Product Reviews

Intuit's Quick or Quicken line of software is very popular and is meant to assist the user(s) while they conduct business in a variety of different environments. Quicken 2003 is meant for individual use and provides an easy way to manage finances. Other software packages include Quick Books for contractors, Quick Base for Corporate Workgroups, Quick Books 2003 for small businesses, and Turbo Tax.

Computer IBM or compatible Pentium 133 (P-II 300 recommended)

Minimum Memory 32 MB RAM (64 MB RAM recommended)

Estimated Hard Disk 66 MB for Premier

OS Windows 95/98/2000/Me/XP

Monitor Super VGA (800x600) (1024x768 with 16-bit color recommended)

CD-ROM Drive 2X speed (4X or faster recommended for multimedia)

Internet Connection 14.4 Kbps modem (56 Kbps or higher recommended)

The software is user friendly and I was able to navigate everywhere with no problem. After I entered some personal information the program gave me a list of goals so I could target my activities. The goal list included managing my checkbook and bills; knowing where my money is going; saving more money; keeping my investments in one place; a plan to get out of debt; tax preparation made easier; tracking devices to help me retire when I want; and/or tracking my net worth.

For seasoned Quicken users some of the new features in Quicken 2003 are investing alerts; capital gains YTD snapshots; investor's reference guide, investment sale optimizer, and new tax reports - schedules A, B, and D that apparently feed into Turbo Tax.

I entered a few figures into the tax section and played with that for awhile. I liked the Projected Tax box feature which showed your standing at any particular time and the Tax Calendar box feature which lists important tax-related deadlines.

Silver Creek Entertainment’s Hardwood Hearts 2.2
http://www.silvercrk.com/

Review by: Grey Pickett

Suggested Retail Price: $19.95. Minimum System Requirements: Windows 95, Pentium 166, 32 MB Ram, 11MB HD space.

Available Technical Support: The web page has a list of FAQs, and if your question isn’t on the list, then they have an email hotline setup for any other questions you may have. I emailed them about the minimum system requirements, and I got my answer in an hour and a half!

Loading the game went pretty fast and smoothly, though downloading it took a little longer than I liked on a 56k modem. It is just like the normal card game Hearts except it has lots of fancy 3D graphics and cool sounds. It also has some optional rules, such as ‘jack of diamonds’ and ‘spot hearts’. The program has many different characters you can choose from. They are little pictures (see below) with the characters name beneath them and the cards are spread out in front of them. Some of the characters are from books (Merlin and Glenda the Good), some are jokes (Sir Spike the dog), and some are from fantasy (Elly the Troll). You can edit the colors on the different parts of them. I amused myself by making a dwarf with green skin and a glowing blue axe handle.

They have another silly thing called ‘Fooms’. You right click on an opposing character and you get a list of Fooms with pictures. Click on a Foom picture, and you shoot a Foom at them that covers them with that item you clicked on. For an example, if you click on the $ symbol then they are covered in gold coins, and if you click on the bar of soap than they are covered in bubbles. Players can use them for showing your emotions without words in a silly way.

While playing cards, the game plays music (file type .mid), which usually gets on my nerves so much that I have to turn it off. When the cards slide or shuffle they sound like they are real. There are also many other sound effects it plays, such as a horn that honks at you when you don’t play a card quick enough.

The creators of the game probably did a LOT of programming to make it. Some of the things they did: when someone get points little glowing hearts (called tokens) fly and disappear into the player who earned them. Also the cards look very life like, and move like real cards being put onto the table. And to put icing on the cake, they even have a bunch of online rooms where you can play hearts with people from all over the world! If you like lots of fancy graphics and many cool sounds, and a nice game of hearts (like me), this game is for you. If you just want a nice and simple game of hearts, you can get out a pack of cards or play the Microsoft version. If you want more than just hearts, Silver Creek Entertainment also has Hardwood Euchre and Hardwood Spades.

Quickeys 4.0
by C.E. Software
http://www.cesoft.com

Reviewed by: Kath Thorn

Suggested Retail Price $99.95
upgrade from 3.5 $39.95

System Requirements: Powerpc Mac OS 8.0 or later, 16 megs of RAM (32 megs recommended), 8MB free space on hard disk and CD rom drive.

Automate your computer using this powerful macro management program. Create and manage shortcuts scripts and fill in texts using only a keystroke. Record and play back entire sequences to automate time consuming tasks. Open documents and folders quickly and easily. Launch applications with a keystroke. Create new actions in the floating Quickeys editor dock.
I found the editor a little confusing to begin with, but with the aid of the excellent printed manual and the online help, the learning curve lessened very quickly. In a short amount of time I was able the use the program with very few problems. There are tons of built in shortcuts that make Quickeys invaluable to the power user. Using keystrokes, you can access information, launch programs and reformat text according to your own preset specifications. Quickeys supports total integration for most popular web browsers. Quckeys also comes in a PC format: Quickeys for Windows -- Things fall
apart, so that things can fall together again.

Reviewed by: By Richard Selvage

Suggested Retail Price $179.95
$50.00 Upgrade Rebate

System Requirements: Pentium II or higher, Win 95/98, sound board that supports 16-bit 22kHz recording, 200 MB hard disk space, 48 MB RAM minimum (96 MB optimal), CD-ROM drive, speakers, headset microphone (included). The installation process recognized my previous version (Voice Express Standard) and installed over it with no problems. When you first start up the program you need to start enrollment to improve your voice recognition (takes about 10 minutes). The first step is to tune your microphone to check for background noise. Then it compares your voice to the background noise. Then it goes into enrollment, which has you read about 6 minutes of text (interesting short stories) to improve the program's recognition of your individual speech patterns. (Note: close all other programs when doing enrollment or it will give you a message stating that there are insufficient resources to save the enrollment and you will have to start all over again). Before you start to use the program, it is very helpful to run the QuickTour Video, the QuickTutorial, read the brief but very helpful manual, and scan the Quick Reference card. This will help you to understand the Toolbar and menu commands, global commands and the natural language commands to use with the various Microsoft Â® Office programs. Note: I found that a few of
the examples in the manual didn't work unless you enabled them in the Dictation Preferences menu. Some examples of the general voice commands that you can use in Voice Xpress are "Open Microsoft Word", "Open Microsoft Excel", "Switch to Microsoft Word", "Minimize Microsoft Word", "Maximize Microsoft Word", "Close Microsoft
Word", etc. There are also all kinds of commands to format (bold, italicize, etc.), move about (enter, tab, home key, end key, down 2 lines, go to end of document, etc.) and punctuate words (period, comma, question mark, etc.)

There are numerous features that help correct voice misrecognitions and one of the most important is to go through the enrollment (to improve your voice recognition) at least 3 times so the program can recognize how you pronounce words. Another good idea is to go through the command browser to see the numerous voice commands that you can use in the program (incredible list of powerful commands). The program also has a feature that reads the text in your documents and talks it back to you (it's kind of cool robot voice and all).

The program is fairly easy to learn and you can be using it at a reasonable level soon after enrolling. The few problems that I found were: 1) not all commands worked and not all words were properly recognized (most
problems were corrected by doing extra enrollment training sessions and using the various correction methods),

2) The macro section is typical of macros in regular programs, you can get some pretty weird results, and

3) The program generates random characters (probably from microphone misplacement, breathing and room noise).

If you train the program properly, it can do (using only your voice) the majority of the things that you do by hand from the keyboard. If you are thinking about buying Voice Xpress, I would recommend buying the Professional
version because it has a much better microphone than the Standard version and it gives you a lot more commands to use.

(30 days free technical support)
Fax on Demand 1-800-370-6950

Enfish Tracker Pro
www.enfish.com
Reviewed by: Joe Strain

Loading process was simple. I liked the optional screen on personal data. Tool bar option did not show when Windows 95 startup was convenient. Program performed automatic search of hard drive to provide recommended items to track.
Overview presentation was well done. However, it would have been nice to have it shown on full screen. Tutorial was an automated type. Personal preference would have been a step-by-step instruction as I did the work, rather than watching film. While using tracker program, Windows 95 closed due to illegal function four times. The program also froze two times. Finding unread emails was easy and convenient. Organization of all emails by sender was helpful. Setting preferences were well-defined and easy to use. Sorting and filters were helpful when searching for information you know you had, but couldn't remember much about how it was titled etc. This is about the extent I took the program.

Mask Pro
by Extensis
http://www.extensis.com/maskpro/

Reviewed by:

Available Tec. Support: email at support@extensis.com or by
calling (503)274-7030
Suggested retail price: Unknown
System Requirements: Adobe Photoshop 4.0-5.0, Windows 95/98 or NT4.0, Pentium Processor, 32 MB RAM, also supports Corel Photo-Paint 8.

This is a complicated program for a beginner, however it is simply fun to experiment with. The program is fairly user
friendly and a little tough to learn. But as you get into it, it is much easier. I had no problems with the program and it does FAR MORE than I was expecting it to do. This program is versatile and yet very productive. It allows precision adjustments even at sub pixel levels. It is a fairly fast program also. The color masking technology displayed in this
program was excellent and even as a beginner with this type of technology I found it fun and enjoyed working with the program.

FileMaker Pro 4.1
Reviewed by John Gerecht

Suggest retail price: $250
Hardware requirements: Macintosh computer, 8 megs of RAM (16 recommended), CD-ROM drive, Hard Disk Drive.
Software requirement: Mac OS version 7.1 or later.

I've been playing with databases to try and organize my photography for about 15 years, and this is the best product for my purposes I've found yet. Access is powerful, but requires a large investment of time and energy to learn. But FileMaker Pro 4.1 is simple and easy. And while my needs aren't terribly complex, it could easily be used for complex databases.
It's most important feature, in my opinion, is simplicity of operation. It's hardly necessary to read the manual to set up a basic database, setting up a picture "container" for example. My primary use will be for cataloging my photo paperwork and film, with about 9,000 rolls, this is a long term process. FileMaker Pro will make this relatively easy, except for years of data entry that will still be required. As a small test, the Digital Imaging Art Contest was put into FileMaker Pro 4.1. It took less 15 minutes to set up the complete database. It's been sorted a number of ways and several layouts made, these
adaptations took just minutes. This is wonderful. I've spent hours with Access and been completely unable to use it. The ability to set up a working database in minutes, without using the manual much is incredible to me. This is a database that can be used by beginners or experts alike. If your needs go beyond basic address book functions, please take a good
look at this program, it might be the best one around. Another advantage is that it's a cross-platform program, the database that I developed on the Mac version will run on the PC with no problems (well, there are some special scripting commands that won't work).

DesignCAD Pro 2000
by ViaGrafix Corporation
http://www.designcad.com.

Reviewed by Clint Steele

Suggest Retail Price: $299.95
System Requirements:
     · Microsoft Windows 95/98, or NT (version 4.0 or later)
     · 486DX or Pentium processor
     · 16 to 18 Megabytes of hard drive space for compact installation
     · SuperVGA graphics card capable of 256 or more colors
     · SuperVGA monitor capable of at least 800x600 resolution
Company Website Address: The web address on the product box is
www.viagrafix.com. When that address is typed in, however, it
automatically defaults to another company called Learn2.com. To find
out about DesignCAD Pro 2000 I had to go to http://www.designcad.com.
Available Technical Support: Yes, for technical support the company
gives out a phone number, fax number, postal address, and email address
(support@viagrafix.com).
What's in the box: The DesignCAD Pro 2000 program reviewed came with a
CD, a 257 page User's Guide, and a 539 page Reference Manual.

The installation of the program got off to a slow start. I found identical installation instructions in both the user's guide and reference manual and both indicated that the required serial number was printed on a label attached to a second floppy disk or CD-ROM case. There was no second floppy or CD-ROM case. Nor was the serial number on the envelope in which the CD was packaged, or on the CD itself. I eventually found the needed number on a page in one of the manuals, but I was frustrated by then and wondered if this is what I could expect from the rest of the written documentation.

To their credit, after I found and provided them the required information, it loaded without a hitch and did not cause my system to hang or crash at any time.

So, I asked myself, how intuitive is this wiz-bang program? I thought I would play with it for awhile and see what I could do. Being a bit familiar with a professional level computer aided drafting program used at work, I thought I should be able to draw something without too much difficulty. I was wrong. After about 40 minutes I gave up and pulled out the manuals.

Is that like a man asking for directions?

Some three hours later, working through the user's guide one page at a time, I was able to produce two small squares, a circle, and a triangle. The user's guide was clear and well written - I'll have to give them that.

Though the program is not simple, it is impressive. As I muddled my way through the initial how-to's I began to see just what the program is capable of doing - even though I was not capable of doing it yet. The program has a full range of 2-D and 3-D drawing functions. It can import and export drawings in several formats, and it also reads and writes Windows Metafiles. As with most, if not all, computer aided drafting programs, DesignCAD Pro 2000 is set up using the geometric X, Y, Z axis. One neat feature, a function they call "Point Relative", is a way of moving to a new point along any axis from a previous point. There are tools to draw and create just about anything using lines, arcs, circles, boxes, planes, and polygons. And there are commands to scale, rotate, mirror, and slice objects - to name a few.

The program use boolean operations to manipulate 3D surfaces. It allows you to place designs directly on the web in JPG, TIF, and VRML file formats. It also supports vector formats such as IGES, WMF, WPG, RIB, as well as most popular raster formats like BMP, TIF, PCX, EPS, JPG, and a host of others. With this program you can create 3D walk-through animation as AVI files. You can design very detailed technical drawings and illustrations with this program. DesignCAD Pro 2000 also offers texture mapping allowing you to add textures to any model in a JPEG format.

Looking at some of the drawings others have produced using DesignCAD Pro 2000 I am convinced it is a computer aided drafting program that rivals the best. The manuals are written well. I can read, understand, and follow them with little trouble. I'm sure that after some reasonable dedicated study I will be able to do any type of computer drafting I will ever need to do using DesignCAD Pro 2000.

Eudora Pro Email
by Qualcomm
www.eudora.com

Reviewed by Jim Miller

Suggested retail price: unknown
System Requirements: PC with windows95/98 or NT and CD rom recommended.

Installation was fairly easy (on the surface), however the program is very hard for a beginner to operate. I spent much time reading the book that came with the program. It did not help at all with the problems. The program DID NOT cause my system to hang or crash. The program did not do anything I expected it to do. After installing it, Initial test was partially ok. It did retrieve some of the email I had on AOL, but a second attempt was fruitless. Also it refuses to recognize my Turbotek email account. Now it does not recognize AOL as existing either. I would suggest that this program only be recommended to advanced computer operators and NOT FOR USE WITH AOL. My daughter states that her brother-in-law and also her mother-in-law (separate computers) have Eudora Pro and both say they have a lot of trouble with Eudora accepting email from AOL. (they are advanced at computing).

THANKS FOR LETTING ME REVIEW THIS PRODUCT, sorry that I have such a bad review but fact is fact and I am barely a novice at computing so I have to tell it like I found it.