1/19/2013

ScanSoft PaperPort 11 Review

ScanSoft PaperPort 11
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First, let me be specific, I am reviewing Paperport 11, not Paperport Pro. Why do I think Paperport 11 is a scam? Because it's like a demo version of Paperport Pro (which is the full product). The use of this non-pro version is super limited.
Problems:
1) I can't create a new scanner profiles (I am limited to the 4 they supplied initially) for scanning.
2) They claim to support most scanners, but unless yours is a popular scanner, it's treated just as a generic plain paperport scanner. Nothing special.
3) I bought the product hoping it can create searchable PDF files so I can use my desktop search engine (like google desktop) to search my scanned documents. No such thing! To do it, you have to: a) buy Paperport 11 Pro, b) buy OmniPage (I presume). Which totals more than 300 bucks!!!
4) Very very limited customer support. You have ONE free technical support call (which I used up during installation because the installer crashed my system). After that, it's 20 bucks per phone call. There is no free email support. The first and every message you send them will cost 10 bucks each. What a scam: crash the user's computer upon installation, force them to call you so they burn up their "free" support. After that, any questions you have will cost you $$$!
I so want to return this product, but I already mailed in the UPC code for the rebate so I cannot return the product anymore. Another trap!!! Unbelievable!!!
Final words: STAY AWAY!!! I will never buy anything from Nuance, EVER!

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ScanSoft PaperPort 11 is the easiest way to turn piles of paper and photosinto organized PDF and JPEG files that you can quickly find, use and share.PaperPort produces excellent scans with the push of a button. Your documentsare displayed as small thumbnails on a unique visual desktop for fastbrowsing. The exclusive All-in-One Search™ ends the frustration of lookingfor paper or digital documents by searching for words inside your files. Savetime and have the security of knowing that important documents and photoswill never be lost. PaperPort is perfect for your home or small office.

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1/18/2013

Sims 3 Pack: Apartment Life + Pet Stories + Nightlife Review

Sims 3 Pack: Apartment Life + Pet Stories + Nightlife
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For some reason, this combo pack includes The Sims 2 Pet Stories.
While Apartment Life and Nightlife are both excellent expansion packs for The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Pet Stories is NOT COMPATIBLE.
Pet Stories is a standalone game, and does not expand on The Sims 2. I think they probably meant to put The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack in this bundle, which would work perfectly.
Oddly, it's a perfect example of how Electronic Arts made The Sims 2 titles very confusing to users: They can't even put a bundle together without making a glaring mistake such as this.

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1/17/2013

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade Additional License Pack - 1 PC Review

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade Additional License Pack - 1 PC
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Microsoft has many enemies. That's what happens when you are #1 and many below you wish they could be at the top.
Vista is a solid product. It was not as solid the day it was released, but what is? It's now only been a few months and the updates that apply the moment you install or upgrade to Vista provide you with a smooth experience.
Is the interface different? Oh yea. Is it bad? Is it slow? No. It's fine. Vista runs only SLIGHTLY slower on an older PC with a Pentium III chip or older but why wouldn't you expect that? You can't get more features AND more power and expect a faster machine when your hardware is getting along in the years.
In addition, if you simply don't understand the nature of Vista, then you haven't yet read Greg Perry's "Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One" (Amazon Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One (Sams Teach Yourself)) and frankly, this is hands-down the best way for a newcomer - even if you are or are not comfortable with XP - to master EVERYthing you REALLY need to know about Vista.
Software is not always obvious. That does not mean it's bad or difficult to use or requires a huge learning curve. Once you get Vista, beg or borrow or buy "Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One" and you will be ready to become a MASTER at the product. I went through what YOU are going through and I know most Vista books and sites DO NOT give you what you need to make this product work well FOR YOU. This book does and I've read all the top-selling Vista books.
Now I don't care if you get "Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One" or not, although you should, but you need to stop listening to the hype of those who have axes to grind with Microsoft. If you want to move FORWARD with your computer you need to have the juice needed which means a moderately recent PC and you need Vista.
The number one reason for getting Ultimate and not a lower Vista product is the BitLocker encryption technology and the ability to make a ghosted image of your disk drive that Vista can restore. If you've used Symantec's DriveImage or Ghost products then you know these alone can run you more than $50. It's thrown in with Vista Ultimate and you'll REALLY use these tools a lot.


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Windows Vista Ultimate is the flagship edition of Windows Vista across consumer and small business desktop PCs and mobile PCs. The primary user of Windows Vista Ultimate is the individual, such as a small business owner, who has a single PC to use both at home and at work. This edition includes all of the features available in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Enterprise. Windows Vista Ultimate is the first operating system that combines the advanced infrastructure of a business-focused operating system, the productivity of a mobility-focused operating system, and the digital entertainment features of a consumer-focused operating system. For users who want their PC to be great for working at home, on the go, and at the office, Windows Vista Ultimate is the no-compromise operating system that provides it all.

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Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition with 12 Months Basic Support Review

Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition with 12 Months Basic Support
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Bottom-Line: If you need brick-level back & recovery solution for you large, medium, or small business look no further than "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition."
I have used some form of "Symantec's Backup Exec System Recovery Server Edition" since the Windows 2003 days, when the interface was clean, simple, and easy to use. Since that time, Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery which used to be marketed by Veritas (until Symantec bought out the company), has evolved along with Windows, and today it is a robust, flexible, somewhat complicated enterprise-class application that is almost indispensable to a shop still utilizing hardware or a Data Center operation in transition to a virtualized environment.
But not every server/application lends itself to virtualization, so I predict there will be a need for the functionality Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery brings to the Data Center table for quite some time.
Product Description (From Symantec): Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 is a simple, cost-effective backup and recovery solution for small businesses that helps minimize downtime and avoid disaster by easily recovering individual data files/folders or complete Windows systems in minutes - not hours or days - even to different hardware, virtual environments, or remote locations.
"Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery's" forte has always been in keeping the backup & recovery process simple (well relatively simple) and easy to use, but flexible enough to adapt to almost any enterprise environment. Version 2010's release is no different. Key Features include:
oBackup systems automatically, while you work, through scheduled or event-driven backups;
oOffsite Backup Copy to an FTP location or secondary disk drive;
oDissimilar Hardware Recovery with Restore Anywhere Technology;
oSeamless physical to virtual (P2V) and virtual to physical (V2P) conversions for VMWare, Microsoft and Citrix virtual environments.
Installation
"Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" can be installed one of two ways; either on the server you need to backed-up, or on a centralized server upon which the back-up agent can be pushed out to the servers needing to be backed-up. A centralized installation will further allow an administrator to centrally manage the backup events and scheduling for each server.
However, we choose the individual option (it was easier to administer) and installed "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" on each individual server (7 in all); thereafter I can log into each server and set the backup schedule for each.
Usage

"Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" is like most backup software these days, wizard driven, asking as series of questions to help simplify the backup and recovery process. But, make no mistake "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" is a complicated software application with a lot of moving parts, so before using it for the first time one should read the owner's manual.
Brick-level back-up is pretty straight forward (depending on the amount of data being backed-up, it could take upwards to an hour to complete), but brick-level recovery can be time consuming and problematic especially if you are performing a Restore Anywhere procedure. Partition table may need to be deleted and recreated, hard disk partitions deleted and recreated, and or FAT tables rearranged. But if all goes well, I can perform a System Recovery in under an hour.
We use "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" to perform brick-level back-ups on (7) servers nightly to an off-site location connected by a generous data pipe so the process is seamless. After I installed the software on each server I ran the backup wizard, specifying what I needed backed-up, to where, and how frequently.
The "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" agent runs as a Windows service so an administrator does not have to be logged into the server in order for the process to run unattended. You can set the application to append the current backup set, or overwrite it to save space. Full or incremental back-ups can also be configured.
For recovery we store our sets on a network drive. No problem, "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" has a utility that allows for logging into a network and mapping a drive as long as the right credentials are used. But the application can also read back-up sets from locally attached (USB) hard drives and or DVD drives.
Conclusions
I have no (real) complaints concerning either the functionality or usage of "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition"; it is an easy to use, robust brick-level backup & recovery program that offers a ready solution for just about every enterprise environment. There are of course other solutions on the market, but none that seems to offer the level of functionality and refinement our business is looking for.
Symantec technical support has always been there when we needed them, including weekend and evening, and the support techs have always been knowledgeable and willing to stick with me until whatever issue I was having was resolved to my satisfaction.
If you need brick-level back & recovery solution for you large, medium, or small business look no further than "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition."

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1/16/2013

GLOBAL STAR SOFTWARE 10 Pro Board Games Review

GLOBAL STAR SOFTWARE 10 Pro Board Games
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The chess program on this game CD is the famous Chess System Tal II, developed by Chris Whittington. This plays, and thinks, more like a human than other chess programs. Very interesting chess games. And impossible to beat! p.s. The other games on this CD are excellent. Hours and hours of fun. I have finally learned how to play bridge with 10 Pro Board Games.

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1/15/2013

Trackmania United Review

Trackmania United
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I originally got into Trackmania by playing Trackmania Nations, the free version offered at the Trackmania website. After logging several hours on the game, I became a Trackmaniac. I recently purchased the full version (Trackmania United) and was again impressed. Both Nations and United are great racing games because they are very different from most: the racing involves intense tracks with lots of loops and jumps and obstacles on the track. You can compete against yourself to beat the gold medal time for the track, or you can take your gameplay online to challenge friends or anyone else for the best time on any track. Each track has a unique twist that makes it challenging: lots of hairpin turns, very long jumps, unanticipated holes in the track floor, loops, etc. In Nations (which comes with United if you don't already have it), you can drive a formula-one style race car in a Stadium type enviroment. In United, you can drive cars from a Ferrari-style race car for speed to Jeep-style for off-road. Environments in United range from Stadium to Island to Desert to Snow and others. United also offers different types of racing, such as Puzzle, Stunt, or traditional Race. Although the game's graphics are not anything breathtaking, they are still good. Overall, the game is very fun and can be played for many, many hours.
Here's a bit of advice, though: I bought this game for $10 shipped; sometimes a certain seller will sell the game at this killer deal, but when its out of stock, the game goes for the standard $40 or more. The game being sold for $10 is the same exact one as being sold for more, so if you don't see it for $10, try waiting it out to see if the price goes down. No promises though: you might have to pay more, but it'll still be worth it.

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The Oracle of Changes Review

The Oracle of Changes
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As a physician, columnist and lecturer (on natural health and spiritual systems), I am always searching for new presentations of ancient material. The Oracle of Changes CD is a refreshing take... and wondered why no one had done this sooner! I found the music soothing (perhaps a decent set of speakers is best for the full effect). I enjoyed the rendering of the 'cave of the oracle' I entered and the 'pool of reflection' I "sat" in front of to begin the reading. Realistic hands throw the coins for you 6 times and the lines appear on the screen. The artwork that accompanied each hexagram is full of imagery and purpose (longtime students of the I Ching may recognize the deeper meanings). The explanation of the hexagrams and line changes is given by a VERY soothing and clear female voice. Bonuses: The CD allows the user to save the answers in a journal for later reference. You can type in the number of any hexagram in stead of a question and get to that answer without a full reading. The CD also allows yarrow or coin toss odds; it's the user's choice. A great pick!

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