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Home & Hobbies (Sales Rank)

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Final Draft 7 Professional Scriptwriting Win/Mac / SalesRank : 76

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Final Draft 7 Professional Scriptwriting Win/Mac

Amazon Price : $169.99 41%($120.00) OFF
amazon.com availability ： Out of stock.

CD-ROM ( ) [ Final Draft ] [ Release : 2004 / 04 / 01 ]
EAN : 0603121840007 / ASIN : B0001XNGZ2
[ ListPrice : $289.99 ]

Average Customer Review :

3.5stars [ See more reviews ]
Great job shipping. It was very fast and the product itself is great. I'd recommend this service to anyone.

5stars - "Great product/Fast Delivery" (Jeffrey C. Wierichs)

Okay, for starters, I've been writing scripts professionally for year... for Warners, Paramount, ABC, CBS, etc.. and for myself.

THE PROS:
1) It's THE industry standard. You can send Final Draft files to any studio, no problem. Everybody uses it.
2) It's easy to jump between slug lines, action, dialog, etc.
3) Keeping track of revisions is simple and works.

THE CONS:
1) Buggy as hell. In fact, its embarrassingly buggy and the company hasn't fix the bugs IN YEARS!!! Guess when you dominate an industry, why waste money on making the product work as advertised. This policy worked wonders for the American auto industry, didn't it.
2) If you have a problem with their bugs, call the company and they charge you $2 per minute to solve their software screw ups.
3) Their "collabowriter" feature. Hah. I've known countless writers over the years in Hollywood. Never met who got that to work.
4) No updates in years!
5) Oh, did I mention buggy?
6) Notes feature is super basic. Barely useable.

2stars - "Industry standard. Bug fest. Company is arrogant." (Martin Kunert)

Final Draft certainly has a monopoly on the screenwriting software market; it is the industry standard. However, because they don't have to compete, they also don't seem to be motivated to fix the bugs in their product. I have bought the last three versions of the product and put them to good use. I just wish they would figure out a way to fix the all too frequent crashing trouble. I have lost more than a few pages of work due to unexplained crashes that their tech support department cannot seem to explain/fix. Their pre-made TV templates seem to be the most buggy. That said, it is a really helpful program, but just make sure if you choose to use Final Draft: SAVE OFTEN.

3stars - "Solid program, but kind of buggy" (Half Empty)
Final Draft is seriously the best screenwriting software out there. I'm a college student looking to go into the Film industry, and with the help of Final Draft, I am able to get my ideas easily into the script format!

Final Draft is seriously the best screenwriting software out there. I'm a college student looking to go into the Film industry, and with the help of Final Draft, I am able to get my ideas easily into the script format!

5stars - "Final Draft!" (Natalia Lax)
No doubt, this is the best script writer's sexton. Easy format, ready to use out of the box.

5stars - "The Product for serious script writers" (Michael Bavota)

Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years / SalesRank : 133

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Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years

Amazon Price : $29.99 33%($15.00) OFF
amazon.com availability ： Usually ships in 24 hours

DVD-ROM ( ) [ Git Corporation ] [ Release : 2006 / 12 / 15 ]
EAN : 0791149900053 / ASIN : B000HKMQ64
[ ListPrice : $44.99 ] [ Used Price:$25.99 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.0stars [ See more reviews ]
Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years

This was an excellent buy! I am thoroughly enjoying this product and
would recommend it to any MAD fan! It's good to catch up and to see
the old magazines I remember reading as a child. It was fun to go
back down memory lane. Thanks MAD!

Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years

This was an excellent buy! I am thoroughly enjoying this product and
would recommend it to any MAD fan! It's good to catch up and to see
the old magazines I remember reading as a child. It was fun to go
back down memory lane. Thanks MAD!

5stars - "Absolutely Great MAD!" (Penrique)
The Declaration of Independence looks pristine to these old fish-wrap pages.I half expected to find coffee cup rings and dried food that had fell from the mouth of the long ago reader of that particular issue.Shame on Mad Magazine for putting out such a low quality product,but they are the masters of squeezing out the last drop of blood from their loyal fans.

The Declaration of Independence looks pristine to these old fish-wrap pages.I half expected to find coffee cup rings and dried food that had fell from the mouth of the long ago reader of that particular issue.Shame on Mad Magazine for putting out such a low quality product,but they are the masters of squeezing out the last drop of blood from their loyal fans.

1stars - "Crappy Quality" (Terence Neill)
Great collection. Read this stuff for years as a kid. Nice to see it all together.

5stars - "mad magazine" (james wells)
this is a good addition to the 7 cd rom edition. i would recomend owning both. how about putting all the records and music on a hard disc for us insane collectors. great products!!!

this is a good addition to the 7 cd rom edition. i would recomend owning both. how about putting all the records and music on a hard disc for us insane collectors. great products!!!

5stars - "mad lovers dream" (ed newman)
This is ABSOLUTELY a great way of sharing a magazine I enjoyed as a youngster an teen. What great memories and wonderful satirical writing!

This is ABSOLUTELY a great way of sharing a magazine I enjoyed as a youngster an teen. What great memories and wonderful satirical writing!

5stars - "Absolutely Mad Magazine 50+ years" (Gino Pesce)

Amazing Spider-Man Complete Comic Book Collection Win/Mac / SalesRank : 200

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Amazing Spider-Man Complete Comic Book Collection Win/Mac
Primary Contributor:Windows XP Home Edition

Amazon Price : $29.99 40%($20.00) OFF
amazon.com availability ： Usually ships in 24 hours

DVD-ROM ( ) [ Git Corporation ] [ Release : 2006 / 10 / 09 ]
EAN : 0791149900046 / ASIN : B000HKIM7Q
[ ListPrice : $49.99 ] [ Used Price:$24.50 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
There is no way a scan is going to be better than the original its scanned from.

Unless you expect somebody to retouch 11,000+ pages you will be happy with this package.

It's looks exactly like you remember the original comics.

I'm delighted with this DVD and am delighted there's no more being produced.

There is no way a scan is going to be better than the original its scanned from.

Unless you expect somebody to retouch 11,000+ pages you will be happy with this package.

It's looks exactly like you remember the original comics.

I'm delighted with this DVD and am delighted there's no more being produced.

5stars - "This is good stuff..." (johnny_nyc)

I grew up with Spiderman....on TV as TV movies and cartoons...but I always thought that there was more to it than that.

Getting this box set makes the world of Spiderman come alive. I completely missed out on the original stories of Gobbie, Doc Oc, Venom, Carnage....all that....but no longer. I like seeing where the world starts and comes all the way through 2006.

I also have the Iron Man DVD and will most likely pick up the Incredible Hulk and possibly the Avengers set as well.

I've liked X-Men, so that might be a future purchase as well.

5stars - "It's SPIDERMAN! The way he was meant to be known..." (Andrew P. Livelsberger)

I bought this product because I wanted to catch up on stories from the 90's. Unfortunately, at that time Marvel ran several Spider-Man titles each month and the story lines moved between them. Because this collection contains only issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, you will find that you get the beginning of a story, but not the middle or end, because those were carried out in other comics; or the end but not the beginning. This product indeed contains the complete run--but it is made up of frustratingly incomplete stories. Also, each page appears with a horribly intrusive watermark. Save your money.

1stars - "Technically complete...but save your money" (Charles Jenkins)
GIT really did a fine job with these comic collections. Too bad Marvel is now going totally online and won't let anyone have the actual comics in hand anymore. *sigh* Oh, well -- but if you can get it used (or from GIT), go for it. It's definitely worth the money!

GIT really did a fine job with these comic collections. Too bad Marvel is now going totally online and won't let anyone have the actual comics in hand anymore. *sigh* Oh, well -- but if you can get it used (or from GIT), go for it. It's definitely worth the money!

5stars - "Amazing? You bet!" (Sean Hoade)
This product includes actual .pdf scans of the comic books. I think my brother feels like a 10 year old kid again.

5stars - "My brother loves it" (J. Woods)

Star Trek: The Complete Collection / SalesRank : 225

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Star Trek: The Complete Collection
Primary Contributor:Mac OS X

Amazon Price : $29.99 40%($19.96) OFF
amazon.com availability ： Usually ships in 24 hours

DVD-ROM ( ) [ GIT Corp ] [ Release : 2008 / 09 / 07 ]
EAN : 0791149900183 / ASIN : B001B5KYR2
[ ListPrice : $49.95 ] [ Used Price:$25.95 ]

Average Customer Review :

5.0stars [ See more reviews ]

Review:
I'm not a comic book fan for the most part. I didn't grow up with them and so, never got into the mania. That said, I'm a huge Star Trek fan, so when the Complete Comic Book Collection came out, I picked it up eagerly.

Star Trek: The Complete Comic Book Collection, published by GIT Corp., is a compilation of Star Trek comic books condensed onto a PC/MAC compatible DVD. It contains almost all the comic books published under the Star Trek license between 1967 and 2002 from five different comic book houses (Gold Key, Marvel, DC, Wildstorm & Malibu). This includes the full runs of the Gold Key comics, the TOS post movie comics, TNG, DS9 and Voyager runs as well as the various miniseries over the years.

It does not include the latest comic series that have been published in the past couple years. Still, that ends up being around 500 comic books or more, including the entire run of a good number of monthly series. That's quite the bounty indeed.

The comics are presented in high quality scans of the actual comic books themselves in Adobe Acrobat PDF format (Adobe Acrobat is included on the disc). The entire collection is organized fairly clearly by publisher and series, with PDF files serving as menus to open the various comics. The entire comic books are included, including covers, ads and letters to the editor pages. The images are fairly high resolution and printable as well.

GIT Corp has done a fine job with this collection. For the most part, all of the scans are high quality images. They didn't use the original proofs, instead scanning actual comic books to make the collection. For that reason, occasionally you'll come across a page that has been ripped, or find that the pages have yellowed. I suppose it adds a bit to the experience.

I'm somewhat amazed that they got together all of the licenses to put this out. I was fascinated to read the old original Gold Key comics from the late 60's and early 70's. One could tell that the writers didn't watch the show, as for years, rocket flames sprayed out of the ship's nacelles and the ship's interior bore little resemblance to the real thing.

There are only a few minor complaints a person might have about this collection. Pages are presented in a two page spread format rather than a single page spread. It would have been nice to have the pages separately for viewing as even on larger monitors, two pages at once makes the print small and hard to make out.

Also, some of the graphic novels were clearly scanned in bound format rather than from a book that was taken apart. The glare on the middle of the two page scans makes this obvious. I suspect that the scans were done very quickly and imperfections sneaked in as a result.

Overall, I highly recommend this collection to fans and collectors. Before this collection, the only way to see all of these comics was to hunt comic book stores and spend loads of money. That's fine for the avid comic book collector, but what about the rest of us? Few star Trek fans would ever see most of these comics. Now, they're available all in one place for a relatively cheap price. That really can't be beat.

Bottom Line: Highly recommended.

5stars - "Collecting the comic so everyone can read them" (S. Lawrenz)

This is really awesome! I have several of the DVD comic collections (Captain America, Avengers, Spiderman, Fantastic 4, Ghost Rider), but this is the best by far! Sure, some of the comics were cheesy, but that's part of the charm. I do enjoy finding collections here that I didn't even know existed. The quality is outstanding, when you consider that the source material is, in some cases, degraded.

Another commendation for leaving out the paraniod DRM. These are straight up PDF files. That means you can view them anywhere. I have even put one of the issues on my Treo, but it can be a little difficult to read it there.

Great qork here guys! I'm very pleased I bought this collection!

P.S. There is an error in the listing. It shows as Mac OSX, but I have a Vista PC and it runs there. I don't know about Mac compatability as I have never owned one, but this will work on your Windows PC.

5stars - "Outstanding! This is my favorite of the comic collections!" (John Keitz)

I have been on a lifelong search through comic stores across the country for Star Trek comic books. Never to purchase, as that would burn a decent hole into my already empty pocket, but simply to glance through the pages and read the stories in a manner so much more different than what I was used to. Comics are fun to read, and they offer a unique vision of a story and its characters. Imagine my surprise when I learned there was a compilation DVD in the works for the Star Trek comic series!

I have glanced through a good chunk of the comics included in this set, and am pleased as punch to see these stories again. Some of my favorites included the Mirror Universe Saga, the Tabukan Syndrome, the parallel universe Borg invasion, and of course Peter David's "Who Killed Captain Kirk?" I also enjoyed being able to finally read Shatner's comic adaptation of "The Ashes of Eden," which I missed out on when it fell out of publication.

However, I have noticed several errors in the scanning process used to produce this set. Some of the comic pages will have half or so of the image tinted a solid color, and some will be cut off completely. Fortunately, the vast majority were scanned correctly, but there are enough that weren't to make the experience somewhat annoying. Nevertheless, I am still glad to finally have these stories available to me whenever I want. If you are a serious Star Trek fan, then these are a must-have.

4stars - "About Time..." (Phyfell)

This is really an impressive collection. I remember reading some of the Gold Key comics as a kid and when I saw this I had to check it out. With over 500 comic books to read you can spend many long hours reading the comics in this collection, or print out any pages that you find particularly captivating.

I like some of the flaws in the early Gold Key comics with fire coming out of the Enterprise nacelles, or seeing the Enterprise skimming over the treetops of some planet, or better yet the complete annihilation of an entire planet of diverse intelligent plants-talk about ignoring the prime directive.

In any event the entire collection is well worth it, great stories, great artwork, all for about 8 cents a comic. If you enjoy Star Trek this should hold you over until the next movie.

5stars - "Resistance is Futile" (Minilith)

As the packaging suggests, this collection includes every issue of Star Trek comic books ever published on a single DVD-ROM. From the classic DC Comic releases to the more obscure fare such as the nearly forgotten Star Trek comic/record sets from the seventies (included here under "Bonus Material"). It's all here - even the annuals, movie adaptations, and mini-series events.

In the unlikely event a user is unfamiliar with the Star Trek universe, there's even a helpful "Bios" section which briefly explains the role of each major crewmember. In addition, there is a four-page summation of Star Trek history as well. Neither are particularly detailed, but they're a welcome bonus for a collection already brimming at the seams with material.

The comics are read through Abobe Acrobat (which is included) and the interface is quite efficient and user-friendly. To begin with, you simply click which of the five publishers you want and you're brought to an organized listing of the works they published. Once you select the group of issues you want, you'll be taken to a table displaying all the covers and issues numbers (see user images for my example of this). Simply select one and begin reading!

Of special note is how complete these comics are - all the original advertisements are intact as well as the "Letters to the Editor" sections. The ads are always interesting, especially the older ones. I believe every comic book since the beginning of mankind has an ad that promises you an instant muscled physique for only a few dollars. The Letters sections typically have insightful comments from the readers as well as often amusing rants and technical nitpicking as only Trekkies can do!

Naturally, reading from a computer screen is less than ideal. Nothing can match a hard copy, especially where comic books are concerned. Of course, the comics are fully printable, though I shudder to think how much ink and paper just a few dozen of these would require!

As far as quality is concerned, the older issues do not make as fine a scan as the newer ones. Typically the ones from the mid-eighties and older are more difficult to read, as the ink is slightly hazy and blurry in places. They're still fully readable, just not as crisp and clear as the issues from the late-eighties onward are.

One last note, the promotional material prior to the release of this indicated that the newspaper comic strip material would be included as well. Due to a variety of rights issues, they were not able to include these. Still, with over 500 issues here, it's possible even the most ardent Star Trek fan will require months and months to sift through all this material!

This is an incredible value and a very fun disc to have. The comics are perfect for a brief study break or a lazy Sunday marathon reading session. I can honestly say my purchase was worth every penny, and that's a rare thing these days!

(A note about the packaging: the disc is housed in a standard dvd case and comes shipped in a cardboard sleeve. The sleeve contains a listing of all the issues as well as a brief distillation of the "Classic Issues" included in the DVD-ROM. I think it's a good idea to cut these out of the sleeve and place them within the dvd case - as I said, always nice to have a hard copy!)

5stars - "Outstanding compilation!" (Leif Sheppard)

Macgourmet Deluxe / SalesRank : 425

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Macgourmet Deluxe

Amazon Price : $42.99 14%($7.00) OFF
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CD-ROM ( Mac OS X ) [ Mariner Software ] [ Release : 2008 / 07 / 25 ]
EAN : 0605691360008 / ASIN : B001CXL1EI
[ ListPrice : $49.99 ]

Average Customer Review :

5.0stars [ See more reviews ]

If you have a Mac and want to organize your recipes this is the program for you. I ended up downloading this software online after reading reviews of this product and The Recipe Manager 3. Macgourmet received far more rave reviews on message boards online so I ultimately decided to purchase it and couldn't be more pleased. The biggest selling point is that the user interface is very simple to use. It makes it very easy to input recipes, calculate nutritional information, add a photo, make weekly menus, and even publish your own cookbook. I also like it because it makes it very easy to rate my recipes and add notes to myself. I find this to be a big plus because I would frequently want to recreate recipes, but would forget if I even liked them or what substitutions or additions I had made.
This software is especially fantastic if you're looking to save recipes from websites (though I also find it easy to enter recipes from cookbooks, magazines, and recipe cards as well). Currently you can download recipes from sites like FoodNetwork.com, Epicurious.com, and AllRecipes.com in one easy step. Even if a website is not supported, there is a "text clipping" feature that makes it easy to import the recipe without retyping the whole thing.
The only potential downside is that this software does not come with a preloaded library of recipes. This was a non-issue for me as I prefer to select and organize recipes myself, but could frustrate someone who expects to have all the recipes already included. However, as another reviewer mentioned, you can find many websites for download on their site as well as under the 'Featured' subhead in the software.
Overall, I have had this program for almost one year now and have been extremely pleased with the results. What minor glitches the software has had have easily been remedied by updates on the site. I expect more great versions of this product in the future and am particularly curious about a version that is iPhone/iPod Touch compatible.

5stars - "Makes organizing recipes a breeze" (Boston Book Addict)

Macgourmet Deluxe

I had recently purchased another software title to organize my recipes and then found MacGourmet Deluxe. The short learning curve and ease of use made tossing out other a no brainer. While not as simple as copy and paste the ability to import recipes from websites and other text documents is a winner in my book and is much easier than in any other product I've tried. The chef view is great if you work off a laptop while cooking. I definitely recommend!

5stars - "Outstanding produt" (Bubba Gadget)

I purchased the original Advenio Mac Gourmet recipe software program and later added the upgrade features. Mac Gourmet is the best cooking software available for Macs as it offers nutritional analysis, recipe scaling, nutritional calculations, meal planning and the ability to print cookbooks.

The program also offers "Chef's View" which is an enlarged recipe easily read straight from the computer screen. I love this feature as my Mac is located in the kitchen. I can glance at the recipe while cooking instead of having to print the recipe out and then lay it down on the counter to cook with.

Mac Gourmet does not come with any pre-installed cookbooks but recipes can be easily imported at the Advenio recipe forum. Mac Gourmet also offers two easy ways to import recipes from web sites. Both work really well and there are additional free plug-ins for some of the well known recipe sites making the task of importing recipes a snap.

I am a longtime user of Mastercook (still the BEST recipe software programs for PCs) and have found the transition to Mac Gourmet very easy.

Overall, this is an excellent recipe software program.

5stars - "Best Mac recipe software program on the market" (M. Ash)

Movie Magic Screenwriter Version 6 / SalesRank : 182

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Movie Magic Screenwriter Version 6

Amazon Price : $174.99 30%($74.96) OFF
amazon.com availability ： Usually ships in 24 hours

CD-ROM ( ) [ Write Brothers ] [ Release : 2007 / 08 / 17 ]
EAN : 0705868060066 / ASIN : B000V5SRAE
[ ListPrice : $249.95 ] [ Used Price:$139.00 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.0stars [ See more reviews ]

Movie Magic Screenwriter is a delight to use. It's simple, and saves a lot of time and effort in formatting, navigating and organizing your script. In the past I had a lot of false starts, but Screenwriter is so much fun and satisfying to use that I'm on my last 15 pages of my first script, and I must say it's turned out more sleek and impressive than I could have imagined. And, it's perfect industry standard. I have several promising developments as far as selling my screenplay, and I could have never imagined, or gotten to this point without MMSW.

I love that MMSW includes templates for novels and non-fiction. I am writing a non-fiction book as well, and the programs auto formats it as well. I am in love with this software!

If you are serious about breaking into screenwriting, BUY THIS! I tried Final Draft, and I didn't find it to be intuitive. It was a pain to use. MMSW is the real deal. You'll love it.

5stars - "Make Your Screenwriting Dreams Come True!" (S. Khalsa)

I've written screen plays many years ago, but this is the first time I've used a software package to write this type of format. I am used to using different software packages, and using Screenwriter was an easy transition.
The manual that comes with it was very useful, but I was able to start writing my movie script almost immediately, which means that the user interface for Screenwriter was user friendly.
I haven't had to use all of its features, but writing and formatting is very easy and its exporting to PDF worked flawlessly.

5stars - "Works for me." (Elkman)

1stars - "BUGS!!!!!" (Steve Graves)

I've worked in and around the entertainment industry for almost 15 years now and though there was a time when Final Draft could be considered the industry standard those days are long gone. No matter what you hear I am here to tell you that in my experience, literally, most people actually working in this town use Movie Magic Screenwriter. Not just the writers and directors but the producers and nearly everybody who has to do something with the script during production. The simple reason is: it is more powerful and easier to use.

For that matter I've seen far too many people finally decide to throw Final Draft away (after I had been telling them to do so for years) when in the middle of shooting and trying to rush to get something ready for the next day Final Draft either crashed or had some funkiness that completely gummed up their files. I've never had anybody tell me they've experienced that with Screenwriter.

The new outlining feature is great if still not fully realized. Ultimately the company should have found a way to just integrate StoryView into the program, especially considering it seems this outline feature is the primary reason it took them about 7 or 8 years to come out with a new version and it isn't anywhere near as powerful as StoryView. Having said that the whole Navidoc is excellent. The notes feature is enhanced to make creating different kinds of notes super easy and much more functional than it was before (and light years ahead of anything Final Draft offers). I don't really use the book marks feature all that much but I've spoken to a lot of my co-workers and friends who use bookmarks frequently so you may find it a useful feature.

I can also tell you this: if you truly have plans to actually see your screenplay go into production anybody who will be working with you and the file will greatly appreciate you using Screenwriter. Everybody is still using Scheduling and nothing, NOTHING, works as seemlessly with Scheduling as Screenwriter. Sorry Final Draft. Nobody wants to open another program to do their tagging and production work and go back and forth between that and the main program while doing rewrites and going through the production cycle. Not to mention having all that work go to waste when bugs wipe stuff out.

Beyond the basic funtionality there are so many advanced features in Screenwriter that it would take an expert manual to cover everything. In my experience any time I've thought "hey, it would be nice if I could..." after poking around a bit I've discovered Screenwriter can and I'm off and running. Now with the new outline feature and script notes changes I am almost 100% fully loaded. Not quite, but as close as anything else out there.

5stars - "This is the true Industry Standard" (Willy Mac)

After trying both Final Draft and Screenwriter, I decided on Screenwriter, simply because I had an easier time with the demo than I did with final draft, though it seems others have differing opinions judging by some of the other reviews on Amazon. After looking through the tutorial in the manual, I was easily able to quickly format my scripts, leaving me to think solely about the creative process. As I find writing a difficult process at times, it's nice to be able to let the computer do the formatting instead of me having to worry about it. The Templates included are useful to see how the pros do it, and would be very useful for those writing spec scripts. I use the Mac version, and have had no problems using it on OS X. One great feature I have used was the ability to import a script formatted in Word into the correct formatting of Screenwriter. While only about 75 percent accurate, it sure beat typing all of what I had already written outside of the program again. In summary, I've found it does everything it sets out to do, and you can't ask more from a product than that!

5stars - "Thanks to this, I don't have to think about format, just creation" (D. Kimber)

Reunion 9, Genealogy and Family Tree Software for Macintosh / SalesRank : 289

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Reunion 9, Genealogy and Family Tree Software for Macintosh

amazon.com availability ： Out of stock.
( Market Place : Used Seller - 0 and New Seller - 2 )

CD-ROM [ Leister Productions Inc. ]
EAN : - / ASIN : B000OWL1EI
[ ListPrice : $99.00 ]

Average Customer Review :

4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
Reunion is nicely designed, with many more options than GEDitCOM, but it costs twice as much and is not twice as good.

4stars - "Reunion 9" (E. M. Osmolskis)

Reunion 9, Genealogy and Family Tree Software for Macintosh

I had a very old version of this program and loved it. This version looks great. It was easy to import my old family trees, charts, & reports. The only problem I've found so far is that the manual is paperless. I prefer to write in a paper manual, use stickies, etc.
The company quickly replied to my question and the product shipped in a reasonable amount of time.

4stars - "Great Mac genealogy program" (MediaMaven)
I have not used family tree software before and this product was easy to figure out and get going. The web site of the publisher is full of useful information and most all problems or questions are addressed there. I was able to publish my family tree to the web with ease and adding new information is simple and headache free.

I have not used family tree software before and this product was easy to figure out and get going. The web site of the publisher is full of useful information and most all problems or questions are addressed there. I was able to publish my family tree to the web with ease and adding new information is simple and headache free.

5stars - "Best ever" (B. Wegscheid)
It is not as user friendly as I thought it would be, from information that I had read.

3stars - "reunion 9" (Richard L. Fagan)

I've used Reunion since version 6, I think, and it is the best genealogy software I've ever used. I've tried Family Tree Maker on Windows and Reunion blows it away. FTM is just ugly, where Reunion has a nice interface and is easy to use. You can export your family tree to the GEDCOM standard and upload it to Geni.com, or import your old Windows family tree file into Reunion, though you'll have to import all the media files separately, as GEDCOM doesn't seem to support media.

I considered other Mac genealogy programs, but decided to stick with Reunion. One of the great things about this software is the fantastic personal support that leister.com gives you. BTW, this is a universal app, in case you're wondering. A lot of genealogy applications seem to be lagging behind in that respect.

All in all, I consider this the best genealogy software available, on mac or Windoze. You can't go wrong with Reunion!

5stars - "Best Macintosh Genealogy Software. Get it!" (John B. Kalla)

Punch! Home Design Studio (Mac) / SalesRank : 1780

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Punch! Home Design Studio (Mac)

Amazon Price : $96.99 35%($52.01) OFF
amazon.com availability ： Usually ships in 1 to 2 months

CD-ROM ( Mac OS X ) [ Punch! Software ] [ Release : 2006 / 09 / 20 ]
EAN : 0664446901002 / ASIN : B000I4PAQC
[ ListPrice : $149.00 ] [ Used Price:$141.87 ]

Average Customer Review :

2.5stars [ See more reviews ]
I used 3D Home Architect for years on a PC, going back several years. I finally found this program for the Mac, and was hopeful, but the program is useless. The interface is not intuitive, and nothing seems to work the way it should. Even simple features like copy and paste seem to fail. What a disappointment!

I used 3D Home Architect for years on a PC, going back several years. I finally found this program for the Mac, and was hopeful, but the program is useless. The interface is not intuitive, and nothing seems to work the way it should. Even simple features like copy and paste seem to fail. What a disappointment!

1stars - "Terrible Program!" (D. Rose)

This is absolutely the worst home design program I have ever used. In the past I've used 3D Home Architect and Better Homes and Gardens, but I recently bought a Mac so I could no longer use my old programs. I bought this one because the Punch website had tons of beautifully rendered graphics and they supposedly won several awards. Here's the truth-the graphics are the worst I've seen on a home design program since the early 90's. Far from being realistic, they remind me of that old Dire Straits video "Money for Nothing". The objects lack basic details like door knobs and trim with beveled edges. Also, there are very few objects to choose from, for instance there's only one shower and it's a corner shower. So if you would like anything other than a corner shower in your bathroom, that's just too bad. They also only have one style of kitchen sink-a double bowl. So again, if you would like a single or a triple sink, I guess you'll just have to use your imagination. The program is also supposed to draw curved walls. Well, that's a lie. The truth is it draws a "curve" by using a group of straight and diagonal walls. So if you want to draw a circle, it will come out an octagon. The other major problem I have with this program is how hard it is to use. All of the other home design programs I've had in the past were so easy, I could immediately start using them without having to study the manual. But this one is so complicated, I had to read half the manual just to figure out how to zoom in and out of the screen. I've now read the entire manual with the hope that once I've learned everything, I'll be able to enjoy it. But every time I use it, I just want to cry because it's such a terrible program. Bottom line, don't let Punch's fancy ads and awards fool you. This program just sucks!

1stars - "Worst Home Design Program Ever" (Shannon Jefferies)

As the other reviews have pointed out, this Mac version has turned out to be a big disappointment. After spending the money and a fair amount of time trying to figure out the unintuitive software, I learned there were virtually no construction-related tools (framing designer, etc etc). I'd consider this more a sophisticated toy than a serious house-design software. It's too bad Punch is not more honest and up-front about the limitations of this software.

1stars - "Much less developed than Windows version" (spinoza)

I've been working with this software five days a week, 7-plus hours a day. I've read many reviews about it. And I confess to being completely baffled by this puzzling mystery: Why don't the Punch software people invest in some good interface design for a major new Punch release? This software has such obvious potential.

The review consensus, here and at other sites, seems to boil down to this: it is hands-down, the best home-design out there. AND this is faint praise because it has few competitors that can touch it in power and flexibility, short of a professional CAD program. This is a mass-market product; there are lots of small businesses trying to use it as well as plenty of homeowners. Judging by these reviews, the program's actual use seems simultaneously to be a most frustrating experience for many reviewers, with clumsy navigation, less-than-optimal implementations of half-thought-out features, barely adequate libraries, and just plain missing features, along with the best graphics engine in its niche.

After using it myself, I have some suggestions to make. In fact, I'll lead the redesign team myself, if they want me to, because for me, it was hours of fun. Really. with so much missed revenue-generating potential, I'd work for stock options. The property has SUCH potential that I don't know why it's been overlooked by its publishers.

First, I think the rendering engine on this program is really impressive. It has reasonable rendering rates on reasonably affordable platforms such as the Intel-backed iMacs. It seems quite stable and responsive, even on older Macs, though the speed differences can vary widely with different OS/hardware combinations (I did not test it on the PC).

That said, the critics are only partly right about the usability problems. I am an experienced user of 3D programs, and after an hour or so, I had the navigation down pretty well in the Live View window. It is reasonably usable, meaning my sense is, if the features justified the investment, most people who could benefit from using this software would be able to learn it.

Usability could be improved, and brought closer to standards established by other graphical design and visualization software, especially for navigation and window control in the 2D tools. But most of the core features are in place.

The real missed opportunity here lies in features. Many of the features most useful to users are also target-marketing opportunities to die for. For instance, the program has Content Libraries, and advertises their availability as a feature. The libraries include content from home design product vendors, such as tile, paint, and wallpaper vendors. I was pleased to see they had a Partner program that included Sherwin-Williams, since there was a store near the design site. I'd looked forward to picking up paint chips and trying out various colors. The problem was, there was no way to match the color samples at Sherwin-Williams to the representations of color in the program. After three weeks, I hadn't discovered any way to know what color to buy once I'd chosen something from the S-W paint library, nor had I found a way to input a color by number, update new samples from the Sherwin-Williams web site, or mix a color from a palette and find the closest match to paint that met my criteria, such as interior vs. exterior, or finish availability.

You see what I mean? This is an obvious win-win if Punch can work a bit on that partner program and the business model supporting it. Sherwin-Williams would sell more paint (and get an edge on Behr's until THEY sign a partner agreement with Punch), and the consumer is delighted to buy the software when they find out they can actually preview their actual paint color. Doh! What am I missing here? Can it be this easy?

Punch's concept is right, but the libraries are so disappointingly limited that its utility as a design tool is likewise limited. Design features we wanted to add, such as a greenhouse window, were missing. Simple window features, such as recessed frames, are missing. These are missed opportunities for manufacturers of windows. Well, you can't have everything before you ship, right?

No, but you can provide ways of updating content, and importing and exporting content so users who have unique architectural features can create them. Perhaps they could share objects with others. Users creating and sharing (free) content creates user communities. User communities create more marketing opportunities. More content attracts more users.

Punch's decision to use a proprietary graphics format just doesn't seem to make economic sense. I could find only one "power user"" advertising her work on the user forums, a clear sign that the format is a forbidding hurdle even for users with considerable 3D modeling experience. This is an old business model, and Google's SketchUp, with it's open formats, may eventually catch up with it.

All of this is a shame, because the software is lots of fun, despite these gripes. We've found it useful. So on the whole, I'd buy it again. But what a shame.

3stars - "A Puzzling Product Story" (iQuest Media Design)

If you are looking for a program to do a 3d view of your dream home without any substance, this program is for you. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a program to help you design real projects for a do-it-yourselfer you are going to be sorely out of luck.

Punch Home design Studio is just a toy with little substance. You can put up a wall and throw down a sink but you cant run piping to that sink or electric to the bathroom lights. Its like a great big content editing program for a 3d video game with as much use as that. A toy to be experimented with but not appropriate for much more. When I querried about how to put in piping for my radiant floor I was told that you dont do that because the plumber does that. Now what if I am going to be the plumber, Im supposed to just shoot from the hip? Ditto for the rest of the details.

When it comes to the landscape editor, the joke gets worse. Of 32 plants I had planned to put in my renovated garden, PHDSP had 2. Yest, only two plants of 32 were found in the library and the interface to that library stinks.

While we are on the subject of the interface, the Mac interface is very bad. Clearly this is a bad hack port of a windows program. The user interface is not like a mac program but more like Office for Mac -- clearly a low quality hack. If that wasnt enough, when running it on leopard, it tends to crash and erase everything you did since the last save, so if you do intend to play with this thing, save often.

So why am I making this post? Well because I tried to return the software and was unable to return it even just the next day. I was told that the $149 I plopped down for a lemon with overinflated advertising was lost. Maybe I can eek out some cash on eBay for it. Yes I am upset.

In summary, I was looking for a program that was useful for helping me design my home do-it-yourself projects from installign radiant heating to planning my sprinkler system and what I got was a poorly implemented toy to assemble pre-fabricated 3d objects into a pretty picture. Advertising scores a 10 of 10 for promising much but the program will only be minimally useful.

1stars - "Great Toy, Light on serious features" (Robert Simmons Jr.)

3D Home Architect Home & Landscape Design Suite v10 SB / SalesRank : 1110

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3D Home Architect Home & Landscape Design Suite v10 SB

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DVD-ROM ( ) [ Encore Software ] [ Release : 2008 / 09 / 02 ]
EAN : 0705381156901 / ASIN : B001B5L5V6

eMedia Intermediate Guitar Method Win/Mac / SalesRank : 1419

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eMedia Intermediate Guitar Method Win/Mac

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CD-ROM ( ) [ eMedia ] [ Release : 2002 / 07 / 22 ]
EAN : 0746290040219 / ASIN : B0000696OH
[ ListPrice : $59.99 ] [ Used Price:$34.42 ]

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4.5stars [ See more reviews ]
I found the software more challenging than I expected. I have also been studying with another kind of software which has a totally different approach to the study of the electric guitar. At this point I haven't made enough progress to be more thorough in my remarks.

I found the software more challenging than I expected. I have also been studying with another kind of software which has a totally different approach to the study of the electric guitar. At this point I haven't made enough progress to be more thorough in my remarks.

4stars - "more challenging than looks" (Peter J. Toth)

I have read a gazzillion books, visited as many web sites and the guitar has always been a damn mystery to me. Sure I can bang out a few chords and play House of the Rising Sun, but that's about it. This program has clicked with me more than anything else I've ever tried. After about a month, I really feel like I can play the silly thing! Now I can go back and understand what all the other books were trying to tell me! Get this: I went into a guitar store and plugged in an expensive Strat and played it without feeling stupid!
The approach appeals to my nonlinear thinking. You can work through the lessons, skip ahead and then go back. I won't say I've mastered anything yet, but I'm playing and enjoying! I'm recommending this to everyone! I if you can read tabs and understand basic open chords START with this program! Mostly I've been working on Crying and screaming lead techniques (bends, hammer-ons, pull offs slides, etc.) and barre chords.
I'm going to get the advanced programs when I'm done with these!

5stars - "I Love This Program" (Jonathan H. Amsbary)

eMedia intermediate guitar method is an excellent system to expand on your beginner skills. I have now been playing guitar for four months and have gotten better than some of my friends that have been playing for over a year. I finished the CD so I am lending it out now to these same friends.

I started out with the eMedia beginner guitar method and soon after bought this CD. I had attempted to play guitar for perhaps two days before this present time. From this series, I am now comfortable with chords, barre chords, bass walks, finger picking (arpeggios and travis style), hammer-ons, pull-offs, trills, and reading notes. The method has gotten me excited to buy my first electric guitar, practice bends, and learn more about lead guitar playing.

The stuff you learn to play on this CD simply sounds cool. There is a sweet Grateful Dead tune, All Along the Watch Tower, several classic rock pieces, an excellent 12-bar blues solo, there is some country/bluegrass, a few classic guitar pieces (Bach, Pachelbel), and an amazing Jimi Hendrix solo for All Along the Watch Tower. All the songs are recorded from a live guitar player so you will know how each song will sound. When I first browsed through the CD, I thought to myself "There is no way I will be able to sound like that". And yet after much practicing, I got through the CD, can play all the pieces well, and am so happy that I am now a decent guitar player.

I continue to be excited to learn. I think the Fretboard Logic series will help me develop a better understanding of the fretboard and build up my lead guitaring skills.

I wanted to add this review to show that this system is still a great way to learn. I am thankful to eMedia for putting out a product that is showing me that it is never to late to learn to play guitar. To add to the pluses as detailed elsewhere: many great pieces that you will be excited to learn, both standard and tablature notation so that you can learn both methods of reading, etc. The minuses: does not cover fretboard/CAGED organization.

5stars - "you will be able to play some great stuff" (A. Almeda)

After completing the first volume, I was nothing but impressed with the emedia material. I'd conquered campfire chords! Now is where the cool stuff starts, Volume 2, and it too is excellent. The great thing about Emedia's approach is how it breaks down the teaching of a new technique. After explaining and demoing the technique a short, usually interesting (but not always), song is presented that exactly covers that technique being taught. It avoids the pitfall of other guitar teaching material, which is use some ultra-mind-numbing, hardly melodic bit to practice the execution of the technique. The well paced introduction and progression of technique building really suits me well. My only concern is that I'm potentially developing bad habits, this is where a good teacher is a must. The chord and scale directories are great, but it would've been nice if the scale directory took better advantage of the guitar's range. I find I use the metronome quite often too. Good stuff!

5stars - "awesome way to learn more advanced guitaring" (M. Panoff)

I wasn't sure how this would work out, but at the price, the eMedia Guitar method offered a lot more than the books and CD's or DVD's in the local music store.Features I really like:Animated Fretboard diagram: How to place your fingers for chords and notes.Chord Dictionary: Important for playing music--chords are the basis.Metronome: Nice to have, I find metronomes annoying but they do bring your speed up as you practice.Guitars and Their Parts: and what might be wrong with your.Reading Chord Charts, Tablature, Notation: It's important to know how to read a chord chart, but musical notation, the backbone of all music, is not ignored. I think one should read music, so if you don't, you are encouraged to learn here.The lessons for chords start small--one finger (like a G7), two fingers, three, and up to the tough ones with four or barred. This is rather how I learned because I learned guitar by first playing a ukelele! (The tuning of the last four strings is the same on a guitar and uke.) You are a lot less likely to suffer frustration and sore fingers if you can play a tune or two with a two-finger chord. You just don't strum the entire set of strings at first.The strumming techniques include good video of the up and down method of the blues, and there is a section on blues guitar style, of which I was most interested.For the money, hardly a risk. Find a good starter guitar and give it a try.

4stars - "Teacher-in-a-box" (Joanna Daneman)

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