14 DAY TRIAL // We're all nothing but mammals. No, we're not going "to do it like they do it on the Discovery Channel". We're just going to detail some aspects of one of the cutest and smartest animal on our planet. Yes, you thought right: about it - the dolphin, that is - you're about to read in this review.
Just sit back, relax, smoke something and enjoy reading a review about a fine dolphins screensaver. My article will deal with a screensaver, yes! The name is 3D Dolphins, it comes as a shareware and it costs only 9.95 USD.
Why the dolphins? Because I simply enjoyed this screensaver and I love these animals. I like them because they are intelligent, full of joy and can share compassion with those near them (I'm referring to people in suffering).
As you might know, the dolphin is not a fish... actually it is an aquatic mammal which has among its relatives the whales (a mammal also, the largest). The dolphin's name comes from the ancient Greek delphis which means "with a womb". They named it well, fish with a womb.
Like any other screensaver, this kind of software doesn't have so many options to be configured, the real issue is the way you see and hear it. This one, besides the 3D animated graphics with swimming dolphins, will delight you with water environment sounds, dolphins at their large, deep water flowers and "talking" dolphins.
But let's see what this nice and relaxing screensaver has to offer. After the installation, all you have to do is go to your Display Properties, Screen Saver tab and choose 3D Dolphins from the list. The Settings options will be activated. Here you have a moving cursor which you can set at the maximum frame rate, from highest (1000 FPS) to lowest (10 FPS). If your CPU is not a very recent model you can set the frame rate to a low one, this way you will use less processing power.
At the lower part of the small Settings window there are two options that can be unchecked. "Enable preview" displays a dolphin photo on that little monitor screen which appears in the upper center part of the Screen Saver tab.
The second option "Do not force screensaver to quit on user action" will simply let you manage all of the inside options of the screensaver by not exiting when you press a key or move the mouse. It will exit only by pressing the Escape/Space keys.
By entering the screensaver, the magic water world is right here on your screen, in front of your eyes and ears. Talking dolphins, the water, fish and aquatic flowers - all of these in a colorful, moving and animated environment.
3D Dolphins has also a built-in options menu that can be reached by right clicking the mouse. You can choose between four camera types. The free camera enables you to circle around in a fixed position, rotating in 360 degrees. In the panoramic view all the action is in close sight. Besides the dolphins you will see a small group of fish coming nearby.
The dolphin camera follows a dolphin in its swimming way through the bubbles. The last one is the 3D Clock Camera - it displays the system time in a ball-shaped clock with stars and two dolphins on it.
Apart form the possibility of choosing the camera, there are three other displaying options. The first, Reflection, is for the 3D Clock Camera. It shows some mirror reflections into the rounded clock bar. Display Time/Date will show the system time and date on the upper right corner.
The Display Info option lets you see some interesting options appearing list-like in the left side of the screensaver. You can see the number of frame rates the program is running at, the screen width and height, texture information, whether a 3D device is available and if Pixel Shader is supported.
The unregistered watermark is present all the time, in the upper left corner. My final opinion: if you're an ocean/sea addict that simply loves dolphins then I guess 9.95 USD wouldn't be a high cost for you to have this wonderful screensaver.
The Good
This screensaver is also an "audible" one. I love those environment sounds (water, dolphins) that combined with the 3D graphics will put you in a good mood.
The Bad
That moving nagscreen is simply annoying. For 9.95 USD it could have been done a little bit smaller.
The Truth
If you are an animal lover and dolphins are amongst your favorites, then you can use this screensaver as an antidote for insomnia or for relaxation after a hard day's work.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
