1 comments about Southern Cross.

1. Linda Opdyke took time travel to the next step and beyond! Amanda Jackson and her ancestor Angelique Beaumont change places. Now it's up to Amanda to figure out why! This book had it all - romance, mystery, intrigue. It was one of those 'not to be put down till it's finished' books! I highly recommend this book.

5 comments about Pinnacle Studio 9 Plus - Video Editing Software [OLD VERSION].

1. While others seem to have a lot of issues with this software I have not. It is easy to use, has a good set of features, and in general is stable on my XPSP2 Intel box.
   
   My major gripe is the very slow rendering speeds. Even rendering a low bandwidth WMV file takes many times longer than the source video. A full DVD can take many hours. And, this is on a fast computer. Also, the vendor really does not have an upgrade program as upgrades (say from 9 to 10) cost more than the full retail version of 10.



2. The full install of the Pinnacle Studio 9 software crashed two of our top-of-the-line computers every time we tried to install it, necessitating nightmarish uninstallation procedures and re-installation with just the barebones "Compact Install". And even then it took a couple of lengthy calls to support just to get audio capture working. And they'll charge you only $25 a pop after the first call!
   
   Now that we are trying to re-install Pinnacle Studio 9 after a hard-drive crash, we are told that this dreadful software is "no longer supported" by Pinnacle, though it has already crashed our new hard-drive on the first install and again produces no audio (just like on our first machine). But to be fair, we must add that for a mere $70 we can "upgrade" from this catastrophic rip-off and get Pinnacle's support again! Oh, what a generous offer!
   
   We are definitely going Mac and anything but Pinnacle/Dazzle the next time we purchase new hardware.



3. Boy, oh boy...WHAT a dissappointment I've had with Studio 9.1 and 10. 10 especially! It takes FOREVER to load, and CONSTANTLY crashes. It's so bad I uninstalled it and went back to 9.1. The first couple of DVD's I made (with 9.1) had me on cloud 9. I was SO pleased with everything; transitions, title making, menu making (LOVE the motion thumbnails and motion menus!!!) chapter stops, the automatic soundtrack making and the slection of music to use for it, adding text crawls, the logical interface. It is really an easy to use editing program. BUT......with each successive project, the program has become more and more undependable. Crashes, exceptions, etc. To this day, I have no problems with the editing capabilities. The big problem is in rendering the final edited video to DVD. That is where all the crashes, exceptions and hang ups occur. And, again, the problem gets worse with each succesive project. And, with each successive project, the DVD's have become more and more unplayable on my regular DVD player (hang ups, or not loading at all - even on brand new players), although it still played great on my computer DVD player. After internet searching for how to correct my burn problems, I have come to find this program is RIFE with similar complaints from COUNTLESS other users (compare the reviews for Pinnacle's program with those of Vegas or Ulead, and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. I am SOOOOO sad and disappointed!!!



4. I think this program would work great if I had a better computer. Please don't waste your time using this unless you have at least 2 gigs of RAM, a fast processor, and a decent video card. Otherwise, you are going to be very, very frustrated.



5. The best feature of this program is that you can actually work with individual frames. I record from my TiVo to my computer using this program. It allows me to totally clip out any commercials, it's pretty easy to do. The downside is that it does have a tendency to crash when you least expect it.

No comments about MEDIA GROUP, INC. Apple Loops: Bollywood Dreams ( Macintosh ).

No comments about Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 [LB].

No comments about ACROBAT PRO 8 WIN UPSL FR CD 1U.

3 comments about BLING SOFTWARE XCopy 9.

1. I had all kinds of problems trying to back up my DVD collection. Bought this in hopes that it would be better. It more or less sucked on my old DVD burner/computer. I've just upgraded to a dual layer burner/Athlon X2 computer.. so this program does work. So far so good.



2. I bought this program to more easily transfer DVDs to my PSP. While I have written a number of tutorials on how to do so, the market is being flooded with programs that "rip" DVDs for "backup" purposes. Since XCopy sold me on its "DVD to PSP" feature, that's the only portion I tested.
   
   The first time I ran the application, version 2.0, it copied the wrong audio track, opting for the track with commentary instead of the primary audio track. Version 2.01 fixed this problem and I haven't had issues since. It would be nice if the application let you choose which audio track you prefered. The PSP transfer portion very bare-bones, but it has worked without a hitch with every transfer, which is exactly what I want :)
   
   What's interesting is right after you install the software it prompts you to download a plug-in that is basically DeCSS. The web site warns you to only download it in a country which supports DVD decryption - do any of them? I own my DVDs and don't believe in piracy, and I hope you believe the same. Piracy hurts everybody, but you should still have the right to use *your* DVDs on any media player, whether it be a DVD player or your PSP.
   
   The video quality is very good, and a 101 minute movie in "high" quality mode uses about 600-700 megabytes on a Memory Stick. I have not used the lower quality settings yet. It takes about the movie's duration to transfer the movie, so a 101 minute movie takes about 101 minutes to transfer. For the most part, that's pretty quick. The program does state a half gig Memory Stick as a minimum system requirement, which I feel was a good idea.
   
   Overall, this program did what I asked it to do and appears to have done it well. I would ask the XCopy / Bling Software team to add some more customization to the PSP portion of the software, which is the only piece I use. I take good care of my DVDs, so I haven't needed a backup; but if I do, at least I have the other program which came with this product that accomplishes that task.
   
   For those having issues using this product from the store, please make sure you update to version 2.01 or higher from the company's web site. The software is intelligent enough to tell you (when you launch it) when updates are available - quite the commendable feature, since many products still don't do that task well.
   
   My rating: 4 stars for the PSP portion.



3. This is the most useless piece of software that I have bought in the last ten years. The only thing I can compare it to is a DOS application: it will produce the result you require, making a base-level copy a DVD, but has absolutely no useful features.
   
   You can't make multiple copies, it deletes the image once it has been burned, and much less. In short, XCopy is a user unfriendly, slow, poorly-written piece of outdated software.
   
   Somewhere there is a hirsute nebbish in a Ferrari laughing at you as you buy this software.

1 comments about Bass: Learn to Play!.

1. This is not something to buy if you want to learn how to play bass. The DVD lasts for about 10 minutes and it is simply an interview with three teenagers who try to persuade you how you should play bass if you want to get into music. The commputer CD that comes with it is geared towards absolute beginner, and tailored to kids. The best think in the whole set is the little booklet that has the scales in it, but that's about it. This may be a nice gift to a 13-year old, but skip it if you're an adult or if you already know what a string or a note is.

3 comments about QuarkXpress 4.1.

1. quark is still the leading software in publishing. the 4.1 version convinces with easy handling and new features.The must have for any print designer!



2. It took me a few months, but I finally stopped complaining that they'd screwed up XPress. Version 4.1 is light years beyond version 3.3. And, it's a whole lot better than 4.0. The new features make this program a pleasure to work with. The user interface is more intuitive than ever. And, it still beats PageMaker and InDesign by a mile.



3. I just installed OSX, and Quark is not able to work in the way it used to. However, even before OSX, it doesn't work in the same manner from file to file.

1 comments about The Calendar Planner -- Basic Edition.

1. I like how it's simple, clean, and easy to use. But it's way too expensive for a basic calendar software.

No comments about Pantone Metallic Chips Coated.