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Advanced SearchUser Name kalsta
Member Since 2004-02-06
Total number of Feedback Posts: 23
Total number of comments: 12
Last 10 Feedback Posts by kalsta [ Search for All ]
MacGourmet 2.1.6 (Mac OS X)
When I reviewed recipe programs well over a year ago, MacGourmet was at version 1.1.7. It's obviously seen very active development since then so I thought perhaps it deserved another look… The developer has addressed most of the shortcomings it would seem, and the user interface is very usable and very attractive. (IMO it looks even better if you change the display template in preferences to 'Streamline'!) I've never understood why recipe programs often limit you to scaling recipe servings in basic multiples of 1/2, 2, etc. Surely, it makes more sense to just tell the program how many people you intend to serve. I mean, it's a computer right — it can handle the maths! Well, MacGourmet now gets this right and allows you to scale a recipe by entering the precise number of servings required. (It would be even better if you could change it directly in the main recipe view.) There is now no shortage of useful metadata which can be associated with each recipe. In some ways it's a bit over the top… One field called simply 'categories' contains a long list of arbitrary descriptors including '30 minute', 'Cheesecakes', 'St. Patrick's Day' and 'Low Fat'. If, like me, this doesn't appeal to your sense of associational logic, you can thankfully edit these categories using the Library Browser. And if that seems like too much work, no one's forcing you to use any of this metadata. Unused fields simply don't show up in the main recipe view. Smart Recipe Lists have gotten smarter and make good use of all that metadata to organise your recipes into groups. Adding a new recipe felt very quick and efficient to me in contrast to some other programs. Entering new ingredients is the way it should be: predefined list items auto-fill as you type, and adding subsequent items is as easy as tabbing to the next field — there's no need to grab the mouse and click on the plus icon (although you can if you like!) According to my previous review I wasn't impressed with the shopping list feature. Well in this version I picked it up pretty quickly, and it now features iPod export too. You can now specify 'metric' as the default measurement system and also do metric conversions on individual recipes — although I didn't find a way to convert multiple recipes in one go. There is still no meal planner feature. If that's important to you have a look at Organized Gourmet. Otherwise, this program is now a serious contender for top spot in the recipe management category. [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 6 of 6 users found this helpful
Tuesday, August 28 2007 @ 07:39 AM PDT
Organized Gourmet 2.2.1 (Mac OS X)
When I reviewed recipe programs well over a year ago, Organized Gourmet was at version 1.2. It's obviously seen very active development since then so I thought perhaps it deserved another look… The developer has addressed all the specific shortcomings mentioned in that review. Serve scaling is now included, and is very convenient to apply to a recipe in the main window. (Unfortunately, it only allows scaling in predefined multiples, rather than entering the exact number of people you intend to serve.) The addition of Smart Groups (think iTunes, etc) is a big plus in my opinion for organising recipes. There is still room for improvement… For example, entering new ingredients in a recipe is not as easy as it could be. Predefined ingredients are added in Preferences, and then selected using a dedicated button/dropdown in the recipe editing window. This requires the user to have to remember whether the ingredient they are about to enter has been predefined or not before deciding which button to press. And there is no auto-fill once you start typing an ingredient by name. (For an example of a better implementation, have a look at MacGourmet.) But like I said in my previous review, if meal planning is what you're looking for it's hard to go past this program — and it's only getting better! [alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 1 of 1 users found this helpful
Tuesday, August 28 2007 @ 07:18 AM PDT
Screen Grab Pro 1.5 (Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows 2000)
Need to take screen grabs of windows and save them to disk without mucking around in MS Paint? Then it does the job. Although I do agree with the previous poster (colfetski) that the task is easier on a Mac. [alert admin]
Sunday, May 27 2007 @ 07:27 PM PDT
FileFinder 1.3.3 (Mac OS X)
Well Nick, everyone is entitled to their opinion. You don't like or agree with my opinion? Fine. But the arrogance of posting for no other reason than to relegate my review from the top of the list...! >...it was out of date even when it was written... Yes, I've copped some flak from a couple of developers for that. As I explained in my reply to the developer of this program: 'It was the latest version when I first tested all the programs 6 months ago. Sorry — I was slow in getting around to posting my feedback.' In any case, I specified the version tested so other readers can see for themselves that a newer version now exists. Is that not good enough? I think (and you're entitled to disagree) that I invite more criticism from writing a negative review and giving a low star rating. (I've looked at some of your reviews BTW and there's a whole bundle of five star ratings ... well good for you!) But I don't post my opinion to boost the egos of developers, rather to try and help others by giving an honest opinion, and in my eyes software doesn't get a guaranteed 2 or 3 stars just for installing. >...and once you have taken the trouble to discover how it works... If you read my review of DiskCatalogMaker, you'll notice that this is one of the big things that set it apart in my opinion — it is instantly obvious how it works. Your concluding statement? "Try it." I couldn't agree more... Go try it people and form your own conclusion! Try the others too. That's what this site is all about. [alert admin]
Read Comments (2) | More Info | 1 of 4 users found this helpful
Tuesday, November 21 2006 @ 09:32 PM PST
Locator 0.7.3 (Mac OS X)
Bad
- Hard to add a disk to the catalog
- Doesn't seem to let you manually browse catalog
My task was to find an OS X replacement for Iomega Findit, which has faithfully cataloged our large collection of CD archives over the years.
To test the speed of adding disks to the catalog, I used two disks from our archives.
Speed:
- Disk 1: 10 seconds
I briefly tested the following software:
Note: There are many others that I didn't test at all because they looked less promising, based on their descriptions and other people's reviews. I did try to install Tri CAT but it returned a 'Fatal error'. While I have tried to give a fair and honest appraisal of each product, I don't pretend that each review is particularly comprehensive. My main focus was finding the program best suited to our needs — not spending all week reviewing software. I offer this simple comparison to try and help others who might be on a similar search.
I ended up settling on DiskCatalogMaker.
[alert admin]Post a comment | More Info | 0 of 2 users found this helpful
Sunday, June 25 2006 @ 06:42 PM PDT
FileFinder 1.2.5 (Mac OS X)
Bad
- Double click folder attempts to open it in Finder, but often reports missing item error
- Double clicking CD edits name
- Must have catalogs (CDs) selected to return results of search
My task was to find an OS X replacement for Iomega Findit, which has faithfully cataloged our large collection of CD archives over the years.
To test the speed of adding disks to the catalog, I used two disks from our archives.
Speed:
- Disk 1: 20 seconds
- Disk 2: ? Seemed almost instantaneous but disk contents were not available for a short time (5-10 seconds?)
I briefly tested the following software:
Note: There are many others that I didn't test at all because they looked less promising, based on their descriptions and other people's reviews. I did try to install Tri CAT but it returned a 'Fatal error'. While I have tried to give a fair and honest appraisal of each product, I don't pretend that each review is particularly comprehensive. My main focus was finding the program best suited to our needs — not spending all week reviewing software. I offer this simple comparison to try and help others who might be on a similar search.
I ended up settling on DiskCatalogMaker.
[alert admin]Read Comments (2) | More Info | 3 of 6 users found this helpful
Sunday, June 25 2006 @ 06:37 PM PDT
Catalog 1.3.5 (Mac OS X)
Good
- Advanced search (OK)
Bad
- Not properly displaying '/' in file name (displays as ':')
- Buggy: Double clicked folder (filtered search) and other folders appeared with expanded contents
- Unpredictable relationship between which volumes are selected in left column and which files are displayed. e.g. I have two volumes cataloged and select them both — only one volume's files are displayed when no filter applied, and yet when I add a filter, it displays from both volumes.
- No Findit import
Catalog's interface looks attractive upon startup — but that's where the fun ended for me.
My task was to find an OS X replacement for Iomega Findit, which has faithfully cataloged our large collection of CD archives over the years.
To test the speed of adding disks to the catalog, I used two disks from our archives.
Speed:
- Disk 1: approx 30 seconds? (second import 20 seconds)
- Disk 2: 12 seconds
I briefly tested the following software:
Note: There are many others that I didn't test at all because they looked less promising, based on their descriptions and other people's reviews. I did try to install Tri CAT but it returned a 'Fatal error'. While I have tried to give a fair and honest appraisal of each product, I don't pretend that each review is particularly comprehensive. My main focus was finding the program best suited to our needs — not spending all week reviewing software. I offer this simple comparison to try and help others who might be on a similar search.
I ended up settling on DiskCatalogMaker.
[alert admin]
Post a comment | More Info | 1 of 2 users found this helpful
Sunday, June 25 2006 @ 06:30 PM PDT
CDFinder 4.5.1 (Mac OS X)
Good features, but not my choice overall 
Good
- Findit import
- Looks inside Zip and Stuffit
Bad
- Interface almost looks like Finder, but not quite
- Opens lots of windows
- Double clicking CD name edits name
My task was to find an OS X replacement for Iomega Findit, which has faithfully cataloged our large collection of CD archives over the years.
To test the speed of adding disks to the catalog, I used two disks from our archives.
Speed:
- Disk 1: 1 minute 4 seconds
- Disk 2: about 9 seconds (second import instant)
I briefly tested the following software:
Note: There are many others that I didn't test at all because they looked less promising, based on their descriptions and other people's reviews. I did try to install Tri CAT but it returned a 'Fatal error'. While I have tried to give a fair and honest appraisal of each product, I don't pretend that each review is particularly comprehensive. My main focus was finding the program best suited to our needs — not spending all week reviewing software. I offer this simple comparison to try and help others who might be on a similar search.
I ended up settling on DiskCatalogMaker.
[alert admin]Read Comments (3) | More Info | 1 of 5 users found this helpful
Sunday, June 25 2006 @ 06:08 PM PDT
DEVONthink Pro 1.0.2 (Mac OS X)
Worth a look … If you want more than a simple catloging program
Good
- Catalogues picture previews!
Bad
- Too slow to catalog a simple CD archive
DEVONthink looks like a powerful little program, but for our needs it would just take far too long to catalog our entire set of archives.
My task was to find an OS X replacement for Iomega Findit, which has faithfully cataloged our large collection of CD archives over the years.
To test the speed of adding disks to the catalog, I used two disks from our archives.
Speed:
- Disk 1: All day if I let it go
- Disk 2: ?
I briefly tested the following software:
Note: There are many others that I didn't test at all because they looked less promising, based on their descriptions and other people's reviews. I did try to install Tri CAT but it returned a 'Fatal error'. While I have tried to give a fair and honest appraisal of each product, I don't pretend that each review is particularly comprehensive. My main focus was finding the program best suited to our needs — not spending all week reviewing software. I offer this simple comparison to try and help others who might be on a similar search.
I ended up settling on DiskCatalogMaker.
[alert admin]Read Comments (2) | More Info | 0 of 2 users found this helpful
Sunday, June 25 2006 @ 05:46 PM PDT
DiskCatalogMaker X 4.0 (Mac OS X)
Good
- Really fast cataloging
- Scans Stuffit files
- Can auto eject disks after scanning
- Asks to add when disk inserted
Bad
- No Findit import
If you are looking for Mac OS X disk cataloging software that is fast and easy to use, as far as I'm concerned look no further.
My task was to find an OS X replacement for Iomega Findit, which has faithfully cataloged our large collection of CD archives over the years. I briefly tested the following software:
Note: There are many others that I didn't test at all because they looked less promising, based on their descriptions and other people's reviews. I did try to install Tri CAT but it returned a 'Fatal error'. While I have tried to give a fair and honest appraisal of each product, I don't pretend that each review is exhaustive or totally without error. If I have overlooked any feature, it's possibly an indication that the feature was difficult to find or unintuitive to use.
Speed: I tested each program first with two disks from our archives. DiskCatalogMaker was very quick at adding each CD to the catalog:
- Disk 1: A few seconds
- Disk 2: about 6 seconds
While CDFinder allows you to import Findit catalogs, it was much slower at cataloging one of the disks (and I preferred the DiskCatalogMaker interface.) DEVONthink also looks like a powerful little program (includes picture previews!) but for our needs it would just take far too long to catalog our entire set of archives.
Searching in DiskCatalogMaker is quick too. With over 60 CDs in the catalog (and countless files), the time for search results to display is typically between 2 and 5 seconds.
Interface: The DiskCatalogMaker interface needed no explanation. Whereas some of the others had some little distracting quirks (and bugs in some cases), DiskCatalogMaker behaved as I expected. Okay, it doesn't follow the now established practice of copying the iTunes interface if you can live with that. In fact I'd probably describe it as a combination of Findit and the pre-Spotlight Finder search — so if you're familiar with these you'll have no problems working out how to use DiskCatalogMaker. The list views are fully customizable just like in the Finder — very nice!
Features: You can have the program auto eject disks after scanning, and when it's the open window and you insert a new disk it asks if you would like to add it to the catalog — this all speeds up the process of creating a new catalog from an existing set of disks.
Reliability: We've been using this for a number of months now and it seems rock-solid.
Missing: An auto-save option in the preferences would be a nice addition. It should also list numbers in correct order like the Finder does, i.e. 10 comes after 9, not after 1.
[alert admin]Post a comment | More Info | 11 of 11 users found this helpful
Sunday, June 25 2006 @ 05:14 PM PDT
Last 10 Comments by kalsta [ Search for All ]
Thank you! I may post more reviews in future… since I really appreciate the reviews of other people when narrowing down a list of apps to test. But it does take so much time and is often a thankless task… so I really appreciate the rare words of encouragement -- thanks again!
Original feedback item : Read More
Thursday, August 30 2007 @ 05:26 AM PDT
Attractive interface (Review and product comparison)
Fair enough. See my updated review of the newer version…
Original feedback item : Read More
Tuesday, August 28 2007 @ 07:53 AM PDT
No problem -- we agree to disagree about this program. Re. star ratings: In my mind, 2 stars means below average, or at least below my expectations for the type of program I'm reviewing. But of course it only represents one opinion. Other people are free to post their own ratings. Actually, I wish more people would -- then we would get a richer spectrum of opinions ... and you wouldn't have to look at my…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Saturday, January 13 2007 @ 11:27 PM PST
Attractive interface (Review and product comparison)
You're welcome! I hope you found one you liked.
Original feedback item : Read More
Wednesday, November 22 2006 @ 03:35 AM PST
Includes nutritional database (Review and product comparison)
Thanks Mathilde — I'll check out the new version when I get a chance. BTW, I've discovered that writing anything less than a perfect review on VersionTracker often earns you a condescending response from the developer, so it's refreshing to hear from developers like yourself who are more open to feedback!
Original feedback item : Read More
Tuesday, November 21 2006 @ 11:01 PM PST
Calendar based meal planning (Review and product comparison)
Hey Doug... Glad to see that Organized Gourmet development is alive and well — I'll keep an eye on it. (I won't guarantee writing more reviews any time soon as I'm very busy, but I'll try to get back sometime.) BTW, I've discovered that writing anything less than a perfect review on VersionTracker often earns you a condescending response from the developer, so it's refreshing to hear from a developer with a bit more openness for…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Tuesday, November 21 2006 @ 10:50 PM PST
Attractive interface (Review and product comparison)
>Would have been clearer, if you would have given stars to the comparising programms. I did! Just click on the links to go to each review. >Not clear are the 2 stars out of 5 for MacGourmet. Seems to be a rather lousy programm than. Well I'm especially mean and ruthless with my stars I confess ... call it high expectations. Keep in mind that I ranked it 5th out of the 11 programs I tested though…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Tuesday, November 21 2006 @ 10:34 PM PST
Simple interface (Review and product comparison)
No, I didn't test importing from other programs — sorry.
Original feedback item : Read More
Tuesday, November 21 2006 @ 10:08 PM PST
Good features, but not my choice overall
>Mh, that is a strange review. Why... Because I didn't rate your program better? Hmmm... Funny how all the positive reviews have been rated by "users" as useful, and all the not so positive ones have been rated less useful. Useful to whom I wonder? >What exactly do you want to say with it? OK, I'll spell it out for you ... I liked DiskCatalogMaker better!
Original feedback item : Read More
Tuesday, November 21 2006 @ 09:46 PM PST
Worth a look … If you want more than a simple catloging program
> PS: Were you really using v1.0.2? It's up to v1.1.1 now. Yes, I confess I'm slower at posting my reviews than these developers are at upgrading their programs! I've already been slapped on the wrist by one of the other program's developers for testing an old version...
Original feedback item : Read More
Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 09:03 AM PDT
