3 comments about PianoHead.

1. This is a Win/Win product for teachers and students. With over 30 years experience, and a large studio of successful students, I can attest that Piano Head taps into the quick visual perception both honed in today's youth by video games, and required by successful music readers. Kids are further motivated by the challenge to appear on the Worldwide Scoreboard, which entices them to practice their note and interval recognition to the desired level of automaticity. I have many students who have leaped to a higher level of understanding and enthusiasm for playing the piano, as Piano Head has lifted them beyond the mundane level of "hunt and peck". At a time when national studies show that a large percentage of piano students drop out after two years of lessons because they cannot read music, I cannot recommend this product highly enough!



2. Pianohead has been a great addition to regular piano practice time. One student in the family has a strong ear for playing and she is having fun getting to know her notes and intervals better. Both students are encouraged by the knowledge gained through the game and the confidence earned. We strongly recommend it for others that are learning and playing the piano as it creates another dimension to learning that may not be achieved through just practicing on the keyboard.



3. This is a must for piano students and music majors alike! The authors did a fantastic job of making the entire experience intuitive. It was totally easy to install. You don't have to read a single manual to get going. I don't think I've ever used the 'help' feature, nor do I know if it HAS a help feature.
   
   This product can be best thought of as a game that is divided into lessons. Each lesson is a variation on the same game with varying degrees of difficulty. The objective is to get the best score you can. After a few minutes of playing the first lesson, I could actually close my eyes and play, and still scored high!
   
   I only found two draw backs. It runs hot on my laptop - I suspect this may have something to do with the way the graphics are managed, or perhaps the game loop - it eats 45% of the CPU on my dual core machine. The other issue is that I was hoping my MIDI keyboard would work with it, I'm not sure if I misinterpreted the literature, but, even so, I still find significant value in the lessons anyway.

No comments about KID PIX DELUXE V4 FOR 98/ME/W2K/XP and MAC OS X.

1 comments about Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Production Premium Upsell.

1. I had wanted After Effects for years, but when I found I was eligible for the upgrade path because I owned Photoshop I got the Production Premium suite. For me it was like getting eight programs for free. And these are awesome. I am an amateur animator so this is this most versatile package for animating as a one-person studio. I combine it with Toon Boom Studio to achieve much better results than I could previously achieve.

5 comments about eMedia Guitar Songs 1 version 2.0.

1. This CDROM has it all. Music, TAB, play along with either the MIDI version of the song OR the audio version. The audio versions have track muting capability so you can mute the vocal or the Guitar or Bass. The nicest feature is the animated fret board so you if you don't know a chord or aren't that familiar with playing lead in the 7th position: have no fear, this feature cuts right through all of that. This CDROM is formatted for Windows AND Mac: which makes ordering easier too!



2. It was really cool how this CDROM was put together. Very user friendly & easy to install & run. You can hear the finished product, watch the guitar tabs to see how it is played with adjustable MIDI Music control to speed it up or slow it down. Mute the part you want to play & jam along with the band. Cool stuff! It also includes a brief history of the song & the artist, which is always interesting.

   If I had had this type of instruction as a teen I probably wouldn't have sucked so bad as a musician. I would have been able to better keep up my interest & enthusiam because CDROMs like this provide continuous access & infinite patience in teaching the more difficult songs & unique styles. I always learned from friends who gave me 5 minutes, then walked.

   Granted this CD includes a diverse, "something-for-everyone" approach adding classical & country tunes to rock & blues. For that I only gave it four stars & also because there is no clip of the musician actually playing the guitar on the Demo like Voyetra's "Teach Me Rock Guitar". But it must be conceded that Voyetra could only fit four songs on their CD while this one has 21 diverse tunes. eMedia website also provides good software support for these guitar series.




3. Despite what this site AND the companies own website say, this product is NOT compatible with Windows XP. Their tech support guy is nice, but helpless with an issue that is insoluble. Their customer service just said, "sorry, return it to Amazon and maybe try another one of our titles." No offer to exchange for a working title, as they were worried about throwing off inventory.



4. Although the listing said it works with Windows XP, it does not. I purchased the Guitar Songs 1 version 2.0 edition. It did not work with XP at all. I am wondering if there is a version that will work with XP. Be careful before you purchase it!!



5. beatifull cd with examples of good songs a new way to learn guitar playing more easely and faster way

2 comments about Blaze Dvd Copy / Turbo Backup.

1. I downloaded and tried 10 backup programs today. I am preparing for a rebuild and was looking for a backup program that would do normal backups, differential backups, and scheduled differential backups. XP backup (ntbackup) works well but I had to create a password for my Windows logon so booting up always took two steps. Norton is bloated and does not perform differential backups. StorageSync works well for syncing and for creating non-compressed duplicate files but had no scheduling capabilities. Nero seemed difficult to use, and I did not spend much time with it because it changes the restored file dates to the restore-date. Genie worked well but had no differential and scheduling requires a password. Acronis TrueImage also requires a password for scheduling. Handy Backup got hung up on in-use files and had no differential backup. My favorite is Cyberlink PowerBackup. TurboBackup was my second favorite. TurboBackup had some extra features but PowerBackup did everything I needed and was just a little more user friendly.



2. The Turbo Backup part of the disk is fine. If you are purchasing this to copy and backup your DVD collection, don't. This is a trial version of the Blaze Copy software and if you want to use it after the two week trial period it will cost you an additional $49.99.

No comments about Hanes T-ShirtMaker Deluxe 2.0.

1 comments about Edius Neo.

1. Download the trial version on CANOPUS website.
   It's the only editor that edits in HD!
   Plus you don't have to wait for rendering like in Vegas and FCP.

No comments about Photoshop Elements 6 Mac No Rebate Minibox.

5 comments about Knowledge Adventure Books by You Win/Mac.

1. I purchased this item for my 8 year old granddaughter for Christmas. She loves to write and has found this item to be a lot of fun. She has found it very easy to use and a great help in creating her stories.



2. As my daughter enjoys reading and writing stories, I thought this program would be fun. But to my disappointment, she didn't like it, as all it was is a fill in the blank program, and the program writes the story for you.



3. Like some of the other reviewers have said, all you do is fill in some one word answers in a story that's already written. Thought my child was going to get to do alot more creative writing.



4. This is NOT "Books By You!" This is "Books By John Lithgow!" The description is misleading. I thought this software would enable my daughter (age 9) to write and print her own books. NOT SO. Kids are simply filling in the blanks of provided stories. My daughter played with this for 20 minutes and hasn't touched it since. Absolutely UNINSPIRING! A waste of money.



5. The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This product has been honored by this distinguished award.

5 comments about Microsoft Picture It! Publishing Platinum 2002.

1. I love the program for its easy handling, and since using Windows XP, no troubles with crashings. Have but 1 problem: after making a personal calendar for 2005, that program won't open anymore, even after desinstalling and re-installing from scratch... Only through the first made calendar, can I access the programm. Take care if you ever use it. The red eye corrector won't work every time either, if so, change the size of the picture and try again!



2. This is probably one of the best all around advanced amatuer graphics programs available from MicroSoft. Greater features than later graphics programs such as Microsoft Picture It Premium Ver.10 2004 which has a smaller selection of fonts and less felxibilty for imaginative creation. This is well worth the purchase if your looking for a relatively simple to use graphics program offering greater potential to advance your skills within the confines of the program itself. Fine even in XP.



3. I currently own this version and love It! I am in need of an additional version!! Please help. I used all of my loads and the program will not let me load again. I purchased a new computer and I want to load PictureIt with publisher on It. If anyone out there has access to a new or used version that is still loadable please contact me at provel@mirealsource.com.
   
   Thanks,
   Beth



4. I have been using Picture It! Publisher Platinum Edition V.2001 since 2001 shortly after I went online. Though it does use up some memory, I have found it to be the BEST photo editing software out there. I've used many others, or tried them out, and I always go back to PIP. Not only does it have so many more features, but I've also designed and published web sites using PIP. I've added music and sounds to my web sites with PIP. I've also designed E-cards with sounds and matching graphics, sometimes using photos. You can also do crafts projects. When the Grandchildren were small I made them cards with the small envelopes for which to add money. My Grandchildren used to send me their pictures for editing so they could use them to make Christmas ornaments.
   
   With my PIP I can change the page(photo)size, use a number of neat photo "frames," but I also make all my greeting cards with PIP...even though I have other software. Downsizing the photo size enables one to use the photos on a web site without taking up much space yet you still have the same size photo when you view it from the "thumbnail." I can add text using various fonts to my pictures, as well.
   
   I also use it for photos for selling on Ebay. Not only do I make photo albums using a number of styles, but I can delete and add my own clip art, photos, etc. I can also change any greeting card and/or verse any way I wish, for example, I can add other clip art to my card.
   
   I have a motto when it comes to my Picture It! Publisher software: "Once you have this, you won't want any other." I plan to purchase a new set so that I can send my online friend in Africa my set.
   
   If I ever have to sacrifice software for memory, it certainly won't be my PIP. I am a 66 year old lady. If I can do PIP, anyone can!
   
   I hope PIP will always be available!
   Kay from Pennsylvania



5. This is by far the simplest photo editing program ever invented. Not only that, it has incredible potential for the user. However, you will need to take the time to explore it. I am a professional that has used several professional versions of photo software. However, for the simple quick fixes and touch ups, I still use just this. You can not tell the difference in the finished product.