User Profile for jpbb555

User Name jpbb555

Member Since 2004-12-02

Total number of Feedback Posts: 10

Total number of comments: 0

Last 10 Feedback Posts by jpbb555 [ Search for All ]

NovaMind 3.0.9 (Mac OS X)

I've tried, I believe, every mind mapping app for OS X. I like NovaMind the best for a simple reason: speed of input ability. I can enter information nearly as fast as I think it. While OminGraffle and some of the others may offer every concievable option, I spent more time fiddling with lineshapes and such instead of just mapping. The only complaints I have about Novamind are that it is looking a bit bloated. When you open all the available viewers, it overwhelms your screen (reminds me of Omnigraffle which seems overwhelming to me). It would be nice to optionally dock some of the viewers in the preferences and to try and simplfy where possible. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info | 3 of 3 users found this helpful

Friday, January 06 2006 @ 02:12 PM PST

Toast Titanium 7.0.2 (Mac OS X)

Over-rated, highly-polished turd, and NO Support

I mostly bought this to make backup DVDs (my toddler keeps scratching up the originals). However, I keep getting the error "cannot compress this TS_Video folder." This error makes the software useless for me for my main purpose. Sure it's got other features too, but I've found that most of the features that Toast hypes are already in OS X. Such as you can use iTunes to make an audio CD or use iMovie + iDVD to make a home-made DVD with menus and all. The "Deja Vu" backup does look useful, but I haven't tried it yet. I tried to get support. Their support website is like a hockey goaly trying to keep you from scoring any answers. Roxio is worse than not having any support; it's like they discourage it. They should just replace their support page with a notice that says "We have your money, now #$%@-off." Good luck trying to find a support phone number or email anywhere. I would've had more fun throwing my $79 out the window. I'd recommend trying everything else before buying this highly-polished turd. [alert admin]

Read Comments (1) | More Info | 2 of 4 users found this helpful

Friday, January 06 2006 @ 01:58 PM PST

Mozilla Firefox 1.0 (Mac OS X)

Faster than Safari, I won't go back now!

I was very hesitant to try anything besides Safari, but ebay and gmail both took days to load so I gave firefox a whirl. Wow! Much faster browsing, better options, the password remember feature is awesome (said I'd never use one of those, but now I really like it), and it's very very stable. I'd highly recommend giving it a try. I liked the Safari dock icon better though so I just copied it and my dock icon is still Safari's. [alert admin]

StartupSound.prefPane 1.0.2 (Mac OS X)

Excellent! A must-have.

This is an example of excellent software design. It performs a very useful function, does it without any flaws, is dead-on easy to use, and stays out of your way. I like the fact that it goes in your preferences--that makes sense and is an excellent design by the developer(s). It's five stars all the way. It's not only a great little utility, I think its an example of simplicity that all software should follow. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info | 2 of 2 users found this helpful

Saturday, January 08 2005 @ 03:54 PM PST

Azureus BitTorrent Client 2.1.0.0 (Mac OS X)

Had to hit the power button -total freeze- on OS X

I haven't tried the latest release so the stability issues may have been fixed, but frankly I won't ever load azureus ever again on my machine. I've been burned. Azureus would randomly freeze my dual-proc 1.42 G4. I had to hit the power button--total freezes. Never seen another app do that. Well, not on OS X. When it was up and running, it was an feature-packed app with a nice interface. But it should come with a warning that it might freeze your system. Stability should come ahead of features. [alert admin]

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Saturday, January 08 2005 @ 12:55 AM PST

Tomato Torrent 1.0.1 (Mac OS X)

Nice beta, basic functionality works good

Azeureus froze my dual-processor g4. It took me about a week to figure out that was the culprit. Tomato Torrent is not really comparable to Azeureus, but for basic functionality of downloading torrents, it does the job. It has crashed a couple of times randomly, but at least it doesn't freeze my computer. If you have more than a couple torrents going, your desktop can get very busy with all the progress windows (each torrent opens a new window). Best thing I like about this app: the dock icon. [alert admin]

Xfactor 0.273 (Mac OS X)

Great app, nice dock icon

I was using Poisoned until there was some problem with expiration of the gIft daemon. xFactor is an excellent replacement. I like the interface (self-contained, no drawers) better than Poisoned. I'd give it 5 stars except it's crashed a couple of times randomly, and a few features don't seem to respond (such as preview file). Overall, a good app. Nice clean interface. Just needs some minor stability improvment. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info | 2 of 3 users found this helpful

Saturday, January 08 2005 @ 12:37 AM PST

Process Wizard 1.18 (Mac OS X)

Flawless performance, must-have for VPC

I was using BeNicer until I got a new Mac and had problems with privledges (not able to Renice from a non-admin account with BeNicer). Normally, I'm hesitant to add extra stuff to my menu bar, but I've found that's the best place for this app--it's great and unintrusive. I give it 5 stars! The developer(s) did a great job! Awesome app! [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info | 3 of 3 users found this helpful

Saturday, January 08 2005 @ 12:32 AM PST

Grokker 2.2 (Mac OS X)

Poor installation, information overload

The installation tried to get me to install it somewhere I didn't want it. Then when I tried to install it to "applications" (imagine that), the installer wouldn't let me select that location. So I had to install it to some other place. I don't like making a mess on my hard drive. Once installed, after I had to register, check my email, geez, I was not impressed and I feel like I've just wasted 30 minutes installing, registering, and giving it a try. The software is quite simply "information overload." I understand what its trying to do, and perhaps for certain people it works, but not for me. I'd say give it a try and see if it works for you, but since the install is so poor, and you have to spend time registering just to try it, then I'd recommend skipping it completely. Lastly, THERE IS NO UNINSTALL. Sure I trashed the main file, but if it comes with a package to install, what did it put on my HD, where, and shouldn't there be an uninstall to completely erase it all? I guess this is the kind of junk you get when you take a Wintel app and port it. [alert admin]

Post a comment | More Info | 4 of 4 users found this helpful

Friday, January 07 2005 @ 01:41 PM PST

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