User Profile for one_won

The Tube 2.5.1 (Mac OS X)

Still A-Grade Rubbish  

OK, here we go again with the latest version (2.5.1) of this software. Sound has now returned on HD channels here in Australia. As for the rest of it- forget it. To give this software the fairest test it could ever hope for I started with a "clean sheet" on a brand new MBP with a clean install of 10.5.2 with a zeroed out HD and The Tube being the only third party software installed. From a fairness in testing point of view it never gets better than that. Once installed the software seemed to work better than the previous rubbish with a very minor glitch of the default install sound setting is set at zero. Given the control freak nature of The Tube's inventors I was surprised to find that, yes, the volume control was actually user adjustable. It managed to find all the channels that it should for my area and picture quality is good. However, adjusting viewing size is not recommended, as this sends it off into a fit, and normal size cannot be obtained after that short off trashing the preference file. While a manual recording works ok, doing a scheduled recording was a different story. I set it up to record while the computer was asleep which meant according to The Tube's preferences settings it would wake up the computer, launch the program then go back to sleep. Ah no. It didn't do that at all. On the first attempt it woke the computer, recorded the program, but didn't put it back to sleep. This failure to return to sleep has obviously had a profound effect on its scheduling ability. No longer does it wake to record. And even with the computer awake it does not record the channel you selected, but you get a different channel. The only way to solve this is to do a complete re-install of everything, which means you use up another blessing from the tin gods at Equinux that allows only six lives to its products. Not sure why they feel a need to do this. No one is going to 'steal' their software. That would be like imaging someone is going to break into your place to steal the dog's crap from the back yard. It just isn't going to happen. Or if you did catch some lunatic trying to pinch dog crap, you wouldn't call the police, but you would call the folk in charge of mental health, as one of their clients has obviously stopped taking their medication. In conclusion all I can say is that despite this version being four times the install file size of the original, it still fails miserably to make a scheduled recording. The software still rates, quiet deservedly too I might add, as the worse ever piece of software ever produced. AVOID! Oh, BTW did I mention how bad it is at exporting recorded files? No you don't need to know that story for now, but it is bad. [alert admin]

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Saturday, March 22 2008 @ 04:43 PM PDT

The Tube 2.0.1 (Mac OS X)

2.0.1 version has improved, but lets face it......  

........ there was never any downside left for the previous rubbish. The first thing I noticed with this new "improved" version is there is no sound on HD channels here in Australia. So promoting it as a HD tuner is not true if we cannot get any sound. Like sound is a fairly basic requirement for TV I would have thought. So once you have the basics sorted out then (and only then) you would move on to fiddling with the flash stuff. But not these turkeys. Anyway I highly recommend that you avoid this all costs and purchase something else. From others feedback, plus my own previous review, I get the distinct impression the company is run by a bunch of wannabes way out of their depth. Clearly a case of gross ambition exceeding net ability. [alert admin]

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Sunday, February 24 2008 @ 08:49 PM PST

The Tube 1.5.2 (Mac OS X)

The Search For Worst Ever App Is Over!  

This is the worst ever Mac app I have attempted to use. It is more like a Micro$oft build. And like Micro$oft's imposing attitude, it seeks to everything to everybody and succeeds in being nothing to anyone with a very clunking piece of crap. Scheduled recordings don't happen, and that is after you set it to record one channel and it wants to record a different one to the one you set, no matter how you try to overcome that. You end up with a blank recording. But hey, it can't even find a signal for channels it previously found with several channels. The whole thing is just one huge mess, made by some very incompentent people who seem fixated that someone is going to rip off their software. Forget it guys. No one half sane is going to steal your software as it is absolutely hopeless. Do not waste your money on anything that uses this software. That means Equinux's own TubeStick and, interestingly, most everything Miglia makes in TV devices for a Mac now days. Not sure why Miglia uses this over Alchemy TV that they used in the past. Definitely a major backwards step. This is not a poor as in one star rating, but a poor as in a minus five star rating. [alert admin]

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Saturday, October 27 2007 @ 04:28 PM PDT

SimpleMovieX 2.8.1 (Mac OS X)

Sorta works.....sorta doesn't work....sorta hard to try  

Well this app does some of the things it claims, but others are 'missing in action'. The biggest plus is yes you can actually join and SAVE AS.. two or more mpgs via copy and paste with the audio coming out the other end along with the video. That is the good news, plus the ability to do likewise to another format like .mov (use EXPORT for other formats). In the trial the export is slowed by the process being stoppped for an 'ad break' every ten seconds to buy the app, which is unnecessary and will result more in lost sales I suspect. The downside is that mpgs cannot be be dragged and dropped to the player screen to join a la Quicktime then saved. You have to open each segment in a new window, copy and paste to first window, a very annoying process and that needs a PRONTO FIX by the programmers. Also there is NO EXPORT TO .MPG1/2 in the export menu, just the regular QT pro selection. Thus, it has rather limited functionality. Considering VideoLAN player does everything this app does and much more, except join clips, it is hard to see a $24 value here given VideoLANs $0 price tag. Yes QT pro is more expensive, but that does not mean either are value compared to some good free software such as USBvision exported (very underrated), mpegStreamclip, and VLC player. This DOES NOT imply all software apps should be free, rather they must be reasonably priced for the job they actually do out in the real world, and a whole bunch less hype about all those "world changing" apps would be a huge improvement. [alert admin]

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Tuesday, April 18 2006 @ 06:58 PM PDT

MacPAR deLuxe 3.2 (Mac OS X)

Unable to download this  

Both the developer and VT download links are a non event for me on different computers at different times. To add to the mess VT's link for broken links does not load correctly either with the field for the applications name missing! All this is with Safari in 10.3.9 and VT itself is very slow nowdays to load compared to other sites. Hopefully someone from VT will read this and repair. [alert admin]

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Saturday, January 21 2006 @ 03:02 AM PST

RarMe 0.4 (Mac OS X)

sounds ok  

this seems ok. contrary to a previous comment Gumby does indeed make .rar files also (besides unraring them), you just use the option key on the gumby rar window to change it from process to create. several Gumby windows operate in this option manner. [alert admin]

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Saturday, January 07 2006 @ 06:31 PM PST

3ivx D4 4.5.1 (Mac OS 9, Mac OS X)

Today's necessity (plus some help for Peterpayne)  

This codec for Quicktime is todays necessity for most Mac users, without it Quicktime is around about useless at handling any of todays .avi formatted movies. It is also the codec of choice for encoding to a lot of new "movie producers" with good quality output. peterpayne this is not a program/app. but rather an additional codec. I don't know anything about "Mactheripper" (only have a 233 iMac so not into DVD ripping etc.), but I assume it outputs in mpeg in which case you could use Quicktime PRO if you have already purchased that to export it to another format selecting 3ivx as the codec via the options button in the QT dialog box. If you don't have the PRO version of Quicktime you can use a program/application called MPEG Streamclip that is a free download and does much the same thing as Quicktime PRO in the export of .mpegs. If you are still none the wiser the paperwork that comes with the 3ivx download has a link to their website that has some excellent friendly help forums that should be able to assist you. [alert admin]

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Thursday, February 17 2005 @ 01:54 PM PST

()

Downside Up. Reverse of what's needed.  

I would think that the exact opposite of this product would have more appeal to the Mac community, that is a program that turns .wmv to .mov (even mpeg or avi would be a step forward). Thanks but this has no use to me at present or anytime soon. [alert admin]

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Tuesday, January 25 2005 @ 09:27 PM PST

StuffIt Expander 9.0.1 (Mac OS X)

No longer available  

Strange but the folks that now own this no longer make it for 10.2. If you select an alternate to version 9 you get redirected to version 9, which is 10.3 only. Methinks this is a serious oversight. Oh well I'm sure I can find a substitute product, I've already deleted my Stuffit bookmark [alert admin]

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Saturday, November 20 2004 @ 03:44 AM PST

JigSaw 1.5 (Mac OS X)

How do you........  

....contact the gonzo that developed this?????????? There is NO SUPPORT, just some gonzo nagging for a $15 shareware fee that I refuse to pay if (a) the demo does not work (b) no support for fixing whatever I am doing wrong. WAKE UP GONZO if something don't work in the test trial no one will pay ya. Simple. [alert admin]

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Monday, July 05 2004 @ 04:20 AM PDT

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