Next up, the overplayed and abused vinyl of The Doors. I wonder how that will turn out...?BIAS SoundSoap 2 ( Windows/Macintosh )Bias SoundSoap 2, Hybrid CD Win/MacBIAS SoundSoap 2 ( Windows/Macintosh )



3. Expensive program with almost no features other than what it says it does. Poor instructions on usage. I have had two months and have yet been unable to successfully utilize.



4. This may be a fine product. It appears to do exactly what I need. Unfortunately, I'm not able to launch the application. After buying direct from the Bias website on a Sunday afternoon (could have saved $50 buying form Amazon, but I'm on deadline for a project) I am unable to authorize my legally purchased software. The application crashes during the authorization process. Since the software won't run without authorization, I'm out of luck.
   
   I've contacted tech support and submitted an email authorization request. I received an automatic response warning me that it may be 1 to 2 business days before I hear back from Bias. I might as well have ordered from Amazon.
   
   To be honest, if I had known that SoundSoap used this sort of software authorization scheme I probably wouldn't have purchased the product. This sort of restrictive DRM almost always harms legitimate consumers while doing nothing to stop piracy.



5. for cleaning snap, crackle and pops from your recordings. With just minimal adjustments, I was able to remove all of the above from old and battered 33s and 78s that I transfer to CD using my beloved ION TTUSB turntable. These two products are the best money I've ever spent to save my favorite music. Unbeatable!

2 comments about Do It Yourself Website.

1. This book is a great introduction into getting something online, using standard templates and a DIY bilder tool set.
   
   In my instance, i found it informative and learned a lot, but I didn't feel my limited skills in the designing did it justice.
   
   With so many professional designers out there, i ended up opting for a professional build (using www.clickezy.com) where i was designed a custom brand new website and then given training and tools to make simple updates without paying a designer (which is where this product kicks in).
   
   If you have the time and inclination, go for it! Otherwise, if you know your limitations in design, etc..(not to mention online strategy, marketing, search engine optimisation, the list goes on!) maybe best to use a pro such as clickezy.com to set it up for you, and then take the reigns with them as a safety net should things go wrong.
   
   Best of luck!



2. This is a good starter guide for the do-it-yourselfer. While it's aimed at the web newbie, it's also an easy tool for more experienced web masters to use to easily get sites online. I'd also recommend "The Complete Web Hosting Kit" as a companion, because it gives you the software you need to actually host a web site on your home or office computer for free.

No comments about Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2009.

No comments about Pantone Essentials Plus.

5 comments about Punch! Interior Design Suite.

1. There are a lot of good things about this software. The major pull-back is the learning curve, othervise it's a 5-star one. By the way, be sure to set the correct elevation of your house to start with, or you won't be able to change it once you put on walls, windows everything.



2. I was very anxious to receive the Punch software and thought I would be able to figure it out quickly (despite the warnings of previous reviewers). Unfortunately after 4 hours, a pinky cramp, and much frustration I found the other reviews to be very accurate. . . the software is not intuitive and you spend a lot of time just trying to figure out what you did wrong/what to do next. It would have been helpful to me if the user manual had a quick 1-2-3 guide, tipsheet, or easy button for those of us who just want to create and decorate a room---not build an entire house (or maybe that's in there somewhere and I missed it).
   
   I also found the paint choices to be limited. Long and short of it, I put it down and have not gone back to it. My decorating project is now complete without help from Punch. Maybe I'll try tackling Punch again one day, but as of now I consider it a waste of money.



3. This program is awkward to use, counter-intuitive, and poorly-designed. It's unfortunate that this program requires many hours of reading through a manual of equally-poor quality just to get started. Good software allows anyone to pick it up and do something with it, with extra features and power for those users who wish to spend a little time learning advanced techniques. With this software, you'll spend a couple hours just trying to figure out how to put up four walls and some cabinets in your kitchen. Sure, it does some good stuff once you get going, but that just highlights the major design flaws of this software:
   
   1. The UI is all over the place. Menus at the top, buttons on the left, buttons at the bottom, tabs at the top (each containing more buttons), tabs on the right (each containing menus and more buttons). I tend to immerse myself in new software by looking in all the menus and learning where things are. Good luck doing that with this product! You'll be lucky if you can find the same button twice without the manual.
   
   2. In addition to the sins of the UI, this program also fails to handle a scenario that is increasingly common: Windows users who have increased their font sizes. Higher-resolution screens often necessitate pumping up the font size from 100% to 150% or more, and to say that this product handles it "ungracefully" would be too kind. This program assumes that you will always be using the default Windows font size, which is one thing no commercial Windows program can ever be allowed to assume. Should you be one of the many users out there who need to increase your font scaling due to poor vision, you will discover you can't use about half this program's features at all.
   
   This program may be the best out there, but that's not saying much. This software genre desperately needs its Photoshop.



4. I expected to design new details in my existing interior but this program is useless in this respect. The program basically does visualization of the floor plan of given layout if one wants such a function. The photo editor could be very use full but the design of the editing interface is annoying and not workable. The available details are not to attractive and the learning curve is steep indeed compare with effect desired.No files of examples of interior design submited in the software (although used extensively in the product advertising's.



5. I do interior design work as a part time business. I have tried several software programs but most are very limited. This is better, but I am usually fustrated with trying to design something that I can't get the system to let me do. For example, I wanted to use tin that you would normally put on a roof on an interior wall. It could not understand and would not allow me to do it. I did complete a room and wanted to present the animated verson of it to a customer however I could not find a way to open it on anyother computer. I emailed customer support and to this day, I am still waiting on an answer. I wonder if real people work there? as there is no tel # to call!

5 comments about ClipArt&More 3 Million.

1. I got this once and there really aren't any good images on the cd-rom. It is an activation code for clipart.com. I used it for a year and have been able to find a bunch of images using the site. $32 for a year is much better than getting the subscription on the website ($170!!) If you don't mind not having images on a cd-rom then this is decent, just download all you can in a year and burn them to a cd yourself. I find searching on the website easier than trying to hunt something down on a cd anyway.



2. This isn't worth the amount of paper it took to make the box. The box advertises "Search by: Animals, Sports, Science, etc." and makes statements like "Locate the right image fast!" and "Every piece ... is key worded and cross-referenced..." Yet the Windows software and the Mac software provided for looking at and finding images are just file browsers with absolutely no way of finding anything. The file names are also non-descriptive. Many images are identical with slight variations on colors or rotation. My teenager laughed at the images and said that he could draw better and I don't doubt him. This is a true "pig in a poke".



3. Totally agree with the other reviews.
   
   The physical product you receive in the mail is really useless. Disc one contains a software program that should allow you to search the other two discs in the set. Those, by the way, contain wire-framed art (looks rendered back in 1980)and some bad sound effects. So, totally NOT what I was expecting (and thus the poor rating).
   
   This is basically paying $39.95 for a one year membership to a great web site that will cost $169.95 per year thereafter.
   
   Regardless of whether the value is worth what you get (and it probably is), the offer and product are still not clear.



4. I bought this product looking for an inexpensive home clip art collection. What I received was three discs that I basically can't access and a one year subscription to a clip art service I probably won't get my money's worth out of. What an extreme disappointment. The least IMSI could have done was actually stated this is a subscription service you are buying. I will not buy from IMSI again. They don't advertise the truth with their product. I'll stick to Nova. I've bought their product before and they deliver what they advertise. I'll pay the extra money for that. Boy did I get burned!!



5. I just ordered my third set of "Clip Art & More" CD's - it's an annual rite of passage in our home. However, I never even attempt to use the CD's themselves - yes, they're pretty useless. I just want the one-year subscription code to www.clipart.com, which costs $159.95 to purchase but is "free" with software purchase (code included in software purchase). So - I buy the software (this year I found "Clipart 3.0 Million" at a site for 9.98 + 5.00 shipping - took a little hunting but deals are out there) and so for $14.98 I will now have my 2008 yearly subscription to www.clipart.com! Beats paying $160!! Clipart.com is a highly-rated graphics program (#2) in "top ten reviews" and my son and I have used it quite frequently for school projects, etc.

No comments about FL Studio 8 Fruity Edition.

No comments about Corel Family Pack 2009.

5 comments about Starry Night Complete Space & Astronomy Pack.

1. Starry Night is technically a good product but is not very user friendly in use. Limited view area due to clutter in the page layout limits the useability of the product and the screen area setting of 1024 X 768 pixels required is not very compatible with most older Windows programs. I have to change my screen settings each time I use Starry Night to get the best page layout and then change back again when I leave the program. Several of the programs provided with telescopes are better at providing a much more realistic view of the night sky for star location. Advantages of Starry Night are very current data on satellites, comets and other fleeting phonemena most of which is only visible to observers in very rural areas away from urban light pollution.



2. Starry Night is the best astronomy program i have ever seen! Starry Night is very easy to use and it has great graphics! Starry night has great pictures of the planets and has a cool spaceship mode allowing you to travel through the universe and visit other galaxies! Definantly a great program for the astronomy beginner!



3. I have always enjoyed looking up at the night sky but I couldn't identify very many stars or planets. With Starry Night Complete Space & Astronomy Pack I have solved my problem. It will show me what the sky will look like before I go outside. It names the stars that I am trying to locate. In most cases it will even give me the proper pronunciation of each star. I have learned how to go forward or back in time to see what the sky will look like when I'm on my next vacation or what it looked like on the night that I was born. Love the program and recommend it for any amateur astronomer.



4. Bought this as gift for someone who's been into astronomy for awhile. I didn't know much about it; had to rely on the reviews of previous purchasers. She told me it's terrific - no problems computerwise and it does everything it advertises.



5. I like the manfrotto mono pod. It os light weight. My canon 70-200 zoom has a collar and i can lossen it a bit for vertical as well as horizontal shots. The only problem is the bottom pull out could be a made sturdier.
   That is why i gave it 4 stars.