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  • Home / Windows / User reviews by toulinwoek

    User reviews by toulinwoek


    Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0.20.320 / 2.4.18.184
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 21 Mar 2008, 00:43 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    This is a very good firewall, like a wall of steel between your computer and the dimwits that prowl the underbelly of the Internet.
    However, and this is such a distraction that it actually ruins an otherwise awesome tool, this is by far the most intrusive and annoying firewall I have ever even so much as tested! I spent so much time and so many wasted seconds answering prompts that I just got sick of it and removed it.
    I even tried lowering the settings and it still got on my nerves wanting approval over and over, often for the same program trying to perform the same action, even if I told it to always allow that program to perform that action. It was so bad that even if I told it to allow all activity by a particular program, I still got bugged into a near coma every time I ran and used that program. Perhaps my problem is that I have over 300 programs installed on my computer and that I just didn't have the patience to let it "learn" in training mode, but goodness, I gave it nearly 2 weeks, which ought to be more than enough for any firewall. That has certainly been more than enough for every other firewall I have tried.

    I would highly recommend passing on this tool, not because it isn't a good firewall, but because it is written without the ability to trust the judgment of the user. It isn't even worth "free". If there is really such a thing as "too much of a good thing" this is most definitely it.


    GetRight Pro 6.0
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 08 Jun 2006, 22:49 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    I don't know...$45 for a program whose trial is as weighted down by nags as this one is had better do more than stack up. It had better beat the best! Unfortunately, and to be honest, GetRight Pro costs far too much to do so little.
    The interface is very slick looking and quite well laid out, but that is it's only "very good" feature; it goes quickly downhill from there.

    First, most download managers wishing to be taken seriously will tell you the percentage at which downloads are accelerated (most promise between 300% and 500%, but only the best actually deliver, and one exceeds 500% at times). For GetRight Pro, I could find nothing that specified this rating, a serious oversight (if it was an oversight) for this kind of program, especially at this price. All the web site says is that it accelerates your downloads.
    Second, the program doesn't specify from what browsers it is capable of taking over downloads, and the best program of this type that I know of can not only take over from ANY browser, but even from other non-browsing programs if you want. Maybe GetRight Pro supports Firefox, for example, but I don't know that, and I don't want to install it only to have to remove it because it doesn't support my favorite non-IE browser. Of course, after removal, there will likely be some folders and/or registry settings I'll have to hunt down and remove; not pleasant.
    Third, the download dialog is on some kind of a feature diet; it needs to allow selecting an alternate download folder, specifying a filename and adding some comments at the very least (especially if you download a large number of files/programs), and I shouldn't have to click on buttons to get to those features.
    Fourth, The way the program is described on its web site, the impression is that it can only accelerate downloads IF it manages to find multiple mirror servers. What if it can't? Well, then it's not worth $45, because if it doesn't accelerate, then it's no more than a glorified download tracking tool, and you can get those FREE all over the Internet. The best program I know of accelerates by dynamically segmenting the file, meaning that not only does it break up the file into pieces and download each segment simultaneously, but if one segment finishes before the others, the others are re-optimized on the fly, talking full, best advantage of your bandwidth.
    Fifth, GetRight Pro really costs too much. Even if it did everything as good as the best, the best still costs HALF of what they are asking for this sub-par program. Its uniqueness, however is in its BitTorrent integration and in its upload features. Still, those features are hardly $25 worth of features, and without them, the program by itself wouldn't even be worth the other $20, which makes it still grossly overpriced for its genre.

    I don't know if this review will be censored or not, but any download manager, in my independent opinion, would have to be measured against Internet Download Manager, and GetRight Pro pales against that program, which I consider not only the best, but a great bargain at only $25. I would suggest a very thorough comparison before buying GetRight Pro.


    Internet Download Manager 5.02.14
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 19 May 2006, 22:07 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    This is the king of download managers (believe me, I have tried about 15 or more of them). Many others -especially the free ones, so watch out- are simply lies and do nothing but keep a list of programs you've downloaded, but there is no acceleration at all, or at least far less than they claim. Not so with IDM, it truly speeds up downloads by up to 500% (five times faster than without it). For those who might not know, it does this by breaking the file into segments, and downloading all the segments simutaneously, then putting the segments back together again. Other programs that happen to work basically do the same thing, but IDM does it more efficiently. The program also lets you set folders for organizing downloads by type (programs, archives, music, video, etc.) and you can create your own custom folders and types. When a download starts, you can do such useful things as change the default folder in which to save that download, change even the name of the file if you like, plus enter a full description for what you're downloading (very useful if you download as many programs as I do). There are a couple of other programs that allow this also, but here's where IDM distinguishes itself: while you're doing all this, IDM is already downloading the file! By the time you get done and click the "Start Download" button, there's a good chance that the download is already complete. This is a great timesaver, compared to other programs don't do anything until you actually click the button to start the download. This makes downloading with IDM "feel" even faster.
    I have never encountered a problem with browser integration (it will take over downloads from ANY browser) and with extremely few exceptions, it is smart enough NOT to try to take over certain downloads (for instance, with Webshots photos, which MUST be downloaded with Webshots' own technology). Other than that, IDM is powerful, robust and stable as a rock. My only problem with it is that, although you can export your list of downloaded programs, the export doesn't include your descriptions, so if you import a long list of programs, and you have included such things as version numbers and the like in your description, that information will not be imported. This is a serious enough oversight for me to give it a "Very Good" rather than "Excellent" rating for features.
    Otherwise, I consider it perfect, one of the few programs I can say I have no reservations about recommending strongly.


    Optimal Desktop - Professional Edition 5.0 r210
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 12 May 2006, 22:01 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    Pros:
    I like the program and its flexibility. You can browse both locally and on the web from in this one inferface, plus it allows you to easily organize various places you visit often, whether folders on your computer or web sites.

    Cons:
    It both loads and exits far, far too slowly. I have been using it off and on for a few years, and try as I might, I just can't go for long putting up with the slow loading AND exiting. I haven't tried the absolute latest version to date, but I have no reason to expect any different.

    Overall:
    It's a nice program, and since the Standard version is FREE, it's worth at least a try; keep it if you have the patience. Certainly not worth $60 though.


    Optimal Desktop - Professional Edition 5.0 r210
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 12 May 2006, 22:00 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    Pros:
    I like the program and its flexibility. You can browse both locally and on the web from in this one inferface, plus it allows you to easily organize various places you visit often, whether folders on your computer or web sites.

    Cons:
    I both loads and exists far, far too slowly. I have been using it off and on for a few years, and try as I might, I just can't go for long putting up with the slow loading AND exiting. I haven't tried the absolute letest version to date, but I have no reason to expect any different.

    Overall:
    It's a nice program, and since the Standard version is FREE, it's worth at least a try; keep it if you have the patience. Certainly not worth $60 though.


    Liquid Story Binder 3.41
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 24 Dec 2005, 22:49 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    Nothing too unique about this program, despite the publisher's claim to the contrary. In actual practice, it does very little more than what could be done with a much less costly tree-style notes/document organizer. The autosave features are very nice, but nothing that makes the program especially valuable to writers.
    It does have a few unusual features, though nothing too special, but all these do is make the stingy, 14-day trial a barrier to the program's success.
    If you are a writer, whether writing fiction, poetry or just about anything else, there are other programs that are considerably more handy than this one, and there are also some other author-centric programs that really do provide unique and powerful benefits to writers.
    Overall, this one just isn't worth paying for considering what it is being sold as. If you want a neat notes/document organizer, then Liquid Story Binder very nice, but it fails to justify its cost.


    Auscomp Fort Knox 5.0.2.178
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 17 Dec 2005, 17:50 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    This is a nice program, but it's price is considerably out of line for this type of program. I liked the feature that lets you create sets of custom fields for autofilling web forms or for storing any other type of sensitive information. One glaring problem is the fact that it will ONLY autofill through Internet Explorer. Not only does it not support Firefox (or any other alternative browser), but it won't even use your default browser (if it's something other than IE) For this reason and because of the price, while I think it's a pretty good program, I would not recemmend it, at least not until the price becomes reasonable and the author revises it so that it allows the user to select the browser to autofill.


    Avignon Concept 3.10
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 12 Oct 2005, 11:21 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    OK, so it's free. That's no reason to put out such an unintuitive program. Functions that should be simple in this type of program are either non-existent or you have to go hunting around for them. I still haven't found a way to add a bank account (not that I'd use THIS program for that) and the help system is woefully inadequate.
    I strongly recommend avoiding this one unless your needs are very light.


    MediaMan 2.31
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 12 Oct 2005, 11:18 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    A nice program, but it's listed as Freeware and it's not. What you actually get is a trial version of a $40 program, and it certainly isn't worth that much. Not because it's not a good program, but because there are others at least as good (or close) which really are free


    OsenXPSuite 2005 Enterprise Edition 10.22.0.36
    Reviewer: toulinwoek


    Read all my reviews

    Date: 23 Jul 2005, 00:19 GMT
    Overall rating:
    GUI:    Features:    Ease of use:    Value:

    Let's see, "Here's a couple screenshots. Sorry, no help file other info or even a workable web site. But hey, I'm only asking for a hundred and seventy bucks for my VB6 add-on."
    Is this guy kidding? If you can even make it to the website, the only thing there is a screenshot and an email link, and good luck getting a response. No matter how great the screenshots look, if you can't communicate with the developer or even get basic help for his product, it's hard to justify the price, especially when you can get Compona components FREE, with great support. Until this developer decides to come out of hiding, I'd steer around this bag of tricks.





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